Bright Things Share Discussion Threads

[carl79] 29/3/2010 14:11

Purple lounge?

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 13:22

Hi norbus,

I guess anything is possible.

Maybe ning might see a reason to acquire socialgo once v2 is out? Maybe they will see a market for re-branding it as a distinct "ning Pro" offering, for premium users that want the API and all the benefits that brings with it?

Seems unlikely, but taking out revenue-generating competitors at early stage may appeal to them, if they start seeing them as a threat. Raising another $120m and spending half that on an acquisition might be possible...



Purple lounge not raking it in?

[norbus] 29/3/2010 13:10

TA

Well the market Gap through Ning was not there a while back. Ning may need a band aid and that could tempt them to buy SG if the substance is there for a quick fix. What say you to that?

As for Purple lounge, It does not seem they have been raking it in!

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 12:53

Hi Norbus,

Yes I think SG are aware of the events over at ning, but you ask can they take advantage of the opportunity? Right now, I would say they haven't and it's very difficult for them to do so. The product is not quite ready for the big networks to feel confident enough yet, imo (let's face it, they are only just addressing the speed and connectivity problems by moving to new hosting)

Again, it probably comes down to V2 and just how good it will be. Are our expectations to high? Will it be a damp squib? Or will they surprise us with something very special that the big network creators will love?

One thing for sure, there is a big opportunity out there in the premium space

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 12:49

Yeah, different things for different folks when it comes to investing. So many ways to examine a company - some use charts as their main tool, some are brilliant at assessing directors as their big thing thing, some mainly use results and performance, some look for anomalies, or market-potential.....

No right or wrong way, but you have to find the right mix for your own personality

Early on in my investing life I made some big mistakes by not selling shares I was going to before talking to Directors. I was meeting up with them, quizzing them, then coming away with a more positive opinion than I had before, 'thinking' they were doing the right thing (they were not). The problem for me, is I was getting caught up with the infectious enthusiasm, not that I was being lied to or misled.

[carl79] 29/3/2010 11:33

Me too TA (comment ref too much director communication clouds judgement). It is easy to make assumptions that are not there and gloss over areas that should concern you imo...but each to their own...I am now an "action man" (well not literally - couldn't deal with the little toggle sticking out the bakc of my neck - any child of the 80's will know what i mean, anyone else, forget it im just a bit nostalgic about my youth...)What I mean is that I pay far more attention now to results than lip service. I'll judge Brett on results once we know a bit more about what his tasks are going to be - As previous, I hope that is to transform the way in which we finance ourselves during the period up to self financing via network revenue...

regards pie in the sky...yes - optimistic to think that 13% pay something...especially since most of the widgets are geared towards premium customers - so those paying for "extras" are probably a sub set of the premium networks as opposed to outside of this group...

I think the ads is a non starter TA. It is probably safe to assume that the vast majority of free networks have less than 50 members. I cant see too much revenue being created from adverts on their pages. Hopefully larger free sites become premium although if someone had evidence that a 100 member site (for arguments sake) generates $40 a month off ads then i'd obviously prefer they stay off the premium package...

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 11:16

Yes, that £900k pa does sound pie in the sky to me Carl.

I think that compared to ning, a much higher proportion of SG free networks never get off the ground, so won;t make any money at all. Ning appears to be a much better offering for free networks, but SG appears to be better for premium. Well, that was my impression last time I compared the two systems for setting up a quick free network, might be different now

I'm sure SG get some kind of revenue from ads, but not much. I'll be happy if I'm proved wrong on that, though...

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 11:04

No, I tend not to phone directors norbus. Personally, I find too much communication with directors can affect my investment judgement, so it's not for me

But, will be interested to hear what you have to say about what he has to say!

[carl79] 29/3/2010 09:35

I haven't Norbus. Let us know how you get on. Would be interesting to see his responses to the points you've raised on this bb...cheers!

[norbus] 29/3/2010 09:22

TA, Carl, et al

How many of you have picked up the phone and said Howdy and welcome to Brett yet? he's already in there working.I might take my advice and give him a call..

[carl79] 29/3/2010 08:53

Do you think BGT gets some kind of revenue from 13% of their networks? that would be interesting...

average of £5 a month
15,000 networks (13%)
edit - i should say (although it is fairly obvious) that i used an average of £5 in this calculation)
£75k a month - £900k pa

pie in the sky?

