The Online Review Business Model

A lot of entrepreneurs have tried to start online review websites but have failed more often than not. As customers, we all would like to read genuine reviews before making any purchase decision. So why are startups not able to sustain themselves?

Some points I can think of are listed below.

Gamification – This, or the lack of it, is the primary reason for online review startups not being able to generate user traction. Getting a user to write a review without offering an incentive is a far-fetched idea. Users need to be given the right incentives to come onto the website and write a review.

Revenue Visibility – Getting user traction through incentives tends to burn a lot of money. On the other hand, building a revenue model if difficult and revenue would generally take a lot of time to start rolling in. For this reason, a lot of investors are vary of investing in pure online review websites.

Competition – The biggest competition such websites face are from different websites selling products and services or offering users different services in different niches. These competitors provide some greater value to the user (such as ecommerce, bookings, information discovery etc.) along with user reviews. Hence a pure play review service finds it very difficult to get users to use it and get hooked onto it.

Startup Model – Finding Cat Sitters Online

THE MODEL: A platform where users can find a cat sitter in their area. Users can search for, read about and book cat sitters online.

STARTUP: CatinaFlat (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – Finding and booking a cat sitter in your area.

Benefits to Users- Users can search for cat sitters, read reviews, book and also get regular photo updates of their cat.

Trust – The startup takes a number of steps to build trust in a user’s mind. Insurance is provided both for the cat sitter and the cat owner. Meet ups are arranged before finalization of a cat sitter to ensure that the fit is a good one.

CONCERNS

Competition – This space has a few good startups already. With the market being a relatively small one, this can be a challenge.

Startup Model – Home Swapping

THE MODEL: A platform where users can find different homes in their destination of choice and swap them with their own. Users can either swap directly with other users or can use points earned to find houses they can stay in.

STARTUP: LoveHomeSwap (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – Home-swapping is a great way to travel on a budget and also get an authentic experience of the place you wish to visit.

Swapping Protection- The startup also provides users protection against accidental damage and booking cancellations. This is able to create trust, which probably is the main bottleneck in users using a service like this.

Encouraging Travel – One of the biggest constraints in travel is the budget. Home swapping is able to address that quite reasonably.

CONCERNS

Safety – I feel safety of users and properties is a crucial factor in the transaction. The startup, in addition to providing insurance, should also vet their users well before adding them into the community.

Startup Model – Short Term Finance to SMEs

THE MODEL: A startup which offers SMEs access to short term financing with no paperwork. Typically finance is offered to fund gaps in cash flows and for stock purchases.

STARTUP: Iwoca (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – Access to short term financing for SMEs.

Benefits to Users – Users can get funds by simply linking their online accounts (such as Paypal, Amazon etc.) or by uploading bank statements. An offer is given within hours of doing so. Loans are unsecured and have no documentation or origination fee attached.

Ease of Use – Loans are approved and available within hours. Money can be transferred to your bank account 24*7 and interest is charged pro rata based on the time you take to repay the loan.

CONCERNS

Competition – The startup is competing with banks and other established financial institutions. Building trust will be key.

Asset Performance – Lending to SMEs without collateral is risky. Bad debts can be an issue of concern.

Startup Model – Curated Fashion Products

THE MODEL: A startup which offers users the best of fashion, lifestyle and beauty products handpicked by a team of experts. Users can save products to their personal Grabble wardrobe and can also buy them safely and securely.

STARTUP: Grabble (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – Handpicked fashion and lifestyle products for users.

Benefits to Users – Users can get a curated daily list of fashion and lifestyle products which they can buy in a single tap. Also style guides are provided to inspire users and make them aware of the latest trends. Also users are intimated if any of their desired products go on sale, so that they can get a good bargain.

Curation – The startup has a team of fashion experts and stylists who curate the daily list of products.

CONCERNS

Competition – The space is filled with competitors, ranging from fashion ecommerce stores looking to offer curated products to other similar apps focusing on curating lists of products for users.

Startup Model – Phone Support Made Easy

THE MODEL: A startup which offers businesses phone numbers instantly in over 40 countries. No deskphone or hardware is required. Everything is managed through an app.

STARTUP: Aircall (French startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – An app making phone support and collaboration easy.

Features – Users can install and setup the app in a few minutes. Local phone numbers from over 40 countries can be selected by users. Collaboration features such as call cascading across available people, shared contacts, transfer call to teammates, support ticket management and analytics are provided.

Integration- The app can be integrated with popular apps such as Slack, Hubspot, Zapier, Zoho etc.

Free Trial – Users can try the service for free for 7 days, before upgrading to paid plans.

CONCERNS

Competition – The startup will need to compete with established players in the phone support market. These may not be app based necessarily, but have a large customer base and have been in existence for long now.

Startup Model – Accessing Digital Content While Messaging

THE MODEL: A startup which lets users access and share their digital content like photos, documents, calendar etc. while messaging, without having to switch apps.

STARTUP: Thingthing (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A smart messaging tool where users can access all their digital content.

