On The Web Front Podcast

This week we are joined by Philip Smith, Executive in Residence at the Plug and Play Tech Center and advisor to startups in Silicon Valley.  Philip discusses a number of startup topics including:

• The Plug and Play center in Sunnyvale
• Why your startup demo and presentation is so important
• The web startups he is advising including: Us Trendy, Desisyon, My Caption, User Zoom, 3Scale and others

23andMe.com

In this week’s long overdue episode we are joined by Chia and Alex from 23andMe.com. We chat with Alex and Chia about their startup experiences at 23andMe and at their previous employers. In addition we talk about:

• The 23andMe Research Revolution which allows a discounted $99 rate for your own genetic testing and health traits
• Chia’s role as community manager and how tools like Twitter and Facebook can be used to engage your customer and grow your business
• And why any startup should have good air conditioning.

Please leave a comment or question below!

On The Web Front Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by Zohair Hyder, founder of Dabbleboard and creator of almostmeet.com a collaborative group meeting application. Zohair joins us in the studio to discuss his issues in starting his company, developing his products, and the ongoing challenge in marketing and sales that every startup faces. We also discuss:

• The danger of populating your site or other sites with fake reviews
• The Techcrunch decision to publish documents from Twitter
• Zohair’s newest product almostmeet.com
• and other topics

Please leave questions or comments below. Please also accept my apologies for the audio quality. This issue has been fixed for future episodes.

On The Web Front Podcast

In this week’s podcast we revisit startup’s that we have reviewed in past episodes and we also look at some new websites.

• oDesk is yet another outsourcing application. oDesk differentiates itself by offering a frequent view of the contractor’s desktop so the hiring company can keep tabs on the work completed. Invoicing, billing, and other admin functions are provided automatically.
• In the “where are they now” category we revisit briefly Zicasso and Retrevo
• and other industry news

Please leave comments or questions below.

“Business speak” words, phases and jargon, tossed around by a writer or a lecturer/speaker/presenter, as shorthand, make the article/presentation tedious to read or to listen.  Often the trite terms are used out of context when a more precise word should be used.  Most importantly, the use of business speak removes all originality or creativity from the article or presentation.  It’s like saying “You know… you know… you know…”

Business speak phrases to be banned:

• “thinking out of the box”- this ridiculously overused phrase has become so ubiquitous that its mere use, ironically, now demonstrates that the writer or speaker is not thinking outside the box, but instead, is locked up inside the box, going down the same old rout path.
• “siloing”- too often used as a shorthand from describing the problem with individuals or agencies working independently when, for whatever reason, they should be working together, for an integrated solution to some problem.  However, the term is most often used to describe a relationship between two or more entities, without diving more deeply into the issues of why there is independence among entities.
• “Just north of…” – (to describe a value, number, or figure, e.g. the national debt is just north of one trillion dollars).  Use it once in a presentation and I am fine with it.  Use it “north of one time” and now you have annoyed me with your lack of creativity.
• “mission critical”- again, use it once.  Cool.  More than once, not so good.
• “workspace” (”space”) -  just overly used.  Often in discussions which are overly general, superficial and vague.  If you want to grab someone’s attention, at some point you need to be specific.  So focus, focus, focus.  Otherwise your article or presentation become business fluff.
• “color blind society” – (to describe a world in which discrimination does not exist)  As someone who suffers from the affliction of colorblindness, I find it offensive to use the term, in such a heartless manner.  All kidding aside, the ironic thing is that it is used in a scientifically, incorrect manner.  Even if, arguendo, we were all color blind, we still could distinguish black from white.  In other words, we still could distinguish a black person from a white person.  So, in fact, the phrase “color blind society” is not only offensive but completely inaccurate to describe a world in which one would not make determinations based on color of ones skin, with the proviso that people are not red-brown or blue-green.

