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Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

techcrunch.com

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Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#31

Post by stoney »

nostromo wrote: post #19

I'm curious how a proximity-based social network is going to keep from placing me closer to my upstairs neighbor than, say, my brother on the other coast.

I agree, it's an interesting problem.

Thinking about it maybe there's a kind of bathtub curve of photos that I'm interested in

- I'm highly interested in photos around me and of close friends

- I don't really care about photos of acquaintances and people I went to school with but haven't seen in years, etc,

-I'm highly interested in photos of people I am close to but that live far away.

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#33

Post by pkteison »

So the idea here is that it will let me see more and be more in touch with... the people who I already see and am in touch with? I'd rather do the exact opposite - it's my friends in other states who I want digital tools to keep me more in touch with.

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#34

Post by geoffw8 »

nostromo wrote: post #19

I'm curious how a proximity-based social network is going to keep from placing me closer to my upstairs neighbor than, say, my brother on the other coast.

I'm curious as to why Facebook won't just add a "photos your friends have taken around this place" feature and make these guys a distant memory

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#35

Post by melvinmt »

hammock wrote: post #30

Creepiest part- "it uses the camera to check for lighting conditions, and even uses the phone’s microphone to ‘listen’ to the ambient surroundings." The auto-social network based on proximity is awesome, though. I can't wait for this and the creep factor will be gone in five years anyway since we are all moving to a more open society.

Creepy indeed. I wonder if it has a backdoor to ECHELON.

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#36

Post by jkincaid »

nostromo wrote: post #19

I'm curious how a proximity-based social network is going to keep from placing me closer to my upstairs neighbor than, say, my brother on the other coast.

I'm pretty sure that Color also takes interaction within the application into account (i.e. if you frequently comment on a user's photos, view their stream, etc., then it also boosts your social connection).

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#37

Post by greendestiny »

avichal wrote: post #20

Any "there isn't a bubble" believers want to comment on this one...?

I've previously been in the camp that there isn't a bubble. This seems like its a valuation of 1 or 2 hundred million for a company that hasn't launched yet. It's very hard to see how this deal could make sense in a traditional way.

Don't get me wrong I think this sounds like an excellent idea that could turn out to be an excellent company. It's just such a large amount of money to raise that it kind of raises the question of what game the VCs and/or founders are really playing.

It seems like at this point there might be a possibility of VCs planning on Facebook and Twitter going public and either being acquired at an inflated price with all that new capitalization or going public themselves in the wake.

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#38

Post by geoffw8 »

I'm gonna just go ahead and say this, does anyone else think this is a bit silly? $41m.

There's no getting away from the fact this is just an app that shows you photos taken near you, by strangers.

I just don't get it. I might be wrong, in 12 months I might be kicking myself, I just cant imagine it.

Re: Sequoia gives photo-sharing startup more money than they gave Google

#39

Post by geoffw8 »

kalvin wrote: post #3

Title doesn't do it justice. The photo-sharing part isn't what's novel. They seem to be building a social graph automatically weighted on physical proximity+frequency, using smartphone sensors (the most important one of which happens to be a camera). That's cool, and potentially game-changing. "All of your contacts are presented in a list of thumbnails ordered by how strong your connection is to that user. Whenever C…

How, why and when would I want to do this?

I don't understand it from neither a sharer, or a browsers perspective.

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