Lyro is a new web based application that allows people to create and share online, searchable digital ‘business cards’ across multiple.  It isn’t so much a social network as much as personal ‘branding’ and broadcasting but saying that, as well as the core elements of creating a digital online business card (think a micro Plaxo) there are some typical social networking elements such as people creating interest and geography groups. I would really like to hear back from the Lyro folks because I’m not seeing how this differs substantially from Plaxo, especially given Plaxo’s recent moves into the ‘connections’ territory and their longstanding digital business card creation, sharing and searchability. If I’m missing something, let me know!

Business Model:

Four account types with increasing functionality. 

• FREE: 1 Free Card and 3 messages that can be sent to other members per day
• Basic: $5/Month – 3 Cards, 7 messages per day, 50MB file storage, professional bio, logo on card
• Premium: $9/Month – 5 Cards, 15 messages, 75MB storage, other elements of basic plus notes on card
• Elite: $20/Month – 8 cards, 25 messages, 200MB storage, all other elements of Premium plus saved searches and visible email addresses

Some Core Functionality:

• Create searchable online digital business card
• Internal email to other card members according to numbers above
• A Dashboard ‘Pocket’:  Drag and drop business cards that interest you for future retrieval
• Download card
• Create Groups – and invite others to join your group
• Invite Friends
• Send card to friend
• RSS feeds of cards etc

Likes:
The user interface and usability has been created with thought.  Navigating and using the site is very intuitive.  More focused on developing new business relationships than Plaxo with similar functionality to Plaxo early days plus some tried and tested social networking elements.

Dislikes/Suggestions::

• I just am finding it a real challenge to see this as a step change from a very ‘early days’ Plaxo and we of course, already have Plaxo and a significant number of people have been using it for sometime.  It is true that Lyro is less about creating your own online contact book from your existing contacts and has a focus on creating new contacts through joining groups plus browsing and reaching out to members.
• Although the usability is nice and simple, the interface has a lack of ‘personality’ i.e. it’s more functional than sticky. With Linked In there are a number of hooks that get you diving into the site and staying around.  Lyro does not really have those hooks yet but it is early days…maybe version 2 guys?
• I understand the need for a business model but limiting the amount of messages is limiting the perceived value of the system.  By all means encourage upgrade through a strong more personalized ‘branding’ on the site but have people use it…alot…so they want to improve their presence and are prepared to pay for it.  Key to that is messaging each other…take off the ludicrous limits, get real activity and they’ll upgrade when this site becomes a staple of their online activity.  You are restricting your growth!

Additional Opportunities:

• Consider adding some personalized scripts for each member so they can add the fact that they are a Lyro member to their websites or blogs.

Last thought:

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would personally broadcast my interest to the tune of a virtual $100K.

http://www.lyro.com/

Interested in other articles about My DNA?

• http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/archives/lyro_cards.html
• http://getentrepreneurial.com/recommendations/lyro_online_business_cards.html

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Related posts:

1. Lyro Speaks Back: Update~ $350K Virtual Investment ‘Restatement’
2. Cherrypicka: A $100K Virtual Investment
3. ILikeTotallyLoveIt: A $100K Virtual Investment

Bringsome is a pre-beta, very early stage company and website that has ‘legs’.  By legs, I mean it has the potential to expand it’s service offering and revenue streams as the business grows.  So what is BringSomes business?  Helping people connect together to BringSome products from one country to another.  No, don’t think illicit drug trade mules importing bad white powder from obscure countries, think someone with a passion for flavored liquid non-dairy coffee creamer in China that would pay a small fee if anyone from the US happens to be about to jump on a plane to Beijing.  Imagine the scenario ~Mum, Dad and the kids have decided to live and work abroad but little Johnnie has a twinkie fetish – that’s where BringSome comes in. But not only that, given the price differences across country boundaries, the enterprising can use BringSome to make some extra cash.

