:: eLOL to join uLinkIt ::

eLOL is to join uLink it without even knowing it. Ok, we should start over. Too many not-commonly known terms in one sentence. It is complex so take it slowly, bit by bit.

1) eLOL is a software that delivers daily jokes to your desktop. It was made by a company named NetCustomize in mid 1999.

2) Nectaris was the name of a Company that made a product called uLinkIt that lets Internet users share their bookmarks with others, thus creating a user generated web directory. This is also a mid 1999 play.

3) NetCustomize is now called MindEcho and eLOL is now called EgoManiac.

4) uLinkIt is now called QBar. Nectaris is called Quiver.

5) Both companies are backed by Wadi Venture Capital Funds or Angels.

6) The original business model for both was problematic so both are repositioning themselves.

7) Repositioning is something very common, and a lot of Start-Ups go through one over their life span.

All of the above is a No-News.

Now the news.

Both companies treat their first development efforts in an interesting manner.

Quiver, which for sure wanted to use its software to provide a service, calls it for quite sometime now "Quiver Technology Preview". I have just recently noticed MindEcho, which I also guess wanted to provide a service, calls its own application a "Show Case Application".

As demos - those two are really good. But there is something that bothers me here. And it has to do not with the companies but with their investors. A kind of perspective I want to share.

We can now clearly see the investors funded with something like 3 million dollars (in each case) the development of a prototype. Now, some prototypes are sure worth the money, but these are not the kind. In both cases, even after the repositioning, things are going to be as tough as hell for both companies. I find it really hard to think of any way to justify an investment of such a magnitude in a prototype of such kind. And?

And if you want to build a prototype of a company - go for it. But if you look for real business, wait a second. At times (and 1999 was a time) investors will fund anything. And you will be left with a prototype of a dream.

The good Thing?

Most likely the investors will be left with a prototype of a profit.

This breaks even - doesn't it?

Wadi Writer #1 (Gray)
WadiList@mail.com

Links:
http://www.egomaniac.com
http://www.mindecho.com
http://www.elol.com
http://www.netcustomize.com
http://www.ulinkit.com
http://www.quiver.com
http://www.nectaris.com