
Socialcam Nabs Angel Funding From The A-List - mwseibel
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/30/socialcam-angel-funding-investors/
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davidedicillo
I'm just tired of these video apps that every time you click on one of their
links automatically share the video on your timeline. Result: I don't watch
their videos anymore.

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mdoerneman
I figured out this was happening when I saw a few videos in my feed from
friends that wouldn't normally be posting them. My first thought was that they
were spam or that someone hacked their Facebook account. I did some asking
around and these friend's had no idea this was happening. (It's kind of
embarrassing when everyone see's that you watched a video of a chick in a
bikini) I think it is a really shady practice by both companies but I guess
they don't have much choice in the battle for #1. Either way, be very careful
the videos you click on in your news feed.

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jaredsohn
The secret is that when you accept the app you tell it to automatically share
with "yourself". (And you can do that with the social reader apps, too.) This
stops you from spamming your friends, although you still may want to clean up
your timeline so you don't have to see the noise.

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sgrove
Congrats to Michael and co.

The success that Socialcam is enjoying makes me laugh - given the amazing
hard-work the justin.tv team put in for _years_ hustling, building, learning
to deal with crazy unbelievable challenges, it just feels _right_ that they do
well now. How could it be any other way? These guys are unstoppable forces of
nature at this point.

Luckily they seem to be nice and down to earth as well. So congrats on making
it this far, even though I'm sure it's only a small preview of what's to come.

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stevenj
Surprised to see Laurene Powell Jobs listed as an investor.

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pazimzadeh
Good catch.

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baddox
It's in the headline.

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pazimzadeh
Ah. Er..good catch.

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SimianLogic2
The fact that they're 1-2 in the app store probably has more to do with the
Instagram sale than any pent up demand for video sharing. It makes sense that
they're both raising money--they've got to fund their massive UA campaigns.

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gustaf
The reason they're at the top of the app store is because they built a great
product that millions of people love. Video is a core technology on mobile
devices and until now it's been really hard to record and post a video to
Facebook/Twitter.

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SimianLogic2
That wasn't meant as a disparagement on their products--but app quality and
app store ranking often have very little to do with each other. Unless by
"until now" you don't mean "until Instagram sold for $1 billion", I don't
think the technology has radically shifted in the last couple of weeks.

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AVTizzle
This is a wildly impressive syndicate. But looking down this list (that even
includes Hollywood/entertainment elite: Ari Emmanuel, Ashton Kutcher, Micheal
Rapino) I couldn't help but wonder: Will managing the amount of ego on this
list be a 25-hour-a-day job on it's own?

Given the scope of the names on that list - and the industries they're
representing - there could easily be some conflicting interests and competing
agendas within the group. Also, a ton of alpha a-players who may or may not be
domesticated for this type of "super group". Could this much mojo be counter-
productive?

I wish Socialcam the best, and hope this doesn't end among the graveyard of
"Why Dream Teams Fail" case studies.

    
    
      The most important lesson about team performance is that the basic 
      theory of the dream team is wrong. You cannot assemble a group of 
      stars and then sit back to watch them conquer the world. You can't 
      even count on them to avoid embarrassment. The 2004 U.S. Olympic 
      basketball team consisted entirely of NBA stars; it finished third 
      and lost to Lithuania.
    

Why Dream Teams Fail:
[http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/30/news/newsmakers/failures1_gr...](http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/30/news/newsmakers/failures1_greatteams_fortune/index.htm)

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rdl
Investors, especially on convertible notes, are usually fairly hands off and
non meddlesome. It isnt like they are all execs or on the board.

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justjimmy
The issue I have with the numbers of users from these Vid Apps is that they
are just vanity numbers. The numbers doesn't include just those who actually
download and use the app, but also those that actually click the link to share
on Viddy/Socialcam to just _watch the video_.

Neither are willing to disclose actual user numbers either. :(

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rokhayakebe
Can we adjust the title since the amount is unknown?

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sethbannon
All this with a team of only THREE. Socialcam really is following in
Instagram's footsteps.

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hncommenter13
Fundraising disclosed to date:

1/18/2012 $0.01 of Common

1/31/2012 $34,105.20 of Common

1/31/2012 $665,000 Convertible note

1/31/2012 $249,133 Preferred stock

4/20/2012 $150,000 Convertible note

This is not comprehensive, so there may well be financing not yet disclosed.
Also, they're represented by Wilson Sonsini, in case anyone cares.

[edit: formatting]

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hncommenter13
Just so I'm clear for the future, what is it about this info that some people
find objectionable? As far as I know, it's not available on the web anywhere,
and since the story is about fundraising, I thought folks would find it
interesting/informative. Sorry.

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prezjordan
What are some differences between the two products? Why did one win over the
other?

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dirkdk
not one won, Viddy is also busy raising another round
([http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/viddy-is-
raising-30m-at-a-3...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/viddy-is-
raising-30m-at-a-370m-valuation/)). Both of them seem to skyrocket. Photo
sharing is a done deal after the Instagram acquisition. Seems like all eyes
are now on video sharing as the field where the next $1 billion exit will
occur

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mikeryan
_Photo sharing is a done deal after the Instagram acquisition_

I dunno the web is littered with products that don't transition well to new
corporate parents. The Instagram acquisition could actually have opened up the
photo sharing space.

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loeschg
Shane Battier and Ashton Kutcher. Interesting. I feel like there's a joke
here...

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klochner
Anyone know why so many Duke basketball alums participated in the round?

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randall
The best part of that article is the list.

"Ronny Conway – Andreessen Horowitz"

Uh, what?

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mpakes
Not a typo. Ronny Conway is Ron Conway's son.