Business Model:
BringSome does not, at this point, take a ‘piece of the action’ i.e. there are no fees for ads, no percentage off the top if someone ‘buys’ a product from another member, in fact the revenue model is currently limited to:

• Paypal donations
• Ads (Google and a few locally generated image ads)

Some Core Functionality:

• Place ads and a little ‘please bring me X because’ note along with a product shot of the item you need
• Contacts are kept private.  If you can deliver the desired product, you can ‘email’ the requestor via the site and sort out how to trade
• Very simple, quick and easy signup.  No long ‘tell me your inside leg measurement’ forms.
• Personal message center along with forums, a place to ‘Hurrah’ when you get the adored item
• Search by text or location / country or just browse
• Polls and Who’s Online

Likes:
A nice niche which could be easily expanded as BringSome gains traction.  The BringSome system is beta and somehow the lack of control and member driven content gives it a real people helping people feel.  Makes me feel closer and less removed from the community.  It would be great if Dave could somehow keep that ‘feel’ as the site scales.

Dislikes:
Just a few questions/concerns:

• There’ s very little traction building tools within the site i.e ‘Send to Friend’ or similar on each ad or page.  There are some slight elements of bookmarks and one overall ‘ Send to Friend’ but that is site wide rather than on each product.  I would recommend more member driven traction building tools especially as I may not be traveling soon to Beijing but may have a friend who is.  A perfect opportunity to send the ‘Creamer’ ad to them so they can help out the Beijing creamer fetishist!
• The site requires some logistical challenges on the back end to work.  Example, I’m travelling to Beijing and want to take that desired creamer.  I email the Beijing member and we agree where to meet so I can give them the item.  This means I have to take time out while in Beijing and find a place that I may not know to meet a person I may not know to give them creamer.  In some ways this could actually be quite interesting. It could also be a pain in the rear.  One idea – I would definitely bring the creamer to Beijing in exchange for a local person to show me briefly around Beijing.  A great way to see a new place and perhaps make a new contact or friend.
• Is there any responsibility for the site to outline legal restrictions? Are there certain goods that are illegal in one country but not in another?  If this is left to the individuals to figure out, there could be some issues down the line for a small number of members and perhaps the site (?)
• Web 2.0 sites are tough to really get going even in one country – for BringSome to work it requires decent numbers of members in multiple countries which is tougher! But you know what…I think Dave and BringSome will actually do it and I think it will because of the member driven, personal ‘feel’ that the site has through user created ads without the ‘Ebay’ish’ template other sites have.

Suggestions:

• Lost revenue opportunity:  Not requiring members to set a finders fee for the item they need and taking a little piece or charging for ads.  But perfectly understandable as it’s very early days for BringSome.  Something tells me the site will probably go that route when they reach what they feel is critical mass.
• The site requires the ad creator to write where the item they need is from.  There is a field for their location but it would help ‘matches’ if members can search not only the requestor’s location but where the requested item is from.  So, I’m in the US and I’m about to travel to China.  If I go search China ads I’ll need to wade through ads from people in China wanting items from everywhere before finding ads for items needed from the US.  Not a problem now as it has a small membership, will be an issue when BringSome skyrockets!

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would BringSome virtual investment of $2o0K! Especially if someone can bring me some Cadbury’s Crunchies from the United Kingdom to the United States (NJ/NY). Crunchies in New York just DON’T taste the same! Try not to sit on them during the flight over, they melt!

http://www.BringSome.com

Interested in other articles about BringSome.com?

• http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/archives/bring_some_over.html
• http://gridskipper.com/travel/everywhere/bring-some-foreign-goodness-finder-282176.php
• http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/hungry-expats-rejoice.html

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Related posts:

1. HireThings: A $350K Virtual Investment
2. Lyro: A $100K Virtual Investment
3. Ning: A $500K Virtual Investment

TableXChange is exactly what the name implies – a website that helps people secure hard to get reservations at some of the most exclusive restaurants.  Want to impress by taking a date to Il Mulino’s to sample the divine Italian food of Chefs Fernando and Gino Masci but didn’t think to book ahead?  If you’re lucky then you can buy someone’s existing reservation – the price for a secured reservation for two this Friday at 8pm is $35 bucks.  Not too outrageous when you consider that’s the cost of three jars of Pomodoro Pasta Sauce through Il Mulino’s website.

