1 post tagged “virtual ubiquity”

I attended my first Web Innovator's group meeting held at the Royal Sonesta hotel in Cambridge on Wednesday. It was a packed audience of about 200-300 people ranging from startup companies seeking funding to networkers to VC's looking for the next best thing. The meeting is organized by David Beisel of Masthead Venture Partners.

There were three presentations (six minutes each with only two questions per presenter) by

1. Virtual Ubiquity which claims to make the real web based word processor. The demo by Rick Treitman was very impressive, but it will be interesting to see if the world needs another word processor in an already crowded marketplace. Their claim for product differentiation is the great text fidelity, ease of use (and what I saw did make this very clear) and ability to collaborate with anyone since all you need is an Internet Browser. The application is built upon Adobe's Flex 2.0. When I talked to Rick later, he said that their objective to give it away for free, build a strong customer base. If they do succeed, in my opinion, Adobe will probably get to buy what looked like a really cool word processor and then compete against the powers of Microsoft and Google.
2. MyDesignIn showed an online application that allows users remodel their rooms. Seemed very easy to use. I know the Founder Ramsay Hoguet since he used to work at SolidWorks. Once you sketch the 2d layout of your room with some very easy to use sketching tools, you could drag and drop any image that you find for items such as appliances, faucets, kitchen sinks etc. into the 2d layout and a 2d block of the inserted image of right dimensions would be automatically inserted into the layout sketch. This would allow you to move things around and ensure that the remodeling project fits your exact needs and desires. This is again a startup at this time looking for funding. This application has a lot of promise and if the plan is well executed, this could represent the next generation of remodeling design tools used in the mainstream.
3. Cardvio showed a web application (another one built on Flex 2.0) that allows you to select existing greeting cards for various occasions or to design your own card, insert your own pictures and then have it mailed (yes, postal mail) to the right person in three easy steps. This was the only company that had a business model among the three. They mentioned that they are also hooking up with charitable organizations. It is definitely worth a look because it saves you the hassle of having to go get a card, write your words, sign it and then remember to mail it after affixing the postage stamps.  I would use them this Holiday season. I have never felt that the eCards have the same personal touch as a mailing a card the old way. So I think Cardvio is going to fill a very good need in the marketplace.

After the eighteen minutes of demo, the rest of the time was for networking. During this time, I noticed so many badges from so many dot com companies - mypunchbowl.com, 3000k.com, younameit.com (kidding). I was left to wonder if the dot com craze that crashed and burnt in 2001 was back again for Part 2. I hope this time people are wiser and think about viable business models rather than just building companies based on the new buzz in town - Web 2.0.