[carl79] 29/3/2010 08:28

Airforce - yep, thats a premium site so BGT make at least the $25 pm. It is quite a clever site, doesn't look much like a social network at all... this page gives the game away...

TA, interesting stuff...we all know that the Ning model sucks ass. Massive network, very small % making money - too many staff to be profitable. This is why I hope BGT demonstrably diverge away from the Ning model asap - ie their premium growth starts increasing at a rate over and above that of standard sign ups. They have been converting a touch over 1% of all network sign ups. If this is moving to more like 2% i'll take encouragement. The numbers are not too important right now, that can come. What I see as important is settign the correct trend and proving to us shareholders that they are indeed achieving their target of increasing premium network numbers - or rather % since we know that if you have 15k premium sites but millions of free ones draining resource, you still make no money...

Did you notice that the start of that Vator news video uses the same music as WL use on their videos...

[norbus] 29/3/2010 07:46

May be SG's day is about to come! They can't be unaware of the opportunity. What will they do? can they take it? I never thought Vikram came to play for peanuts.

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 00:22

So, are any of these networks leaving ning moving to SocialGO?

Seems that whilst ning are having problems retaining their employees, on the surface it looks like all is well at SocialGO - new Directors, new offices (London and San Fran), new staff...

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 00:20

Forbes talking about the ning exodus:



Also, suggestions of a new Board of Directors:

"Q: Ning doesn't have a single non-executive board member; given how much it has raised, how is that, and why is that?

A: Stay tuned, you'll be hearing from us and seeing things there in coming weeks and months.

Q: Meaning that you're raising more money?

A: Mmm, I didn't say that. We've run the company a certain way, with a certain board structure. But one thing you can expect from me is that we're ready to build a board of directors with outside, independent board directors. That's one of the first things I'll be working on.

Q: Are you raising more money soon? It sounds like you are.

A: No comment."

[the analyst] 29/3/2010 00:16

Couple of comments from ning network owners:

"I think they screwed up by starting off as a Semi "White Label" solution for networks... Now those networks (including mine) are leaving because they care more about helping the little dinky hobby networks."

"Now those networks (including mine) are leaving because they care more about helping the little dinky hobby networks."

[the analyst] 28/3/2010 23:43

Quite a bit of speculation in the comments section beneath the article:

[the analyst] 28/3/2010 23:42

"How does ning make money?"

Interview just before she left the company:

[the analyst] 28/3/2010 23:34

I see that after nearly two weeks, we still don't really know why Gina Bianchini left ning. Has the business plan failed? Are they having to raise more funds? Or, maybe she is just burned out and really does want to give more time to her family?

Quite a few people out there suggesting that ning is not a good place to work, that people are leaving in droves and they have constantly seeking new employees (seemingly without much success).

Whether there is any substance to any of these comments remains to be seen, but I wonder whether all of this bad publicity for the "create your own social network" model may be making it more difficult for socialGO to raise funds

[the analyst] 28/3/2010 23:33

That's an interesting observation airforce - that is a premium networks, so they are paying at least $25 pm for it.

If people find that a socialgo network can act as decent marketing tool or even better, that a back-link from such networks is useful for seo (google may give extra points for having social networks pointing to your site as part of the in-bound links mix), then there could be quite a few takers.

$25 per month is nothing to pay for a decent back-link if you are trying to get to the top for a particularly competitive key-phrase.

[airforce11] 28/3/2010 11:06

A few sites are appearing which seem to use Socialgo in order to obtain free marketing. I'm not sure whether or not BGT make any money on these type of sites, but if they could monetise some of them they may make a few bob.

[ucretin] 26/3/2010 21:36

As Carl79 pointed out earlier in the week, there are regular buys of 200k+. Today we see another 300k. Someone accumulating or individuals. Who knows but someone is buying without attracting attention or raising the price.

[the analyst] 26/3/2010 18:02

Yup, hopefully it's the experience with debt financing that is crucial and SocialGO are going the debt route to raise cash over the placing route.

If the company is going to be a success, then this is the best option for investors

[norbus] 26/3/2010 08:36

pinky
the cv looks good but I did speak to others about him. Early days but he seems more commercial and appropriately skilled than his predecessor.