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Startup idea: short, paid email

diegobasch.com

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Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#31

Post by stcredzero »

I think there is something to this idea. It's wrong to call it "email" though.

This would be something for celebs to get brief, easily digestible feedback from their fans. Right now, this either means going through lots of messages, or relying on social media to filter the message for you, but the former takes time or money, and the latter results in only the loudest voices being heard. The proposal above would cause people to filter and edit themselves.

This is precisely why calling this "email" is wrong. It would be like the counterpart of twitter, going the opposite way. It would be the multiplexer to the Twitter demux. It would not be email, however users could possibly access it through email.

Maybe call it "Faninn" "Feedforward" or "Feedgram?" I would allow messages to be marked private or public, with the public messages appearing on a white-labeled website, subject to a reddit or HN style upvote system. (Private messages would be subject to the fee.)

Think of it as a way for any celebrity to have their own HN-style site and executive ombudsman, without the work or expense of setting it up themselves.

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#32

Post by itsjoeco »

Hey all, we've been working on our prototype for this now at www.gramicon.com. The idea is that it won't replace email, but will serve as a replacement for reaching out to strangers as well as set market-based prices for people's attention. Would love feedback, though we are not yet finished. Best, joe

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#33

Post by Rudism »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #30
Rudism wrote: post #23

I don't imagine this would take off, especially once people realize they can't receive any automated emails anymore (sign up confirmations, email validation requests, e-bills, reciepts for online purchases, any kind of service notification, etc). It would require probably maintaining a second email for those kinds of things, and then you've got the same problem as before but now with a second (extremely limited) emai…

The problem with that of course is that automated emails won't get through unless they can also solve your CAPTCHA or you have whitelisted them in advance which would either make usability worse (when you sign up for a service you have to remember to go and whitelist them) or your CAPTCHA has to easy enough for a bot to break which basically defeats the point.

Agreed. You would have to pre-whitelist, or at least have a junk folder you could look in where non-captchad messages get stored for a certain amount of time before being purged so that you could fish out the emails from non-whitelisted addresses that you're actually expecting to get (and then presumably whitelist them from there for future emails).

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#34

Post by AdamFernandez »

drumdance wrote: post #18
melvinmt wrote: post #12

The truth is that only the Robert Scobles in this world are affected by head-aching e-mail management problems. For the rest of the 99% it simply isn't that MUCH of an issue. That's why I don't think it will catch on. But nice idea though.

Hmm... but Robert Scobles, and more to the point, Beyonce, Jay Z, Lady Gaga etc might be willing to use the service as a screening tool for all the promo pitches they get. Or at least their agents & publicists might.

That may be true, but that would be a pretty small market.

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#35

Post by jbigelow76 »

corin_ wrote: post #24
jbigelow76 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is somewhat orthogonal but am I the only one that usually finds businesses built on "do X and help charity at the same time" as pretty weak? It's strikes me as though the business operator doesn't believe in the value they are providing so they piggyback off the value of donating to charity. There are exceptions, things like the Humble Bundles, but I tend to buy those primarily as call to actions for charity don…

The selling point here would be that the charity donation isn't thrown in there as a value-add, it's that the cost is a necessary feature and to prove the case of necessity over greed the money will be going to a good cause rather than the receiver's bank account.

That is true, and my point was more an aside about businesses that have a profit motive and incorporate a charity component to it so this probably wasn't the best thread to muse in.

That being said, I don't know if the charity aspect would still accomplish the desired goals. What if the recipient started skimming emails, with no real intention of following through, just because they want to see their favorite charity get a few more bucks? If the money went to the recipient instead I would probably think there would be a greater likelihood of it being read as anybody I'd be willing to pay to read my emails would stand lose only their sense of integrity but the charity aspect might make it easier to blow off.

I might be splitting too fine a hair here.

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#36

Post by corin_ »

jbigelow76 wrote: post #35
corin_ wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The selling point here would be that the charity donation isn't thrown in there as a value-add, it's that the cost is a necessary feature and to prove the case of necessity over greed the money will be going to a good cause rather than the receiver's bank account.

That is true, and my point was more an aside about businesses that have a profit motive and incorporate a charity component to it so this probably wasn't the best thread to muse in. That being said, I don't know if the charity aspect would still accomplish the desired goals. What if the recipient started skimming emails, with no real intention of following through, just because they want to see their favorite charity…

Interesting thought, but if your aim was to get as much money as possible for a charity then a.) skim reading as opposed to reading fully doesn't earn your charity any more and b.) if anything, people are more likely to spend money again if you pay them attention and respond fairly

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#38

Post by 001sky »

dools wrote: post #29

This is somewhat tangential to the post but isn't the 140 character limit on Twitter messages directly related to the fact they started it as an SMS service and couldn't figure out how to stitch together multipart inbound messages? I personally think having the character limit that low is horrible but even if you love it, it wasn't some brilliant design decision imposed by Jack Dorsey it was just a limitation of the…

Yes, this is correct about the SMS. Its also a love it/hate it element, but at the end of the day that's what makes it. Its the unique rule, the constraint, the sine-qua-non that defines what it is. Like haiku: without rules, a non-idea.

At functional level, forcing people to "think small, think short" actually works. Where people have short attention spans. As a mode for a 21st century communication.

Over time, people adapt and "think" thoughts in the language that they express. Be it poetry, or visually, etc. Or, if you speak a second language, you learn to think in the constraints of what works to communicate.

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#39

Post by jiggy2011 »

Rudism wrote: post #33
jiggy2011 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that of course is that automated emails won't get through unless they can also solve your CAPTCHA or you have whitelisted them in advance which would either make usability worse (when you sign up for a service you have to remember to go and whitelist them) or your CAPTCHA has to easy enough for a bot to break which basically defeats the point.

Agreed. You would have to pre-whitelist, or at least have a junk folder you could look in where non-captchad messages get stored for a certain amount of time before being purged so that you could fish out the emails from non-whitelisted addresses that you're actually expecting to get (and then presumably whitelist them from there for future emails).

The problem with that is that you're actually going to look at email in your junk folder. Spammers would love this because they know that there's a chance that you'll actually see their crap even if it gets filtered.

The entire point of having a junk folder is you don't have to check it apart from the rare occasion you get a phone call saying "hey , I sent you an important email why haven't you replied?"

Re: Startup idea: short, paid email

#40

Post by shreyansj »

AdamFernandez wrote: post #34
drumdance wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm... but Robert Scobles, and more to the point, Beyonce, Jay Z, Lady Gaga etc might be willing to use the service as a screening tool for all the promo pitches they get. Or at least their agents & publicists might.

That may be true, but that would be a pretty small market.

What if you market it as some high end service? I mean exotic cars and luxury handbags have a pretty small market too, right?
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