Features – Users can access their important files while messaging without having to switch apps. Also the app offers smart text auto correction, prediction and editing features which makes the user experience great.

Integration- The app can be integrated with most popular social networks and file sharing websites such as Facebook, Instagram, your Camera Roll, Dropbox, Google Drive, Calendar and so on. This ensures that the user need not switch to any other app to share any of his/her digital content.

CONCERNS

Competition – The startup competes with other messaging apps. Messaging is a space which has some very big players and making an inroad will be difficult. Also these players have a very strong user base and can build these features, if not protected by IP.

Startup Model – Local Events Based on User Preferences

THE MODEL: A startup which offers users a mobile app where they can discover events based on their preferences connect with friends and people with similar interests and make bookings for these events from the app itself.

STARTUP: Fever (American startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – An event discovery and booking portal based on user preferences.

Other Features – Users also get VIP admission into events. They do not have to print any tickets and can also check out where their friends and other people with similar interests are going.

CONCERNS

Competition – There is a lot of competition in the event discovery and booking space.

Startup Model – Professional Social Media Analytics

THE MODEL: A startup which offers users a platform to track, benchmark and optimize social media performance.

STARTUP: Quintly (German startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A social media analytics platform.

Features – Users can use the platform to benchmark their social media performance, get smart analytics, get customized reporting, get detailed information on key influencers and an option to export data.

Free Trial – Users can try out any of the paid plans for 14 days before purchasing.

Social Analytics API – The data from the app can be integrated easily into company dashboards. Also there is a chrome extension.

CONCERNS

Competition – Social media analytics is probably one of the most competitive markets, though a very big one. Scaling beyond a certain level would be very challenging.

Startup Model – Digital Media Advertising for Taxis

THE MODEL: A startup which offers disruptive digital media technologies for the taxi market. The startup has 2 products – ITaxitop (world’s first industrial grade LCD taxitop technology for taxi roofs) & CabWifi (world’s first industrial grade mobile public wifi device for taxis, with a unique ads-for-access user experience).

STARTUP: Eyetease (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A startup offering digital media advertising solutions for taxis.

Benefits to Users – Businesses can run better targeted advertisements. Targeting can be based on location, time or demographics. Ads can be customized so that they command maximum attention.

Niche- Targeting taxi advertisement allows the startup to better understand the dynamics of the market and hence gives them an opportunity to give better value to their customers.

CONCERNS

Competition – The taxi advertisement market is a very old market which has been tried by a lot of players. Creating sustainable value will be a challenge.

Startup Model – Next Generation Mobile Advertising

THE MODEL: A programmatic sensory advertising platform which creates and distributes advertising messages which using mobile technologies to engage people’s senses.

STARTUP: Adludio (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A next generation mobile advertising platform which aims to touch people’s senses.

Benefits to Users – Businesses use sensory advertising to increase engagement and hence get a better return on advertising spend.

Mobile First Technologies – The startup uses technologies such as 3d, haptic, gyro, touch to engage customers for different brands. Some examples include Impact (using creative optimization and video enhancement), Touch (using touch to deliver messages), Swipe, Vibrate & Shake (using movements to engage customers) and 3D (for better user experience).

CONCERNS

Competition – The Adtech space is a very competitive one with a host of startups offering different features to acquire customers.

Startup Model – Insights for Websites & Apps

THE MODEL: A platform which offers research tools to understand traffic insights about any websites or apps. Users can monitor their websites, understand sources of traffic, compare competitor sites and identify growth areas.

STARTUP: SimilarWeb (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – An analytics platform offering website/app insights.

API – The data can be added to tools like Saleforce, Marketo etc. Also a browser extension is available which can be added to the toolbar.

Freemium Model – Users can view their own website analytics for free. There is a pro plan which gives advanced insights and helps compare to competitor websites.

CONCERNS

Competition – Website analytics is a very difficult market to penetrate. 

Startup Model – Social Network for Learning Languages

THE MODEL: The platform is the world’s largest one for language learning. It encourages collaborative learning by offering users an opportunity to learn and practice any language (out of the 12 languages offered) guided by the assistance provided by native speakers.

STARTUP: Busuu (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A platform combining training and networking for learning a language.

Benefit to Users – Users can learn and practice a language using the content. Also they can connect with native speakers to improve their skills. Any user hence is a learner as well as a tutor (of his.her mother tongue).

Freemium Model – The startup offers free and paid plans to access the various language courses. Users can start using the service for free and upgrade once hooked onto it.

CONCERNS

Competition – Online language training is emerging as an intensely competitive space. Busuu, using networking and training, is doing a good job of differentiating itself though.

Startup Model – Brain Games Online

THE MODEL: A brain training platform which works on improving mental well being through training based on neuroscience.  

STARTUP: Memorado (German startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A brain training gym for better mental well being.

Benefit to Users – Users are assessed on where they need to improve. Brain games are then devised and used to improve their mental well being and brain connectivity.

Research Oriented – The startup has strong ties with brain training experts and neuroscientists. Also it has now launched a “Global Cognition Initiative” where it is trying to connect neuroscientists from all over the world to create collaborative world class research on the brain.