Business Model:
Sellers can list as many reservations as they wish on TableXChange.  There is a $40 cap on the amount that they can charge reservation ‘buyers’.  How does TableXChange make money? Simple, for every reservation ‘sold’ TableXChange makes 12% of the agreed price.  If the reservation does not sell, no harm no foul, it was free to list and the failed ‘seller’ does not owe TableXChange any cash at all. So, sell a reservation for $30, then TableXChange takes a $3.60 cut.  You get $26.40 – not bad since you didn’t actually pay anything for the reservation – just five minutes on the telephone. Even at AT&T rates – that’s still a pretty good deal!

Some Core Functionality:

• Free to list and free to search by restaurant, date, time, neighborhood and price
• Free to cancel the sale at any time as long as it’s not sold. 
• No personal information is shared between parties – accept probably the name of the reservation i.e. Table for 2 for Smith but this only occurs when the reservation is sold
• Only three (3) reservations max at the same restaurant per night allowed
• Payment within 48 hours of reservation sale
• Pay and receive payment via Paypal. Easy!

Likes:
A neat idea!  Could do favors to buyers, sellers and restaurants especially if restaurants fill more tables if reservation makers sell their reservations rather than being ‘no shows’.  As a busy married guy the ability to get reservations at the last minute at great restaurants could really help…especially for this special days when I know I should have booked 45 days beforehand, but let’s face it, who really thinks that far ahead?  

Dislikes:
Just a few questions/concerns:

• As there is a $40 cap on the reservation price and a maximum of three reservations per restaurant per night, the very ‘special’ restaurant, in high demand will not be at the real market rate and should be snapped up quickly. This means that the really great restaurants that should ‘drive’ the adoption of this site may not actually be on the site for too long.  If they are not there, why should I go?
• At some point these guys should try to integrate into a larger site that offers users the ability to see if there are reservations available without needing to buy it through the system.  It would be plain annoying if I find I could have just called and booked direct for free.
• One obvious one is that TableXChange is just New York City and the Hamptons at this time. More place please.

Suggestions:

• Lost revenue opportunity:  Members need paypal, they refer people to paypal but don’t use a paypal referral number. Odd!  They could be making additional revenue from paypal for referals. This doesn’t cost members anything but is a ‘thank you’ from paypal.
• The restaurant listings do not include restaurant website links, descriptions or reviews.  I know I should know every restaurant on the site by reputation but the reality is, I don’t! If I’m going to pay someone $30 for a reservation, I’d first like to check out the restaurant, the Zagat rating (here’s another potential revenue stream for TableXChange) and customer reviews.

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would virtually invest $250K! Today New York and the Hamptons, Tomorrow the United States, and Friday the World! There are some obvious spinoff opportunities but I’ll leave that for dessert!

http://www.tablexchange.com

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Related posts:

1. My DNA Fragrance: A Virtual Investment of $250K
2. uWink: A $50K Virtual Investment
3. ILetYou: A $1M Virtual Investment (The First!)

Andrew
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

++

 Aime Street recently responded to the recent post ‘Aime Street: A $750K Virtual Investment’ with the following important point:

” Lucas Feb 23rd, 2007 at 12:03 am Edit

Hey Andrew,

Thanks for the 750K. Guess we’ll have to see what happens when that situation pops up. An important point along those lines is that we don’t tie down artists who upload their music with any sort of exclusivity agreement. The more people that hear the music, the better.

Lucas”

Thanks for the clarification and update Lucas.  The fact that Aime Street is focused on the good of all sides of the customer equation is clear.  Its great that a company is putting its customers first and this should ultimately ‘pay off’ for everyone.

Have your say here: http://www.andrewive.com/mdsg-forum/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Related posts:

1. Aime Street: A $750K Virtual Investment
2. Geni Speaks Back: Update
3. HireThings Speaks Back: An Update

PlanHQ.com is an online Business Planning and startup development tool.  Doesn’t sound very sexy does it but you’d be wrong. Having been crazy enough to start three different businesses, I can painfully testify that writing and even more challenging…sticking to the thinking within a good Business Plan is extremely tough.  Plan HQ is an innovative web application that helps entrepreneurs and startups not only create a business plan, but allocate tasks and track progress across the key players. If Plan HQ gets the kind of traction it should then Plan HQ will be a great little business with any number of service and product extensions for the entrepreneur.  Move over 37Signals!