On The Web Front Podcast

We have a special edition of our startup podcast this week as we are joined by start-up entrepreneur Bill Hunt. L ast week Gabrielle posted a synopsis of Bill’s discussion on fundraising for your startup.  We discussed the salient points of Gabrielle’s post with Bill and asked some additional questions on fund raising, venture capital, start-up patents and making your pitch stand out.

Please write in with any questions or comments for Bill or our regular contributors.

I hear this question often from new clients. It’s as if the magic Google bullet will cure all website ills. Often these clients could spend time and money elsewhere, like improving conversion, making their site easier to use, or adding another site.  But those are topics for another post.

Today, we discuss the same thing that I have been discussing for years: “Content is King”, meaning that the more information you provide on your website the better chance someone will find it. Google has long ranked sites with lots of pages highly. In addition to links from other websites, content is one of the most important factors in search engine optimization.

In addition, lots of content is not just for SEO, it is helpful to customers who want to make an informed decision about your products and services. You can develop strong customer relationships if you’re site becomes a trusted source for information.

Sites such as hubpages.com and about.com are good examples. These sites list many topics in a structured, deep hierarchy on their site. Due to the large number of pages in these sites, they often gain front page status on many Google searches.

In a future post we will discuss content on social networking sites and how that is the Queen to your King. But until then, go write another couple of informative fact filled pages on your site today.

Define, evaluate, observe and engage

Define – What do I want to get out of participating? Why am I here? To listen and discover? To stay on top of trends? To promote and educate? To sell?

Evaluate – See what social media tools are available and which align with your company objectives. Research and discover where your audience is, they may not be where you think.

Observe – Follow thought leaders, competitors and companies with a purpose driven strategy for social media. Listen and discover what is being said in your industry and by your target audience.

Engage – Decide which media is right for you and get started. Remember to be consistent and that the purpose of any social media involvement is to enable a more interactive relationship between people.

Putting together a social media strategy, like any other business strategy, will help greatly in gaining a faster return on your investment. Design your strategy with a specific business purpose in mind. Let’s face it, although many of the social tools are free, the time it takes to truly engage and get the most from this opportunity can be significant but at the same time very rewarding if you’ve defined your goals and measurements of success ahead of time.

What do you do if you inadvertently discover that you labeled something as “patent pending” and, in fact, no patent has been filed?  Again, this happens more often then you may imagine.  Serendipitously, this issue just came up today.  Consider the following, typically fact pattern.  You intend to file a patent application before you roll out new software.  As a result, within the software start-up screen is the label, “patent pending.”  However, right before you roll out the new software, the world economy falls apart, and you are short of capital resources, so you decide to release the software without first filing a patent application.  Unfortunately, you fail to realize that the software includes the label “patent pending.”

Based on the facts as outlined above, there was no intent to deceive the public.  Nevertheless, you have mislabeled the product as “patent pending” and it is not.  Rather than pulling all product from the store shelves, one simple solution would be to file a patent application is relatively short order, after you discover the inadvertent mislabeling.  (See future posts regarding the timing of when to file a patent application.)  Please note, failure to remedy the oversight within a reasonably time after it is discovered could be used as evidence that you did intend to deceive. Should you discover that you have mislabeled a product or process, it is recommended that you consult a patent attorney so that he or she can review the specific facts of you case and advise you accordingly.

On The Web Front Podcast

Join us for our first podcast in several weeks, as we review our first set of blog posts including:

• Steve’s look at Patent Pending and what it means to your startup
• Mike’s call for more than one site to market your business
• Gabrielle’s discussion of Value Proposition and what this vague marketing term means
• Robert highlights the importance of your business plan and keeping it up to date.

Please leave comments below!

Also the demo should be impactful but short. You want to leave with the audience wanting to ask questions and learn more about what you’re doing. Try and keep it under 10 minutes if possible which should provide time to explain the concept, impact to user(s), and then quick demo. Don’t cover too much but be prepared to answer obvious questions such as monetization strategy, time to release, problems in development and if solved, etc.

Not everything has been solved, Google is not the best at everything.

