If I could work anywhere…
Alongside Jeff and Kent croft, I conceived, co-founded, and launched Lendle a little over four months ago. Our little slice of the book-lending market has performed beyond our expectations, and I think it’s fair to say all three of us are amazed at how far we’ve come in such a short period of time.
For me, though, the most satisfying aspect of running a social book-lending site has been the chance to do something I’ve always known I’d love: Evangelize, promote and drive the social aspects of a product I am truly proud of.
On top of handling all of the blogging duties, as well as the vast majority of the Twitter and Facebook work — with an assist from Jeff and my soon-to-be librarian wife, Carolyn —I’ve also spent quite a bit of time handling customer support emails. Most recently, we’ve pushed out a bi-weekly newsletter, and I’ve been responsible for those.
I’ve also been heavily involved in (conceptually) developing Lendle’s features and shaping our business model. Of course, I’ve been doing that while working full time at a job that isn’t particularly compatible with running a successful startup.
With all of that in mind, I’ve been thinking about where I’d like to work, if I could work anywhere:
I joined Newsvine a few months before they came out of their public beta phase, almost 5 years ago. I have an incredible amount of respect for Mike Davidson’s vision and really enjoyed meeting with Calvin Tang (no longer with Newsvine) whenever we had a chance to get together.
I’m not sure Newsvine is quite as attractive to me as it was (say) 3 years ago, but it’s still the best implementation of the social-news concept that I’ve come across and I definitely think it could be great if there were a concerted effort to mobilize interest in participating in meaningful projects. At this stage, it seems a bit as though the inmates are running the asylum, and that’s a real shame. Calvin Tang seemed to be the beating heart of the community, and I’m just not sure they’ve filled the hole that he left behind.
Even though I’ve been saying this for almost as long as I’ve been a Newsvine member, I’d love to take a crack at it. I love a challenge. Plus? Seattle. Fuck yes.
I’ve actually spoken with these guys about a job, and I’m still hopeful that something could come of that discussion, because I think StoryMarket could really turn into something great.
The basic idea is that journalists (big, small, and anywhere inbetween) can post their content to StoryMarket. That content can then be syndicated to anyone who is looking to fill space. Content owners control their own pricing (or, they can offer content for free) and content shoppers then have a variety of tools to aid in discovery.
When I talked with David Ryan about StoryMarket, my first thought was that an idea like this could be the answer to the the brouhaha surrounding the Huffington Post’s poor treatment of freelance talent. It’s still too early to predict how successful StoryMarket will be, but I can’t imagine a more exciting time to jump on board.
Imagine taking a photo of a riot on your smartphone, posting it to StoryMarket, and seeing an offer for it come through within minutes. That, to me, is the potential of a truly great syndication app and StoryMarket looks to be building a great foundation.
Amazon
This one is obvious, and perhaps a bit cute given my role with Lendle, but it really seems to me as though Amazon is going to need someone who will get behind and champion any social experience they ever plan to offer. Barnes and Noble’s LendMe seems to be leading the way, but it’s still an underpowered shadow of what we offer at Lendle, let alone what Amazon could offer if their heart were in it.
It seems to be an open secret that they’ll release a “Kindle Tablet” in the near future, and if they’re going to move into social, that’ll be the time to do it. As Apple has learned with Ping, social isn’t easy and, despite the sheer amount of erotica that rolls through Lendle, reading just isn’t perceived as sexy, quite like the music and movie industries are sexy. Amazon needs someone who can change that.
At any rate, I’m a big fan of our Kindle and I think Amazon is making a lot of really interesting moves. Of course, I also know of a great web app that would be a perfect fit…
Plus? Seattle. Fuck yes.
