Startups of 2014
blog.betalist.com
blog.betalist.com
For the record, we did launch private Beta but we've had to start limiting again as we pretty much had enough, and found we weren't managing support tickets as well with more and more joining.
When we launch paid plans in the new year, we'll be opening up out of Beta. But yeah, there's a very real and very functioning product behind that signup page :-)
1) only honouring the promotions we had out there 2) the paid priority access people (Paying $19, then $29, to get access) 3) people from startups who could offer us a good PR boost by association on launch
We soft-launched ZenHub.io [1] on Betalist in early November and have been very happy with the results so far. Several hundred high quality users who are engaged, providing feedback [2], and inviting their team members. The tweet-storm whipped up by Betalist was cool too :)
[1] http://www.zenhub.io [2] http://github.com/axiomzen/zenhub-now/issues
I can't figure out what it is. Is it a social network? An iphone app? A subscription service?
The website tells me it's where the worlds most talented artists forge relationships with their fans. But it neglects to say how this is accomplished.
As for what it is, August is an iOS platform (with a very minimal web side to it) that builds sustainable relationships around media; relationships that unify and amplify the discovery, distribution, monetization, engagement, social experience, etc of digital media.
How? Simply, the platform we have built, and the thousands of artists who have created it.
There's definitely an app, and it's definitely a social network—though perhaps if this or something like it catches on we'll require new terminology, as this model where every user gets categorized 'artist', 'curator', 'listener', 'tastemaker', 'consumer', etc. doesn't map very well to the one-size-fits-all peer networks we're used to.
As far as the sales channel is concerned, it's difficult to say. Somewhere between "we'll figure it out as we go" and "as long as we're taking down Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud, Tumblr, G+/YouTube, Vimeo and Myspace, we might as well also go after iTunes, Ticketmaster, Goldenvoice, Behance, content licensing, booking, event management…"
The view of August is that the world of media will change when an artist is able to sale 100 million copies of their work, all by themselves. This is the future, and we are building the platform that will make it happen.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that. I know investors like to see confidence, but if you seriously believe your own hype, you'll be unprepared for failure. Chances are, you'll fail. Nothing to do with talent or how good your product is. Just luck. Learn humility. It will keep you from letting your guard down, and getting trampled on. And it will come in handy in case you fail.