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Company trying to make money from 45+ age group wanting to be on social networking sites

I was reading an article on the Standard about Jump Start Social Media, a company looking to help say 45+ age group to create the perfect Facebook or LinkedIn profile.  I’m thinking if 45+ age group needs help, does it mean that not many 45+ folks are on these social networks?  What would be the incentive for this age group to be on the social network?  Now if someone were to argue to stay connected with younger family members, then maybe I buy it.  There’s also the issue of privacy that I have personally observed the 45+ age group to be very conservative about.

I honestly don’t think a company based on this business model could survive on its own.  They are charging $90 for a full blown consultant to help create your profile or $10 for a DIY manual.  I dug around the website and it looks like it is a spin-off company from a bigger social media company.  So now it makes sense - let’s start a small spin-off business that provides this small set of services.

  • February 25, 2009
  • In Business
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My quest to find people to work on a business idea with

So I blogged a few months ago about an idea that I have around collaboration although I did not go into details b/c I’m a big wimp about sharing my idea and I don’t follow my own advice.  Sorry readers.  BUT, I think the main reason why I haven’t shared the idea is b/c I am still working out the details of my sustainable competitive advantage.  Until I figure that out, my idea is completely copy-able so why share an idea that’s a dime a dozen.  Alright now back to the topic of this posting.

In the last month or so, I’ve been struggling with finding folks who are interested in working on  my business idea for equity.  For instance, I’ve been looking for a graphic design and front-end web programmer for awhile now, but can’t seem to find someone who will put in the time now to get something off the ground.  I mean I’m not being paid to write a business plan either so let’s work together.  It’s been really hard to find such people.  I sort of think of it this way, some people enjoy knitting as a hobby, I enjoy working on business plans for a hobby.  I find it fun, not work.  I guess not everyone thinks the same way.

I’ve tried a couple of websites and posted mesages in forums such as collabfinder.com, craigslist.org, my college alumni social network, and facebook.  No luck so far although I get the most responses from craigslist.  Some ignore the fact that I said “no pay” and still send me an ad.  I’ve heard about partnerup.com and some other sites, but I hate going through the registration each time.  Plus I would like someone local in bay area or someone who’s super good that lives elsewhere in the US.

If you have any ideas on how I can find some good Web 2.0 graphic designers or web programmers, please let me know.  I’d like to find someone who is passionate about doing potential startups and will work for free.  I’m looking to do mockups now and then a scaled-down version of the website after that.  I want to approach this business idea iteratively and incorporate user feedback and get interested customers as we go along.  The plan is to spend money wisely.  A bare bone operations to vet out the idea!

Luckily, I do have a partner in crime already.  He is a fellow MBA classmate who has the same passion and flexible schedule as me.  At one time, we were software developers, so don’t be fooled by the MBA.  We just don’t code today.

More technology use at restaurants?

I went to Plumed Horse (PH) restaurant in Saratoga, California on Valentine’s day.  I was all ready for a nice dinner, but the service took a turn for the worse although the food was really good.  I’ve never worked in the restaurant biz, so I can only comment from a consumer perspective.

A few things that I wish didn’t happen too often when I am at a restaurant:

  • With a reservation, you have to wait longer.  At PH, we waited an extra 30 mins past our reservation time.
  • The waiter does not serve you in the order that you are seated.  At PH, interesting enough, we sat between two tables.  One table arrived after us, another table arrived before us.  The waiter went to the table who arrived last, then went to the table who arrived first, then eventually came to our table after the first-served table asked if we (my table) was ever going to get served.  Did you get all of that?
  • At a nice restaurant, the waiter does not take the time to explain the menu and drinking options.  At PH, the waiter stood there and waited for us to order and didn’t take the time to walk us through the fix-priced menu.  Keep in mind that this menu was on Valentine’s day and was not cheap.  I deserve better dammit!  :)
  • The waiter does not ask to replenish our drinks during the meal including some coffee at the end of the meal.  Argh, at PH, we were pretty much fed up with the service and decided to finish dessert and just get on out of there.  We did want some coffee but why give them more of our money.

