We started VideoVivo with a vision of connecting experienced professionals, as judged initially by their LinkedIn profile, over live video. We created a platform for buying and selling knowledge over live video. Then airtime came out; Despite what most presumed – that it would come down as chatroulette on facebook – we had high interest in it given its proximity to our niche. The result after a brief interaction? I’m still in touch with several of those early users I met on airtime. How did this happen? In a nutshell I met several high quality professionals in a matter of two hours (over two days, day three was bad already, B players seemed to have infiltrated). The early users of airtime were amazing: entrepreneurs, investor types and ecosystem service providers; As we were chatting and networking, one thing was apparent: This wasn’t going to keep going for more than a couple of days. As more and more people were coming on board, the quality would surely deteriorate. Why? Because there was no meaningful way to target who you could speak to through Facebook. You were randomly linked with other people (at most matched with other people’s Likes. That’s pretty random). And as the riff and the raff started to come on board, it was over. We’d given it 3 days for the goodness to collapse, and so it was. But the amazing feeling remained with me. The intuition I had all along: That the best professional networking can indeed happen online over video.
We tried VideoVivo, part time, and it didn’t really take off. The html5 iOS hybrid app was slow, the appointments were tiring to set up, the money required too much thought. People were excited about the idea but not the procedure. We built it with too many features.
And then we said: What if we stripped the app down to its core and focused on bringing value to users centered around networking over live video with other unacquainted professionals based on skill – and then figure out how to monetize? Forget the money, forget appointments; These are too much a distraction. People want simple on mobile. Also forget Facebook login – it’s a professional network after all! So we built out Peer for iOS: 1. LinkedIn signin 2. You register phone (for FaceTime, good enough for a prototype), 3. Upload a short pre recorded video of yourself (totally optional, and recommended) – and you’re done! When you place a video call request to another user, they have 30 minutes to respond. They can select Accept, or Not Now. If they missed the call, or if they want to chat later, they simply go to history and pick your request from there at a later time, and send you a request back. We searched for a mechanism that would be semi-synchronous, take the pain out of appointments, and allow you to reach out over live video, without all the back and forth. We’re now adding features by request such as a much needed text field which will go out along with the video call requests, in order to allow users to inform in their request what it is they want to discuss. We’ll be testing to see if this approach encourages more conversations.
We have a ton of things lined up: Aardvark (matching questions with experts) meets Quora over live video. Yes we’ll be adding an option to record and tag videos and we’ll be migrating everything to a different cross device video platform shortly (hint: not FaceTime) and possibly enable with API; We envision a world where unacquainted pros network with each other live online, just like in person, only better: with a purpose, targeted. Just imagine how big the potential is outside our physically constrained networks once we break free of the old ways? Once we establish value, we’ll solve the monetization piece (subscriptions? marketplace with p2p payments? pay to not get recorded and shared publicly?). We’re targeting tech entrepreneurs, friendly investors, and anything in the tech ecosystem in between. We’re thinking b2b down the road and are in discussions. No, we’re not trying to align you with a celeb necessarily (though if it happens – neato!). We’re interested in putting you in front of accessible good people who are important for your business right now (and you are to them) based on merit and skill. People who value ongoing discovery and growing their network. We might need to add ratings and reviews for this to work well, to encourage good citizenship. Finally, with geolocation enabled there are many potential Peer colleagues in your area to discover, and elsewhere around the globe, waiting to meet you. We’re laying the platform out, and we’re experimenting to see what sticks, if any.
1 min video: http://bit.ly/191adzQ
See you on Peer? come say hello!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/peer/id604682060
-Ofer