Mobilizing Social Media
On Monday, I wrote about a company that left Atlanta for the allure of Silicon Valley. Today I look at a social media company that decided to stay.
Mikael Vinding likes things simple – simple for him and simple for his customers. He wants to eliminate needless barriers when it comes to venture funding, and he wants an uncomplicated mobile experience for users.
A Danish native, Mikael is also CEO of Streamverse, an Atlanta-based software development company that is trying to bring the power of social media to mobile devices. Streamverse is focused on producing revenue-generating content solutions for wireless carriers.
Vinding is also Chief Jygynaut.
JYGY is the brand name of Streamverse’s flagship product. Its a play on jiggy - meaning fun / cool. (“Think Will Smith’s hit ‘Getting Jiggy With It.’”) It allows mobile subscribers to develop and distribute content they have created via their mobile units and other digitally connected peripheral devices.
The JYGY software platform easily and inexpensively integrates into a carrier’s existing messaging architecture. Using JYGY mobile subscribers can easily create and share applications such as blogs, polls, chat, image sharing, and IM, as well as search and organize messages. By integrating web 2.0 networking features as a part of the carrier mobile social network feature, Vinding believes they will experience faster adoption of new services, increase SMS and MMS revenues and attract new subscribers.
Ironically, it took a trip to San Francisco for me to meet this Atlanta transplant. At the Web 2.0 Expo in April, I bumped into Vinding on the Expo floor when asking him where he found the ice cream bar he was eating. I never did get the ice cream, but I did learn that his goal was to be “the number one way to add cool mobile content to whatever social network you are in.”
Their subscriber numbers are still in the thousands, but the market for mobile social networking services is promising.
Based on a recent report by Nielsen Mobile, “the U.K. leads Europe in mobile social networking on a percentage basis — with the U.S. boasting comparable numbers.” And according to the estimates of Strategy Analytics, worldwide revenue from mobile data services is predicted to jump from an estimated $61 billion this year to $189 billion in 2009.
Streamverse believes that one primary influence driving the rise in revenues will be user generated content. UGC gives the end-user the ability to develop as well as distribute content that they have created via their mobile phones and other digitally connected peripheral devices.
Demographically, Streamverse is well suited to be headquartered here in Atlanta.
David Harnett, vice president of technology industry expansion at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce told me that Atlanta has more cellular users than any large city in the country. That makes sense given that Atlanta is home to ATT Wireless, and Alltel and T-Mobile have a significant presence here as well. Atlanta also leads the nation in attracting highly educated 25-34 year olds – a prime demographic for mobile carriers.
So with all these factors in Atlanta’s favor, what allure did Silicon Valley have for Vinding?
Putting aside the pollen, it comes down to funding and the steps necessary to get it.
There is a lot of pressure from the venture community to relocate out West. More than once, Vinding has been asked “Why Atlanta?” According to Mikael, the vast majority of funding in the mobile social apps is west coast based.
And back to Vinding’s quest for simplicity, the introduction and approval process is easier out there as well.
In Atlanta, the investment community is still very risk averse. Many don’t understand a business model based on a teenager’s passion for texting, mobile devices and virtual communities.
Vinding recounts the time when he needed seven introductions to arrange one meeting and then had to fill out two pages of single spaced questions about his business strategy. In Silicon Valley, a key introduction was made by Linkedin and took four minutes for the venture fund on Sand Hill Road to understand his model.
Nevertheless, Vinding still plans to stay here in Atlanta. While Vinding maintains a presence in Palo Alto, he is currently in the process of relocating from suburban Atlanta to Midtown.
Now in his thirties, Vinding moved to Atlanta to work in the telecommunications space. It is home for him and his family.
While you still can’t show up to VC offices in shorts and T-shirts, he sees that the Atlanta business culture is beginning to change.
Let me get back to you.
Technorati Tags: Streamverse; Mikael Vinding; JYGY; Startups; Mobile Social Media; New South Media Buzz; Bernaise Source Buzz;
