DISQUS

louisgray.com: louisgray.com: From Zero to Xing: Socialmedian's 2008 Drive to Acquisition

  • Daniel J. Pritchett · 11 months ago
    Wow, so this iPhone that you love so much was a gift? That's pretty neat considering how much you write about iPhones now.

    My iPod touch was an afterthought and I wound up really liking it.
  • Louis Gray · 11 months ago
    I have been lucky in that I got the iPod Touch as gift near the end
    of 2007, and then I got the iPhone in a similar way this year. I've
    always purchased my own Apple products, but when these came available,
    I'd have been stupid to hesitate. I was a long holdout (for me) on the
    iPhone, and that delay was proven stupid. Never again.
  • Robert Seidman · 11 months ago
    It just goes to show that "good salesmanship" quite often trumps, well, everything. If you trust Quantcast's measurement (which I do after a year+ using it, and Social Median is directly measured), the acquiring price is absolutely stunning.

    Despite that *well* less than 100,000 people regularly use Social Median, they got $7.5 million...that's a very impressive transaction. The return is outstanding, especially given the well less than a million page views a month. I think I had it right, and wrong all at the same time :-)
  • Louis Gray · 11 months ago
    I have a hard time believing the traffic statistics for practically
    anything any more. I believe that Socialmedian and FriendFeed are
    undercounted in visitor statistics, given I think I know how much
    traffic my own site gets. Yes, Socialmedian got a good offer, but it's
    also a result of the technology and the platform as much as its
    current user base.
  • Eric Berlin · 11 months ago
    I wrote a few months ago that I really like what socialmedian is doing with widgets; that's one of their more impressive features. Most widgets in my view don't serve a lot of value to users and are bells/whistles or serve the needs of the publisher more than that of the audience.

    The ability to create a widget that tightly targets niche vertical content and then wraps a social media layer around it is pretty damned cool though. Congrats to socialmedian, and to Louis for helping to bring it to wider attention!
  • sarahcrisman · 11 months ago
    I have to thank you, Louis, because I discovered Socialmedian through your blog. I amazed by the growth of this site, but not in the least bit surprised. Socialmedian is how i get my news- I'm now the office Go-To Girl on breaking news... and it's all because s|m keeps me on top of everything I need to know...

    Well, now I'm beginning to sound like a boat show model.

    Anyway, well spotted. I'm much obliged.
  • Louis Gray · 11 months ago
    Sarah, it has been great to see people like you, Leo Laporte and Rob
    Diana get really into Socialmedian. When Jason and I first met
    virtually in April, I knew the site had potential. He and his team
    really did a lot of work to recognize the success they have already
    seen. I am glad to have helped push you their way.