Free Trial – Users can try the service for free with an option to upgrade to advanced paid plans.

CONCERNS

Hidden Need – Since this is a need which is not apparent to users, get users to try out the service will be difficult.

Market Size – Since the need is hidden and a lot of customer education is required, the market size seems uncertain and limited.

Startup Model – Providing Key Insights from Non-Fiction Books

THE MODEL: A startup which takes non-fiction books and creates blinks, which are basically 15 minute reads highlighting the main concepts.

STARTUP: Blinkist (German startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A platform which provides users with bite sized reads highlighting the main concepts of non-fiction books.

Benefit to Users – Now users can learn from books without having to invest a lot of time in reading them.

Networking Aspect – Users can connect with friends to see what they are reading and highlighting. This further creates user stickiness.

Free Trial – Users can try the service for free for 3 days. This reduces the barrier for users to try out the service and can upgrade if they see value in it.

Non-Fiction Books – Fiction books and storybooks are read more for the love of reading. Non-fiction, on the other hand, are primarily read for the learning we can derive from them. This model, hence, is more suitable for non-fiction books.

Integration - The app is integrated with popular apps which are being used for reading and collaborating. Users can send their reads to Kindle and read them there. Also users can save any interesting snippets and sync them to Evernote.

Startup Model – Collaborative Writing & Publishing

THE MODEL: A startup that makes the entire process of writing, editing and publishing scientific documents easier and quicker.

STARTUP: Overleaf (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A collaborative writing and publishing tool.

Features – Users can collaborate with other authors real time. Authors can publish immediately and submit to the journal of choice. To reduce editorial and review turnaround times, real time editing, change tracking and project lifecycle management features are provided.

Not Just for Papers – The platform can be used to collaboratively make papers and presentations with graphs, tables etc.

Defined Use Cases – The startup, on its website, has clearly defined the utility of the product for different users such as teachers, universities, publishers and enterprises.

Freemium Model – The startup uses a freemium monetization model, where it gives users a host of extra features in its paid plans. This makes it easier for users to try out the platform before paying for advanced usage.

CONCERNS

Competition – A number of collaborative writing tools exist which will give the startup a run for its money.

Startup Model – Mobile Based Brain Training

THE MODEL: A startup which combines tech, gaming, education and science to let users challenge their cognitive skills and train their brain in a healthy and fun environment.

STARTUP: Peak (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A brain training platform for users using a mobile phone.

The Brain Gym – Users are given brain workouts in the form of small games which they need to complete on a daily basis. This makes the app interesting and keeps its users engaged. Users can assess themselves, set goals and workout.

Training Plans – The plans are designed in collaboration with leading scientists and universities.

Freemium Model – The startup has a professional plan which is chargeable and gives users access to all training plans and features of the app.

CONCERNS

Creating the Need – The startup is trying to create a need and lifestyle for users. With time being a scarce resource for most, acquiring new users would be a difficult task.

Startup Model – Making Selling a Small Business Easy

THE MODEL: A startup which helps users sell their small businesses quickly and at lower costs.

STARTUP: MyBizDaq (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A platform for selling small businesses.

Value Additions for Users – Users can upload their business free of cost and use their dashboard to talk to buyers, arrange meetings and negotiate offers. Also a basic business valuation tool is provided for sellers.

CONCERNS

Competition – The startup faces competition from offline players such as business consultants, banks etc.

Revenue Potential – Since the business charges no commission on an already small market, the potential revenue scalability is a concern.

Startup Model – Recipe Ingredients Delivery

THE MODEL: A startup which delivers ingredients of curated recipes to users every week. Users are sent recipe cards and ingredients so that it becomes easy for them to cook their meal.

STARTUP: Gousto (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea –Startup delivering ingredients for recipes.

Curated Recipes – The recipes are curated by professional chefs and users can chose the recipes that fit their taste. Also recipes are designed and changed every week.

Packaging & Delivery – The delivery boxes use special wool insulation to keep the food warm. Also users can specify where their box can be left, thereby ensuring that they do not have to wait for delivery.

CONCERNS

Competition – A lot of ingredient delivery businesses have started up lately. Also the business will have to complete with regular food delivery startups, which have an advantage of users not having to cook at all.

Startup Model – Flower Delivery Through the Letterbox

THE MODEL: A flower delivery startup which lets users send carefully selected flowers, hand packed and posted through the letterbox with free next day delivery.

STARTUP: Bloom& Wild (British startup)

WHAT I LIKE

Core Idea – A flower delivery startup delivering selected flowers through the door.

Easier Logistics – Since the flowers can be delivered through the letterbox, the logistics of the startup become easier as dispatch can happen from a central location and post/courier can be used to deliver.

Subscription Service – The startup offers a subscription service to customers wherein new sets of flowers will be sent to someone every week, fortnight or month.

CONCERNS

Competition – There is a lot of competition in the flower delivery space. Also flowers through a letterbox maybe an offering which is difficult for users to accept.