I am surprised at the number of people with entrepreneurial spirit that discount any new idea, just because “its already been done”. Or “Google already does that”. Search is still in its infancy, its still barely works in my opinion. Here is a test you can do right now, find the best doctor/hotel/restaurant in your town for what you need right now.

If you search Google for the answers to the above, you may find general answers from many different people each with their own opinion and views, or you might not find an answer at all. Even if you do find an answer, more often than not, those views are not the same as yours.

The missing piece is personalization – the content that links you to the answer. The part that is the right answer for you and, potentially, no one else. Each person has unique situations, needs, and goals. What is the right restaurant or doctor or hotel for one, is not right for all.

If you have an idea, it need to address someone’s pain, and it has to solve that problem. It doesn’t matter that it is loosely grouped into “search” or another topic that is already “done”. Go out, address a pain and build a solution, especially if its around personalization on the web.

Note to self: the goal of the first pitch is to get a second pitch.

Make sure things are easy to visualize with a demo or mock up if necessary. VCs normally give an hour time slot, be prepared to give a 30 minute presentation leaving room for questions and answers. Adjust your pitch on the fly if necessary and have back up slides prepared for the zinger, could be beneficial and make you look even more prepared. Also, be aware of how you run the meeting and the confidence you convey. They are, after all, considering giving you money.

Know what problem or pain you’re solving and how deep that pain is. Talk about your unique solution and things that set you apart from the competition. Talk about your team and any patents or potential patents you may have that overcome roadblocks others can’t.

Talk about the market size, validate with third party data and potential. Make sure financials are realistic and are in line with the market size. Don’t be too aggressive with financials; VCs have a really good memory for numbers. Have a go to market plan and realize that how you plan to execute is critical.

Finally, remember to consider what value beyond the dollar particular investors will bring. Know what industry expertise a particular investor has, what they are currently looking for in a potential and what size investments they are making now. Is their portfolio complimentary or competitive?

Further complicating matters, the country where the patent application is pending may also be unclear.  Therefore, one cannot simply consult a central patent application database to discern what is being patented.  Typically, one needs to conduct a patent search using various different databases, most often done by a trained professional such as a search agent, with the results reviewed by a patent attorney. Therefore, it is recommended that you consult your friendly neighborhood patent attorney.

While your plan can be as detailed or specific as you like, there are two primary things you should include:

Description of your business:
a. Clients, both specific and general
b. Competition, again, specific and general
c. Competitive advantage

Your business finances:
a. Your target salary
b. Taxes (30-40%, but consult your tax attorney)
c. Business expenses (like rent, utilities, computers and furniture)
d. Billable hours (will you work 40 hours a week, part-time, only on weekends, etc.)

Referral link to SBA

Although a value proposition is short and easy to read, they can be one of the most difficult tasks for many start-ups and companies to complete, which is why many mistakenly go to market without one.

Although extensive homework is a prerequisite of this exercise, it will be one of the best time investments towards the marketing and development your company you can make.

By creating a value proposition that is relevant to your target audience you are saying that you know where they are coming from, where they’ve been and where they wish they could go. You’re doing the work for them, creating a connection and making it easier for them to say yes, you know my issues, I want to know more.

To build your best value proposition address these eight bullet points and remember to keep your focus heavily on understanding the core values of your target audience and what business need or pain point your offer solves.

• What are the core competencies of you company or service?
• Define who you are targeting, listen to them and understand the trends
• What problem do you solve?
• Study your competition
• Prioritize your values and choose one or two that make you stand apart from the competition
• Write an easy to read value proposition (It may be best to have a professional business writer enter at this point. Be sure to do all of the research yourself first and write out a few value propositions that your writer can start from to save $$)
• Test, test, test (Try-out at networking events or with other colleagues not familiar with your company)
• Finalize and publish (Add it to your website, business card, brochures, and networking intro)

Same goes for websites. If you only have one website, you might be losing new sales and customers.  With more than one website you can target certain demographics, keywords, or conversion processes to sell more products.

