Bright Things Share Discussion Threads

[norbus] 06/5/2010 13:16

Glad you are so confident. The price, imo the best litmus paper, is staying shtum, so what's the big deal about waiting till September, if this as you say might take a few years to come right?

[the analyst] 06/5/2010 12:43

This comment interested me, because with socialGO, the sort of use in this example has never been possible without paying a premium:

"A quick example: if you have a 10 minute 80MB video and 1000 people view it, that would use 78GB of transfer (a whole sale cost of $6.28 to serve the video). This would mean on free plans a website provider would need to find advertisers willing to pay more then $7 per CPM for advertising on videos. This isn't realistic by any stretch of the imagination since a website provider such as Spruz can not find ad buyers for individual networks."

Just that one video being viewed 1000 times would take up 80GB bandwidth

So, on SocialGO, the network owner would have to upgrade to premium and buy more band-width for that type of use. I think it costs $9.99 per extra 50GB block of bandwidth, so you would need to be paying at least $34.98 per month ($24.99 premium + one extra bandwidth block at $9.99) to allow that one video to be viewed 1000 times in a single month

[the analyst] 06/5/2010 12:22

"Truth is none of us have a clue where this is going"

I Disagree - I have a very clear vision of where they are going. At the very least, I have a clear view of the sector and where BGT are trying to take their product


"Time we had an update"

I Disagree with this too - Nothing would please me more if the next RNS from the company was in September, along with the results

[carl79] 06/5/2010 10:18

Given the above, I still dont think freemium pays off! Are the Spruz revenue figures conspicuous by their absence...One point to note is that all sites, free or not are generating money though becasue given their delete methodology, sites that are not accessed in 30 days OR/AND have less than 1000 page views per month are deleted so they do at least have a "story" to tell would be advertisers - that story being that free sites are at least "active"...

[carl79] 06/5/2010 10:11

Good to see us improving our key word ranks...hopefully it translates to tangible benefits...the intangible stuff is starting to irritate me...:-)

This is interesting:



Can Self-Funded Win Out Against Investor-Funded?

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 4, 2010 - The social platform industry was shaken up recently with Ning's announcement that it would be forcing its free sites to upgrade or leave. Almost immediately after the announcement former free Ning users who no longer had a home for their community started looking for alternatives. Comments left on news articles about Ning's announcement revealed an underlying fear many of them had about switching to another free service: if the industry leader wasn't able to make it, how could any of the alternatives?

While other companies have shied away from answering this question, Spruz - a free social website platform much like Ning - has provided a direct response to it. "The bottom-line difference between Spruz and Ning is that we are a self-funded company that is already profitable," stated Jay Roberts, founder of Spruz, who went on to say, "While Ning had $120 million in investment from outside sources, Spruz has always operated as a boot-strapped company. This has resulted in our business model being completely sustainable from the ground up, with free sites being an integral part of it."

Other mentioned alternatives to Ning include Grou.ps and SocialGo, both with substantial funding. Startups who accept funds from outside sources have the difficult task of turning a profit much larger than necessary to maintain the service they provide, as most investors are interested in the acquisition value of a company. Jay Roberts added that, "Spruz has already experienced tremendous growth since Ning's announcement, requiring us to increase our staff and deploy additional hardware. The fact that we are profitable and have no venture funding means we are able to grow to meet the demands of our users without fear of imploding. We're looking forward to welcoming anyone looking for a stable platform to move their community to."

So, self-funded or investor-funded? The fate of Ning may serve as a very telling answer.

Jay Roberts explains how Spruz Freemium is sustainable in

Spruz launched in 2007 as a hosted social website solution that makes it easy to create your own public or private community website about anything.

[carl79] 06/5/2010 09:05

Perfectly normal to lose heart Norbus - but keep focused on the "prize" whatever your particular prize is. I see BGT carving out a niche in the premium market and if the industry tags this a worth $4Bn then we dont need a very big slice to make us rich! But we are not there yet - i've mentioned my concerns so wont labour the point but i still see it as viable so still keep holding. The day that i feel they are not going to make it, be that Ning starts dominating, or another competitor flies in, the product does not improve quick enough, sign ups decline etc etc i'll re-evaluate...but till then i would not call a fellow holder a rose tinted spectacle wearer becasue we're all looking at the same beast and all have similar expectations (that our investment will grow - the level of growth will likely be very different in each holders mind)...

You are spot on regards an update - we need one ASAP now. Ning changed the game when they closed up shop to free and SG hav up to not responded adequately. Certainly from a shareholder perspective. Regardless of what is said, Ning eliminating Free has a significant bearing on BGT's strategy because they now have specific, focussed competition AND are looking like the home of choice for the discarded Free sites - Both of these events need addressing imo. Ning's decision to charge all sites will improve their revenue but as yet, we don't know if it will reduce BGT's revenue - BGT need to announce how they can assure shareholder's that it won't...

One clear positive that remains is that for every week that passes, BGT must be getting closer to B/E - and if we do in fact reach B/E then assuming we are not required to suffer massive dilution, we should all make healthy returns - at an average of sub 3p, I still think a return is possible and I have enough powder to take my average to sub 2p if I think we are turning a corner...(given BGT's speed of movement on positive news though, i may never get the chance to top up as this share can move like lightening with the right type of news behind it! Most days however it is either flat or declining - this is the way of the world with an AIM listed stock that provides few updates, is not yet posting profits and is pushing a service that is not quite mainstream...you must have known that when you invested - the history was / is a fairly good indicator...strategy shoulkd be get in at a comfortable level, build up your stake and then if your calculations are correct, when the share moves, you become much much richer - this is not a share you buy and then enjoy daily movements with the ability to trade regularly...

