SuTree
I've been approached by SuTree, a new Israeli startup, to go and check out their new service. Since this blog is not the typical TechCrunch-ian blog I'll try to address it not just from the service aspects but also from the business development aspects. If you want to learn more about the service itself, you can check out Ayelet's post about them (btw - great blog kido!). In a nutshell, their service lets you search for and watch videos of lessons about many subjects from all over the web. The content is aggregated from other popular video websites, such as Metacafe, and is categorized/tagged by users and approved by their system. Personally, I think this service concept is great, and that the way they implement it is very good as well. They don't have a lot of content yet but that's fine considering the fact that they were just launched. Also, I hope they'll roll out more community features soon.
Now for the bizdev aspects:
The good part - content syndication from other websites. This is a great business understanding. SuTree realized that their business is letting users reach videos on specific learning topics, and that those videos already exists on other websites (like YouTube). So, instead of just hosting the videos themselves, they are letting users to point to those videos hosted on other website, and by that, they gained two (bizdev) advantages:
1. more content for available at their service, and it's organized in the way SuTree users expect.
2. they promote, and therefore not disturb the websites that host the content for them.
I call this concept the "del.icio.us" concept: think ofSuTree service as the "del.icio.us" of video lessons & tutorials. This gives them a great business development start for cooperating with video websites instead of competing with them.
The not so good part - no user promotion tools. What I mean is that SuTree don't provide its own users with the tools to promote the service. There are many ways to do so - here are two examples:
1. Give your users who have a blog a widget that shows their top 5 lessons on their blog.
2. Some of your users are probably developers - give them an API so they can play along with it and provide you with cool features you didn't even think of.
Considering the fact that this market already have competition, adding tools like the users promotion tools can make the difference between a nice tool to a killer service that will have a solid community.
Still, overall, I really like the service and I'm sure that we'll hear more about them once they gain more content and users.
Good luck!
Technorati Tags: bizdev, business development, Case Study, Metacafe, methodology, Web2.0, Strategy, SuTree
Well, that's the trinity of Web 2.0:
1. Content Aggregation
2. API
3. Widgets
:-)
Arik
Posted on: May 01, 2007 at 08:44 AM
Good term :-) I'm going to use it - the "holly trinity of Web2.0".
Would you say that having a blog and a is also a part of it?
Posted on: May 01, 2007 at 12:15 PM
After rethinking the term, I think that Content Aggregation includes in itself API and widgets (it's a way of letting others to aggregate you content).
Maybe the correct trinity is:
1. Content Aggregation (in both ways)
2. Wisdom of the Crowds
3. Blog
What do you think?
Posted on: May 03, 2007 at 08:20 AM