For instance, one site may sell a single product line with a single price. It would cater to customers that want a simple purchase.  For other customers who want to configure the product to their exact specifications, a different order process and site content is probably necessary. Where the first customer wants a “one click” shopping experience, the latter wants a lot of technical detail and the ability to configure it “just right”.

Each week we will look at another aspect of your multiple personalities on the web.

“Patent Pending” means that an application for a patent application has been submitted to a national patent office, e.g. the US Patent Office. At least the applicant believes that the patent application covers a new, non-obvious and useful invention, e.g. a device or process. The patent application can be a provisional or non-provisional application filed in the United States or an international PCT application.  Due to an involved examination process, there is no guarantee that a pending patent application will ever issue as a patent. Further, provisional patent applications expire after one year, so if another provisional or a non-provisional patent covering the same invention is not filed within that year, the subject matter or invention of the provisional ceases to be considered “patent pending.”

See future posts for more on the distinction between provisional, non-provisional and international patent application in subsequent posts.

This week we cover:

• Top website home page mistakes
• dabbleboard.com – a collaborative whiteboard
• skout.com – meet people on the go

On The Web Front Podcast

In this week’s podcast we review sites that keep you connected to family, help find missed connections, and also break that connection if necessary.

• ramamia.com – share content with family quickly and easily
• breakkup.com – post your relationship problem and get help from the masses to decide to stay together, or call it quits
• missedconnections.com – find that someone from years ago, or across the street

Please leave comments, criticism, or suggestions below.

Review of breakkup.com website

Unsure on your current relationship? Can’t decide whether to break it off? Well fear not, the interweb is here to save the day. Simply outline your dilemma at breakkup.com (note the two k’s) and randoms from across the internet will vote to break up or stay together.  In addition they offer a paid break up service where they will send a professionally written message by email or old fashioned snail mail, if you can’t pull the trigger yourself.

Pros:

• Clean, easy to browse site
• Good content that is fun to read

Cons:

• Some content is boring, they should add celebrity content and other content that will attract visitors
• Visitor retention problems as they have had traffic in the past, but people are not staying

Review of missed connections startup website

See someone on the subway you didn’t get a chance to speak with? Missing a friend from years ago? List who you are looking for on MissedConnections.com and hope they get some more users. The Missed Connection site is simple to use as you can add a connection in a few easy steps. However, without much content and very few visitors,  you are better off riding the subway all day looking for Mr or Mrs Right.

Pros:

• Simple to use, easy to understand
• Interesting idea that could be an entertaining diversion

Cons:

• Few posts, little traffic, low chances of connecting
• Search box did not provide results for several city/state searches. It only seemed to work for zip codes sometimes

Review of Ramamia.com website

Ramamia.com provides a quick way to share photos, messages, and other content with your family.  The site promises to provide a simple way to login without a username or password while still keeping your content private. By doing so, the site hopes to attract families that might not post their content on public sites such as Facebook, Flickr, and other sharing sites. While we thought the site filled its promise, we were confused by the security model making some of us hesistant to use the service.

Pros:

• Quick sign up with the site ready in moments
• Easy to use

Cons:

• The instant login links were confusing as contributors to the podcast didn’t undertand how they secured their content
• There were some beta issues with formatting, look and feel that are easily fixed

• onehub.com – a simple extranet or intranet builder that allows you to collaborate with partners, vendors, and customers
• entitea.com – a tea recipe social network
• swoopo.com – entertainment shopping that allows you to swoop in and bid late and win the auction

Please leave comments or ideas for future episodes in the comment section below.

Review of swoopo.com

A unique online shopping experience at swoopo.com had most of us confused at first. Once we understood the bidding process and the deterministic nature of the auctions, we found the site to be fun and offer good bargains, if you understand the auction process. However, you can easily spend a lot of money and not win anything on this site, so read the directions carefully!