Business Model:
Plan HQ has a nice and simple business model…all elements of the application are hosted by Plan HQ. No downloads, no maintenance, no hosting, no contracts – If Plan HQ does work out for you or you stop needing their service, just leave.  Think ‘Salesforce.com’ for business planning.  Plan HQ offers a 30 day free trial (http://www.planhq.com/signup/) and then the fees are based on number of users on a monthly basis.  So membership types and prices:

Mini   = $9 month / 3 users / 5 active goals
Small = $24 month / 5 users / 10 active goals
Professional = $49 month / Unlimited Users / 10 active goals

Some Core Functionality:
The Plan HQ Product is sub-divided into some management categories that are usually ‘key’ for most startups and early stage companies and of course there’s a ‘Dashboard’ so you can manage and track the imperative tasks. Management ‘uber’ categories include:

• The Dashboard - Covering main tasks, actions, upcoming goals, financials
• The Market  – Your Markets, the Competition, Customers and basic market and customer analytics
• Goals - Actual Goals, Add new goals, confidence of achievement and more
• Financials - Performance, Indicators, graphs 
• The Business Plan Document itself
• Team – Who have you got, who do you need

Likes:
I really like the Plan HQ business model and the product itself, it’s especially relevant for those businesses that are focused on moving towards significant growth and the Venture Capital route.

• The Product seems to cover the key elements of what a young company needs to focus on and allows enough configuration that the users are not ‘locked in’ to Plan HQ’s already good business management methodology
• I hate to put it like this but for those ‘new’ to building businesses from just a plan, the product can really help ensuring the key team members focus on what’s important to any business but especially the ‘young’ business…Customers, revenues, the team and fund raising.
• As its a web ap, this product is especially helpful for a distributed or virtual teams and also for bringing angels, other investors and advisors easily into the key decision making process.  It could actually help get Advisors pulling their weight by locking them into real trackable actions. Wow! Could this product really do this?

Dislikes:
Not so much dislikes as potential questions and ‘like to sees’:

• Paypal as a form of payment.  As a small business owner I don’t like adding my credit card to ongoing online services.
• The positioning is ‘Create, update, track and collaborate around your business plan’. Business Plans eventually fall by the wayside as the business scales and grows beyond a certain stage or size.  As a ‘virtual’ investor, I’d like to see how all the data captured through initial usage and the service ‘scales’ with the business. i.e. beyond the business plan and becoming an ongoing discipline and tool for managing the business ongoing.
• I’d like to see a referral program and a ‘Reseller’ model.  For example, a startup I’m involved with ‘Advisor Garage’ (http://www.AdvisorGarage.com)  has 1000+ entrepreneurs, angels and VCs onboard.  This is a service many of our members would probably like to use – can our company ‘subscribe’ and offer the Plan HQ service to our members for a fee?  I hope so! Let me know if any Plan HQ folks read this…

What’s unclear:

• how the data exports or integrates with other systems – i.e. quickbooks etc
• Are the ‘Permissions’ configurable? Will all signees be able to access all data? Would a CEO want that?

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would ask PlanHQ to include me in their ‘Virtual Investment’ plans to the tune of $750K. Once they establish this market, their are so many obvious product extensions that driving great revenues will be easy and hey…they have the tool to manage those new businesses.  Great job Plan HQ!

http://www.planhq.com/

Andrew – Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com/community

Related posts:

1. Aime Street: A $750K Virtual Investment
2. Bringsome: A $200K Virtual Investment
3. ILetYou: A $1M Virtual Investment (The First!)

“Nahum Wild | hirethings.com | IP: 131.203.101.14

Hi Andrew, great article.

You’ve obviously done your research and flicked around our website. To answer some of your dislikes/questions:

We are in the process of pushing out the charging functionality in the next week or so which includes a couple of changes to our documentation on the site. The main change being that success fees for bookings will only be created two days after the booking has been completed. This gives the supplier time to update the booking with what actually happened – if it differs from the original agreement. For longer bookings we’ll actually charge a success fee two weeks into the booking and with longer terms we are investigating either a fixed rate or staggered success fees over the booking’s duration. We’ll be watching for people that always cancel their bookings too )

The administrative side is going to be a challenge, but I believe that we’re up to that and have the right people for the job. Controlling what is and isn’t on the site will set the mood for the whole concept, it’s a delicate balance of professionalism / business and community. Do we allow hugs or not? We’re still pondering that one.