Alright, so there are my gripes for Plumed Horse restaurant.  My suggestions on how to fix these issues with unlimited technology funds:

  • People can check online as to when the reservation table will be ready.  Better yet, the restaurant can text people when seating will be ready in 15-30 mins.  This would require the restaurant to really know the seating turnover time.  Do restaurants even keep such data?  I’m assuming yes if a computer is involved with reservations and seating.  If not, I’d be surprised.  Might as well mine this data and provide more accurate reservation times to folks.
  • For waiters to keep track of who came when and how long, maybe there are sensors in the seats.  When the sensor is activated, it will take a start time snapshot so that the waiter knows when the table was seated.  There also be some timing on when the order was taken and when the food was delivered.  I think these technologies exist, but not the “butt” sensor technology yet.
  • I would say that an interactive, e-book kind of menu would be the technology for explaining the menu to diners, but that is so impersonal.  So I suggest no technology for menu explanation and that restaurants are just going to have to do it the old fashioned way.
  • For the drink replenishing, maybe there’s a sensor built into the table that senses when the drink goes down to an almost-empty state.  This is a bit more tricky in that drink weight is different for glasses and liquids, also who monitors the sensors.  May be more pain than benefit.

OK, my two cents!

  • February 13, 2009
  • In Random
  • No comments yet

Top 5 Posts on SophiaPerl.com

Every once in awhile, I’ll disclose the top 5 posts read in the last 30 days on SophiaPerl.com (in order).  Surprisingly, people don’t like Jennifer Convertibles too much because my blog comes up in their google and yelp searches and I’ve gotten some “ranting” comments also.  Down with Jennifer Convertibles!

One posting that I think is pretty useful is the advice for MBA-destined Techies.  I’ve gotten comments from my MBA classmates saying that the info is pretty legit.  Check it out if you’re considering an MBA.

  1. Jennifer Convertibles lacks customer service
  2. Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #3 was OK, but…
  3. A personal story of mine about a $50 bill
  4. The money in the traditional photography
  5. Advice for MBA-destined Techies
  • February 11, 2009
  • In Business
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Upcoming Startup Contests and Bay Area Events

There are a lot of start up contests going on plus some Bay Area events.  You should check them out!  In case that you didn’t know also, you can find a list of upcoming events on the left sidebar of SophiaPerl.com.  Have fun!

JuicyCampus should have had a better business model

According to TechCrunch, JuicyCampus, a website that allows students to post messages about their peers anonymously is out of business.  Further reading will tell you that their VC money dried up and they had no steady stream of ad revenues.  When I was in college, I remember reading a weekly college magazine that had a page full of similar content.  The page was called Pandora’s box and filled of “greek” (sorority, fraternity) gossip.  I would read it every week.  It would say things like “Gamma Phi LP was seen walking from Delta Chi 3am Saturday morning”.  Usually, if you knew who’s who, then you can figure out who it was talking about.  To report gossip, you would call into a phone number and leave a message.  That’s it.  No need to talk to a live person.  Then you would wait to see if it got published.  Devious I know.  So, I don’t know how the college magazine made money from Pandora’s box, but I figure that the whole magazine benefited from more readers in general.

Now back to JuicyCampus.  If I was involved wih this startup, I would think about restricting access to readers to maybe the first 5 recent comments and not all.  Like a basic versus premium service content.  Better yet, reward those who contribute and punish those who don’t (meaning pay service).  Another thing that I would do is create partnerships with local college magazines/newspapers who may do similar things.  Give those print media online access to create more gossip and make it easier for people to contribute gossip a la web.  Just a few ideas, but I guess it’s too late now.  Salicious gossip will have to be published on Facebook and Myspace or other venues.

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