Pros:

• Unique sales process that is fun to use
• Some products are sold at very discounted prices

Cons:

• Since you are paying for each bid, if you are not the winner, your money is lost
• The “true” price of an item is hard to estimate due to the fact that it costs $0.75 to make a $0.15 bid

We were split in our opinion on this site, some liked it and some did not. There are some issue with the marketing of the site, and how auctions are explained that prevented the site from getting a thumbs up from all of us.

Review of onehub.com website

OneHub.com simplifies the creation of intranets and extranets to share documents, discussions, tasks lists and more. Their site is easy to understand, simple to navigate, and has a clear message about their service. In general, we liked this site as it provided a simple solution to a common problem while being easy to use.

Pros:

• Well designed website that made the service easy to understand and provided a simple demo video
• The service itself is easy to setup and use and includes a number of common features for collaboration

Cons:

• We would like to see a better dashboard with a history of changes when you log into your hub
• The pricing model may be expensive, depending upon how many projects you have active or archived

All of our contributors like this site and gave the service a thumbs up.

Entitea.com startup website review

Do we need yet another social network (YASN), especially one for tea and tea drinking? We think not. Entitea.com provides tea recipes, suggested tea remedies for illness, and groups and forum tools to share your favorite recipes.

Pros:

• Simple interface for searching recipes and tea recommendations
• The forum, groups, and other social tools provide an updated format for tea drinkers to share ideas

Cons:

• Difficult (and not too pretty) user interface
• Search results that seemed too similar and lacked explanation
• Too little content to be usable

Overall our contributors gave this site a quick thumbs down. Hopefully the site will improve the graphic design, home page content, and improve search results for what ails you.

On The Web Front Podcast

In this week’s podcast we discuss three websites that rely on visitors to build content. We also discuss the definition of a ”beta” site and what a “beta” site is not. We reviewed:

sitorsquat.com – a site dedicated to telling you where the closest place to relieve yourself is and whether or not that place is worth even sitting or squatting (or standing) at.

circleofmoms.com – the fastest growing community for moms on the Internet. Launched in October 2008, it enables moms to connect and address the challenges of motherhood together.

iggli.com – this site claims to be the new standard for event based invites that makes it easy for people to tell their friends about an event and manage group interactions related to the event.

sitorsquat.com

Here’s proof there’s a website for everyone, even those with an urgent need to find a bathroom, see a picture of the toilet and view a rating posted by others on the go. As declared on their home page of sitorsquat.com, this is the place to find and record bathrooms anywhere in the world.

Beyond being fun party discussion, this site proved to be easy to use on-line. But unless you have irritable bowel syndrome, as pointed out in their target audience demographics, who will be planning bathroom reconnaissance for a daily outing? Enter sit or squat mobile for iphone and Blackberry.

Pros:

• iphone application was easy to install, find toilets and add toilets
• Well thought out down to their thorough press kit including target audience and demographics

Cons:

• Open rating system seems off balance - many of the toilets had a low star rating with SIT rather than squat

iggli.com

iggli.com promises to make you popular, just by showing their icon. We had trouble understanding their value proposition, message, and how you would use their site. Listen to this week’s podcast for more.

Pros:

• If integrated with ticket sales websites, would make it easier for groups to coordinate purchases

Cons:

• Unclear how they will make these relationships with ticket vendors
• Not sure how group ticket purchases are handled when you are unsure of which friend’s might RSVP

circleofmoms.com

Launched in October of 2008, this massive forum has captured the attention of one of the largest growing and most active groups on the internet, mothers.  Circle of Moms touts over 850,000 users and growing. Users can join existing groups of anywhere from 18 members to 41,000 members or create new groups and discussions. A word of caution, members should be prepared to receive hundreds to thousands of responses to a question. Who has the time?

One out of four On the Web Front critics would potentially even use this site but we can all agree that they have gained access to profiles of mothers and their children, a virtual smorgasbord for advertisers, neatly categorized among other things by location, children’s ages and their daily “pains”.

Pros:

• Huge member base established in a short timeframe
• Easy to set up a profile, join groups and view discussions

Cons:

• Comment overload. Some questions have so many answers, they seem to go on and on.