As far as how appealing this is, I agree it isn't, and this is why i withdrew from AIM apart from a select group of holdings - in times of recession, I felt it unwise to have most of my portfolio in illiquid stocks...but im happy with my lot and with the right direction (which you either think they have or you dont), BGT have every chance of making me a touch more wealthy and that for me is the prize i focus on - until something fundamental changes, I keep my eyes on that prize and try to filter out noise like the interim share price ..

[norbus] 06/5/2010 07:53

TA
Only a few years to wait norbus and we will know the answer :)


I reacted to your opinion of timescales said in jest. I had a vision it could drag as you suggest. Truth is none of us have a clue where this is going. we all have wish lists for it with no two of us thinking alike. Time we had an update. we do not even get the exitement of a moving share price to give the odd hint .

As to buying more, this will be mandatory by my method if they get back to .5p.

[the analyst] 06/5/2010 00:06

Norbus, your view seems to change with the wind. Earlier today you were intimating it could be time to buy more, given the $4 billion market they are playing for, yet tonight you seem to be in despair.

There is no method to your madness

[norbus] 05/5/2010 21:09

Last time I look at your picks TA. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I do not wear the same tint glasses as you do. I fell for the December deal thinking they'd moved into the real world, but we are still in tech land, next door to LaLa land. I do hope I am wrong,being unfair and unduly impatient. I will gladly swallow my words washed down with copious draughts of malt whiskey.

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 18:16

Only a few years to wait norbus and we will know the answer :)

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 17:53

Yup, 100% uptime, bug free and good customer service are the things I want to see before anything else (for premium users)

It's all about the product, in my opinion. As we have seen, even without getting it perfectly right from a product and service point of view, we still managed to get enormous publicity from the ning u-turn.

One benefit has been in getting back-links from top sites. We are already seeing better rankings due to the back-links the publicity has generated - search for any of the terms below and you will see we are ranking very well:

"create a social network"
"make a social network"
"build my own social site"

We were ranking a long way down in the results for these terms a couple of months ago

[norbus] 05/5/2010 17:07

I have been wondering if the success of SocialGO's concierge plan has been having an adverse effect on product development and customer service

It would be good if they found a gap in the market, with a market in the gap.
The product development and customer service can follow; Within the shroud of silence and opacity, I am worried they may have achieved neither.

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 16:11

On the $3 option, my comment was just an observation, rather than saying the model won;t work for ning. I agree with you that it might work for them - it will be interesting to see...

Seems that everyone knows there is gold in them hills, but nobody is quite sure how best to extract it!

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 16:11

Norbus,

Interesting points

Automatic are far bigger than ning (Wordpress!) and they manage a concierge service, so I think it is possible. The trick for Automatik has been to offer an expensive, bespoke service that blue chips pay a fortune for.

I have been wondering if the success of SocialGO's concierge plan has been having an adverse effect on product development and customer service

[norbus] 05/5/2010 15:21

TA
your logic does not follow, imo; I say that because scale matters, and what works in a boutique could fail in a supermarket. I don't wish to write an essay but you get my drift. at Ning's scale they can't possibly gear up to concierge, lucky for us, and @ $3 for a million free sites might make sense for Ning with the legacy business to follow through.

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 13:59

Just looking at this new ning pricing, there are two thing which stand out to me:

Firstly, is that they have not introduced a concierge service.

I was worried that they may copy SocialGO on this one and steal some of this high-value client base. Although there may not be many out there wanting to pay that $149 per month for concierge, I think it is a good thing to offer. That type of service has apparently played an important role in Automatik making it into profitability (they make wordpress, buddypress etc)

Secondly, is that the new $3 cheapo package is actually very similar in concept to the one that SocialGO removed from their offering not long ago. So, ning have created a plan there that has been tried, tested and rejected by SocialGO

[the analyst] 05/5/2010 07:36

Sorry to see this sad news. My sympathy goes out to Alex and family

[the analyst] 04/5/2010 22:25

Not sure about a US listing, uncle_bob, I can't see it happening any time soon

First priority must be to grow the business and get into profit before thinking about spending on moves like that

Maybe in five years time, when the market cap is £200m... :)

[the analyst] 04/5/2010 22:18

Hi norbus,

Yes, even if we only get ourselves a measly 1% share of that, we will be in the money. That $4 billion is one huge estimate

On your other point, most of the best investments I have made have remained pretty much silent until they reached break-even, so not too worried about that. I prefer them to only shout when they have something to shout about

As it stands, I am a little concerned about the current product and customer service and I want to see that sorted out as soon as possible. Once that is done, I want them to telling the world what they have got!

[uncle_bob] 04/5/2010 17:53

Anyone here think BGT will go for a US listing any time soon, after all most of the business they are doing is in the US.

[the analyst] 04/5/2010 17:45

Techcrunch mentioning the new tool ning say they are going to introduce for exporting data, but I wonder how good this tool will be? Not too good, is my guess...



"And for Ning Creators who use the free service that want to move to another service, Ning will offer a tool to export all of content"

Also, more comment on this $4 billion figure:

"He adds that Ning will be rolling out new ad share models and premium advertising in the next few months that should add additional revenue streams. He says that the DIY social network arena focusing on subscription model could represent a $4 billion plus revenue stream and with the new features, Ning is providing the most meaningful platform to capitalize on this market"