Yes, obviously repeat customers bypassing the system once they and a supplier have made the initial contact could be a problem for us. Same type of issues that auction sites undoubtedly have. We plan to learn from them and offer a service with awesome value and features that keeps people coming back to and using the site.

Recently a fantastic User Interaction expert joined the team which we are very excited about as this allows the experience to jump up a notch, including tidying up some of the obvious clutter etc…

We’ve got heaps of cool additions planned, so watch this space!

Regards,

Nahum Wild
Development Manager
www.hirethings.co.nz“

++

If you would like to have your say or ask any questions, come along to the “Have Your Say” forum above.

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Related posts:

1. HireThings: A $350K Virtual Investment
2. Geni Speaks Back: Update
3. Aime Street Speaks Back: Update

Business Model:
HireThings has a nice and simple business model…if the item you put up for rent is rented by someone, you pay HireThings either a percentage or a percentage plus cash combination depending on the value of the hire.

Value of booking*     Proposed success fee (incl. GST)
Up to $100               5% of hire/rental fee charged. Min charge $0.50.
$100 – $250              $5 + 4% of hire fee over $100
$250 – $500              $11 + 3% of hire fee over $250
$500 – $1500            $18.50 + 2% of hire fee over $500
$1500 +                   $38.5 + 1% of hire fee over $1500.

Max fee per booking = $100.

In my opinion, simple and transparent business models are always the best and this one is nice and clean given that people only pay when they have secured a hire and make money themselves.  No speculation investment required. This should help adoption…oh yeah, and they do not seem to be getting involved in the visually distracting adsense model. Thanks Guys!

Some Core Functionality:

• Members can created a ‘trusted network’ and can choose to only offer items within that network or the broader full site network
• Listing, photo upload, multiple categories including services and place hire…
• Customers can view listing’s details and submit a quote or booking request
• The Hire Things website calculate an estimated cost for the booking
• Renters are notified by email of the new customer request, and can confirm or respond with a firmer quote.

Likes:
A nice and simple concept, business model and execution -

• I like HireThings UI and the clean, fun graphics – it was a simple site to figure out and use
• The ‘Trusted Network’ is a nice angle that could help adoption and friend referral
• If a person rents an item, the renter has the fee deducted from their topped up account – simple

Dislikes:
Not so much dislikes as potential ‘watchouts’ or concerns:

• If the fee is deducted from the topped up account when the transaction is confirmed, what happens if there are challenges with the rental? i.e. item not received, received but not functioning, item not returned, item returned broken – you get the idea. 
• Are any of the above challenges on HireThings to resolve? If so, hope they have a big admin staff…
• The ‘Trusted Network’ is a nice idea but assuming you add your ‘friends’ and ‘contacts’ to this network – why wouldn’t they just contact each other outside of the system and offer to lend them the articles without incurring the commission?
• Keeping the quality of the listings is going to be a challenge as this grows…for example, there is already a listing for “Soft or Hard Hugs” in the services section – now I like hugs as much of the next guy but to hire a 3rd party? Hummm….see that blue flashing light yet? Shame there’s no photo…

One little suggestion for the HireThings guys…the front page of items is hard on the brain given the range and categories of products meshed together…you may want to create a categorization or perhaps quick read icons for the different categories.

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would ask them to ‘Let’ me virtually invest $350K. 

http://www.hirethings.co.nz/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Related posts:

1. HireThings Speaks Back: An Update
2. Bringsome: A $200K Virtual Investment
3. Social Flowers: A $150K Virtual Investment

ILetYou hasn’t even launched yet but this site is going to be HUGE! HUGE I tell you!!!! Cackle…Cackle!

What’s the basic idea?  People with DVDs and games at home set up their own ‘online rental stores’ and rent their own DVDs and games to others. The more people who sign up the more variety and eclectic the catalog becomes – I wouldn’t be surprised if you will ultimately be able to find DVDs and games here that you can’t find anywhere else but Ebay…plus the rental prices are less than Netflix etc…does anyone see an industry shift over the horizon?