On The Web Front Podcast

In this week’s podcast we look at three websites and discuss the recent web anonymity issues that have been published in the media. We reviewed:

• fixya.com – online product questions and answer site that did not provide as many answers as we hoped
• rateitall.com – a review site for anything, where users can be paid for traffic on the site
• shoppingnotes.com – a micro bookmarking site that watches the price on product pages and notifies you when the price drops by email

Please leave comments or suggestions for a future podcast below.

rateitall.com

Rateitall.com bills itself as an online database of diverse opinions. Users are able to rate anything from a car to Thanksgiving side dishes, to their last teacher at school. The about us page states that “Participating members of RateItAll can earn cash for various activities on the site.” It is unclear if they want honest, open reviews or simply reviews that generate the most adsense revenue for them and the writer.

Pros:

• Covers a wide range of items
• Fun diversion when rating unusual items and comparing with your friends

Cons:

• Unclear message as “The best place online for reviews on any topic” because of a possible conflict of interest between the review and the advertising revenue
• Many reviews are very one sided and not as helpful as other sites

shoppingnotes.com

ShoppingNotes.com is a bookmark site that includes a price watch engine to alert you when a product at a certain URL changes. You can bookmark individual pages and get notified by email if there is a price change.

Pros:

• Simple idea that gives you smarter bookmarks so you don’t have to check the price
• Easy to use as you can immediately paste in a URL without even registering

Cons:

• Only watches the URLs that you add, so if the item is cheaper somewhere else online, you may not know
• May not appeal to many impulse shoppers who can’t wait

fixya.com

Fixya.com promotes itself as a tech support and product manual search site. The site allows users to post and answer questions on a variety of products from cars to electronics to appliances.  In addition to the free questions and answers provided by the members of the site, there is a paid ask an expert section.

Pros:

• Simple site design with two columns
• Good colors

Cons:

• Cluttered content
• Inconsistent user experience
• Many unanswered or incorrectly answered questions

Find out more in this week’s podcast.

On The Web Front

In this weeks podcast we focus on two web applications for building on-line presentations and one site just for fun:

• 280Slides – provides an online tool to create, edit, and publish presentations. While most of us found it easy to use, it is still a new product with very few features that we expect from presentation software.
• ScreenToaster – a online utility to record your desktop.  Unforunately three of us were unable to get the software to work at all. When it did work, it was easy to use but failed to impress.
• PocketMod – a small utility to produce a single page planner that can be folded into your pocket to take with you. Give it a try and tell us… What’s in your pocketmod?

Please leave us comments!

Pocketmod

A clever and low-tech solution for keeping lists, information and notes on hand in an 8 page booklet custom printed and folded from a single sheet of paper. It’s fun to build but what is it for? We invite you to create one for yourself and tell us what’s in your Pocketmod in the comments below.

280 Slides

280slides allows users to create presentations, access them from anywhere and share them with the world. There is no software to download and the service is free. Existing PowerPoint presentations can be uploaded and used with 280slides or download your 280slide presentations to PowerPoint.

Pros:

• Delivers on all of it’s promises, easy to use
• Integrates video and photos

Cons:

• No ability to animate graphics
• Very basic features, may not be ready for your next presentation requirements

screentoster.com

A French start-up, ScreenToaster allows users to create screen recordings with one click. The service is free with no software to download. You can use the screen recordings to market your products, create training videos, or show your application to friends. This site is still in a private beta.

Pros (when it worked):

• Easy to use and fast
• The playback quality was good

Cons:

• Didn’t work for 3 out of 4 of us

On The Web Front Podcast

In this week’s podcast we review three new websites related to real estate, human genetics, and product reviews:

• 23andMe.com – personal genetics testing. This site has a lot of press, and has already won awards, but our podcast contributors were still hesitant to use the service.
• 11sqft.com – micro office space and desk rentals for small business. A niche that needs to be filled, but this site failed to impress. We provide suggestions for improvement.
• mychoicebot.com – a product comparison tool, that all of us found hard to use. An interesting idea that needs simplifying and better instructions.

