Updates from vlad RSS
So I’m reading Wikinomics right now and I came across a great concept: “treat advertising as if it were content”
That got me thinking a lot as to what the implications for such an approach would mean:
- Allowing comments to be attached to ads
- Giving people the ability to share ads (like a digg for ads)
- Forcing ad-creators to approach advertising from a completely different perspective, etc.
It’s just something to keep in mind…
I was thinking a lot about our product today. I believe that our value-proposition needs to be quite simple – our product creates a higher rate of clicks per ad.
By analyzing real-time content created by users, our algorithm does a better job at targeting ads to particular users and thus the users respond more positively.
Can we do this?
Ok, so I did research on registering a company tonight. Essentially we have two logical options: the C-Corp and the LLC.
LLC: This is slightly simpler and cheaper to set up but more difficult to raise money, gain outside investors, and eventually go public.
Pros – Owned by members, not shareholders; liability protection; no double taxing; less strict laws about meetings, boards, etc.
Cons – Unlikely that a venture capitalist would invest in LLC; cannot take company public; complex operating agreements; restrictions on transfer of ownership; different laws in different states
C-Corp: This is a bit more complicated to set up but is generally the preferred method for venture capitalists and other investors.
Pros – Limited liability; most appropriate for IPO; easy to set up stock option plans; easy to transfer ownership and rights; structure that venture capitalist requires
Cons – Double taxation; high administrative compliance costs; directors held accountable; well defines laws and regulation
I think that the choice is pretty clear – if we plan on growing this thing quickly and looking for investors early on than the C-Corp makes the most sense. S-Corp limits ownership to only 100 people, sole proprietorship doesn’t make sense, and partnership is also to limiting.
We can set up the company pretty easily and cheaply through LegalZoom (http://www.legalzoom.com/) – I know a few satisfied customers.
It was awesome meeting up today – I’m excited about this – a lot of potential.
Are we still meeting this Saturday in NYC? I’m very much up for it.
Sorry for the slight delay in initial financials/commercials – work has been getting me down.
I was think a lot about the commercial/financial model of our solution today. I’m having a bit of trouble creating a reasonable value chain. Does this sound logical: Businesses –> Ad Aggregators –> SNs/Blogs –> OUR SOLUTION (IAMM) –> SNs/Blogs –> Consumers
So an actual click on the ad would generate real revenue, paid by the Businesses. So for simplicity lets say the revenue for one click is $1. How would it break up among the Ad Aggregators, SNs/Blogs that provide data, IAMM, SNs/Blogs that display ads? Would it be something like: Businesses (- $1) –> Ad Aggregators (+ $0.25) –> SNs/Blogs that provide data (+ $0.10) –> IAMM (+ $0.40) –> SNs/Blogs that display ads (+ $0.15) –> Consumers (the actual click).
I’ve developed a new diagram (on slide 2) that begins to summarize how the Intelligent Advertising Media Manager effects the user-experience: https://files.getdropbox.com/u/1425649/IntelligentAdManager%20v2.pptx
I’ve also begun to develop the 1 to 2 page summary of the actual solution and the wider problems our offering will be able to solve: http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1425649/Intelligent%20Advertising%20Media%20Manager%20-%20Summary.docx
What do you think? Am I on the right track in describing what we will be able to accomplish?
Ok, I played around with the flow chart. Is it clearer now?
https://files.getdropbox.com/u/1425649/IntelligentAdManager.pptx