Business Model:
ILetYou will let users set up their own online rental store and list DVDs and games for FREE.  Their business model is to charge a small slice of the transaction fee for each rental so in the 40 cents range.  Not huge but multiply that by 100,000+ rentals and this business becomes a cash cow overnight.  Not too hard to imagine if they have the referral/viral elements right.

What do they provide?  The platform, the credit card processing engine and the marketing – WOW! What a business! Wish I had thought of it!  Damn!

Some Core Functionality:

• Members can create their own online rental ‘store fronts’
• ILetYou handles credit card transactions
• Orders are passed through to the store ‘owners’
• …will need to see the site live to comment on the viral elements… 

Likes:
Like, Like, Like…what’s not to like?

• DVDs & games at cheaper prices than the ‘high street’ rental stores & mail to rental companies
• The ability to rent my own DVDs and games without selling them once at an Ebay or similar – ongoing revenue stream…wow!
• All the hassle of finding renters dealt with by someone else…double wow!
• Will likely result in a range of DVDs and games that I probably cannot find elsewhere
• And I can choose what I rent rather than making a list of my top 10 and being suprised according to what the other online rental companies have in stock…triple wow!

Dislikes:
The only itsy bitsy potential dislike is when I rent via ILetYou I’m dealing with an unknown vendor – I’m not to concerned about the quality of the DVDs being sent (although some may be), but I am concerned about the scenario where you get a DVD, watch it, send it back and start getting angry emails or whatever from a ‘scammer’ who complains the DVD is broken, its my fault and I need to pay for it.  May not happen but when you are dealing with individuals – you just never know.  Does ILetYou have an answer for that kind of scenario? Perhaps a guarantee or something? Don’t know but if they did, it may make the reticent dive in!

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would mail the whole amount to ILetYou tomorrow if they would take it! And they wouldn’t need to return it after a week either…what a business! BTW, this is my first $1M virtual investment! Congrats ILetYou! As if you care…you soon to be VERY wealthy guys!

http://www.iletyou.com/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

Related posts:

1. HireThings: A $350K Virtual Investment
2. PlanHQ: A $750K Virtual Investment
3. Cherrypicka: A $100K Virtual Investment

Farecast is a new way of approaching online travel purchasing that could change how we all shop for online travel. This could be a real winner if they can get the average consumer to buy into the concept. 

It’s about time that there was some real innovation in the online travel space.  My personal experience when jumping between Expedia, Travelocity, Opodo and others is the difference is often marginal (a few bucks) and often a few bucks more expensive than going to the airline directly.  My established habit is to find the best flight using these online services and then to go direct to the airlines and buy the flight. Am I the norm here?

Anyway, Farecast analyses fare changes of airlines over a significant period to ‘predict’ what will happen with ticket prices between 75 airports and makes a 75% accurate (?) recommendation regarding what is likely to happen with that ticket price.  i.e. wait, or all time low – buy etc.

There are a number of elements and value adds to this site that I wouldn’t do justice to here. I recommend you check it out. But a few key points, Farecast covers the top airlines, can save you money, you book directly so keep frequent flyer miles that other sites take and there is no booking fee.  I good deal no?

Business Model:
As there are no FAQs within the Farecast site, it’s a little challenging to determine the exact long term business model.  What’s noticeable is there is a shortage of ‘advertising’ and there is no margin added to the purchase of airlines tickets as consumers buy them directly from the airline.

They may have relationships with the airlines which give them some kind of monetary benefits for tickets purchased , such as through an affiliate program but that is unclear. 

One neat and obvious revenue stream is what Farecast is calling Fare Guard – with Fare Guard you basically lock in the lowest price of an airline ticket between two locations for a week.  This pricing ‘hedging’ costs you $9.95.  Book your ticket with any airline at any price within the week and if there is a price increase against your locked in lowest rate, Farecast will give you a refund of the difference between the lowest price and your ‘guarded’ price.

Given many could purchase this ‘option’ and not exercise and many could purchase and the price may not increase, this is money for peace of mind and involves no outlay that I can see from Farecast.  Great business model no?  They may decide to take out ‘insurance’ which will cost a fee but I would be surprised given the quantity of deals they will be involved with…my guess is they have just run the numbers and believe they can make a decent margin.  They may well be right.