Please leave your feedback, criticism and opinion as we would love to include the feedback in the next podcast.

mychoicebot.com

mychoicebot.com sets out to help purchasers make informed decisions by enabling them to compare a number of product features at once. Their “bots” (who knows why they picked this name…) allow you to specify features for a particular product set, enter the values for each specific product you are interested in, and then set the importance of that feature. The site targets product reviewers who can plug the “bot” into their own sites – filled in, and ready to go.

Pros:

• Provides a single application to input product features and their importance
• Can be integrated into a blog or online e-tailer along side information about those products

Cons:

• Not as intuitive or easy to use as the site would suggest
• Target customers unclear

23andme.com

There has been a lot of coverage already regarding 23andme.com, the company that makes DNA testing affordable and accessible. For this company, we are not looking at their startup potential, but how we perceive their technology and how we might use it (or not use it).

Pros:

• Provides information into personal genetics including ancestry and health traits
• Price continues to drop, down to $399 from over a $1,000 recently

Cons:

• Google’s investment gives a “big brother” feeling to what may happen with your DNA results
• How new anti-discrimination laws have to be enacted in order to protect you

To be discussed in our upcoming podcast.

11sqft.com

The online commercial real estate market already caters to big business and companies looking to lease or find office space for several employees. For micro businesses looking for a single desk, or companies with extra desks or offices to rent, there aren’t as many choices. 11sqft.com looks to plug this gap by catering to the single desk space allowing companies to list single desk or single office rentals and match them with prospective small businesses looking for a place to call home.

Pros:

• Focus on a specific niche
• Provides a simple way to find micro spaces as opposed to wading through Craigslist or other site that advertises both small and large spaces

Cons:

• Looks much like any other real estate listing site.
• No unique features specific to the micro space market such as renting a desk by the day, matching tenants based on skill set or other community tools

In this week’s episode, we will review the site and give our opinion on the above.

• launchsplash.com – we discussed whether a simple site like launchsplash.com is too simple, or matches exactly what web startups need to create simple launch pages
• websketch.com – allows you to quickly sketch a website with its drag and drop interface. Loved by most of the team, but not by all.
• mygamemug.com – matches online game players, yet another website we might be too old for, where was mygamemug when we needed you? 

Please leave comments and suggestions as we value your feedback.

• www.avaguide.net – Talking video chacters (avatars) for your website
• www.hubpages.com – an online publishing ecosystem
• qflip.r08.railsrumble.com – put the fate of your next Netflix rental in the hands of internet strangers
• www.zimride.com – find your rideshare or carpool online

We cover four new startup technologies this week including:

• kwiry.com -  A text messaging enabled to do list, send an SMS (text) message from your cell phone and view it on your computer when you return
• magcloud.com – online magazine printing service as a hosted service, upload your pdf and they manage the priting, mailing and subscription management
• insoshi.com – a Ruby on Rails web project to create an open source social network product
• zoomprospector.com – a real estate search engine for businesses looking to relocate or expand

We welcome your comments on this podcast and suggested topics for upcoming episodes. Please comment below on new web startups you would like reviewed.

www.rofo.com – a commerical real estate aggregator and search engine
www.zicasso.com – described as a way to connect “discerning travelers with distinguished travel specialists”
www.fairsoftware.net – “a place to start and grow your virtual business”
www.retrevo.com – an electronics search engine

Panelists include Mike, Gabriell, Robert, and Steve. Each of us gives our opinion on each site’s design, usability, marketing, and applicability to general use.  Feel free to leave comments, or propose other products to review in a future episode.

Many of these technologies can help your business or your personal life, but finding out about them, and getting first hand feedback can be difficult. We try to bring a group-review from generalists interested in web technology. We all have our experiences online, and want to share our first impressions of these new programs with you.

We invite you to participate in this discussion by providing feedback in the form of comments or to nominate new products for review. We look forward to a open discussion on all the new products we find. Welcome to the Web Front.