Some Core Functionality:

• Fare Prediction
• Arrow: An indicator showing the price ‘trend’ for the flights you are interested in.
• Confidence: A percentage based on Farecasts accuracy of predictions for flights of the kind you are evaluating.
• Average Fare Change.
• Buying Tip: Farecast’s recommendation which is supposedly 75% accurate.
• Fare Guard: The ability to pay $9.95 to lock in the price of the lowest priced ticket for this flight against a guarded rate.  This hedge mechanism will give you a check refund. See below for more details. 

Likes:
Any site which can give me some indication that I can wait 24 hours and save money is worth using.  It’s annoying to purchase a ticket to find the price has halved two weeks later, this may be the answer to that consumer frustration.

Fare Guard is also a great idea and I would even use it, especially for personal travel.

It’s nice and simple which is especially good given how complex it could be. 

Dislikes:
A few little dislikes:

1. Will the average ‘Joe’ or ‘Joanne’ use this site?  Given the average is often a pretty low common denominator – I still wonder if its a little complex for the ‘average’. (Hopefully they don’t read this blog ‘cos I’m not sure I could cope with the hate mail)
2. Business travelers are often price insensitive – they would prefer to buy the darn ticket then focus on the key business issues and emergencies.  If this is the case, Farecast may have to rely upon the occasional personal travel of the business user that has suddenly become more price sensitive, or the Joe’s and Joanne’s outlined above.  But, if they are regular business travelers, they will likely have significant air miles and may not be in the market for waiting around for price shifts.
3. Farecast has something special here – I almost expected the site to look quite different to get the message home…but it looks similar to all the rest.  I guess there’s a fine line to be walked between being and looking too different.

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would use $500K to predict Farecast’s success.

http://www.farecast.com/

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

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CherryPicka is a very early stage South African site that has an innovative business model.  CherryPicka is an online new product showcase which allows customers to purchase and try new and recently launched products at a significant discount to the recommended retail price and encourages them to write reviews.

Business Model:
CherryPickas encourages companies with new products to offer a certain number of these products to CherryPicka for free, CherryPicka then adds a small percentage and in turn offers them to their membership to try and review.

In addition, CherryPicka intends to leverage banners ads and other forms of advertising as this site picks up traction.

A smart and interesting element to this is CherryPicka does not take ownership of these items but rather agrees the quantity of new products or services to be donated and then passes on the customer contact details directly to the companies.  Smart because it reduces their costs and also because the companies gain:

1)  A series of customer reviews online (creating buzz and links)
2)  The contact details of customers interested in their products

…at no cost aside from ‘donating’ a certain number of trial products that they would likely need to offer to start the buzz rolling through more traditional, perhaps less impactful channels.

Some Core Functionality:

• Each product has a dedicated page which ’showcases’ its uniqueness, selling messages. user reviews and link backs to the launching companies homepage
• Send to Friend functionality for each product, alongside the capability to review and find out more information
• RSS Feeds of new items so customers can be updated. Necessary as items seem to sell out quickly

Likes:
By offering deep discounts on new and innovative products the customers are getting a great deal. This should encourage the early adopters and first movers to try the products with little risk.  As they are getting a great deal, they should feel encouraged to review the item.

The companies are getting their products out to interested consumers and this can help provide the data they may need about customer acceptance to help secure new distribution channels – particularly useful for young service and product companies that are struggling to penetrate new retailers, catalog companies and so on.

The reviews are not controlled so they can be positive and negative – better negative comments are instantly seen by the manufacturers and inventors than a grass root negative campaign takes hold without their ability to consider the feedback, respond or change. 

Dislikes:
A few little dislikes:

1)  Great concept but mostly limited to South Africa – Anyone want to tackle other countries?
2)  As its new this could explain it but a significant number of the items are sold out
3)  More items required. Stay tuned, this seems to be because its a new site

My Virtual Investment:
With my virtual $1M, I would use $100K to pick CherryPicka.

http://www.cherrypicka.com/index.php

Andrew
Founder
http://www.AdvisorGarage.com

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