

Ask HN: Favorite startup demo videos - andreshb

I am searching for examples of really great demo videos that explain a product or service. In your opinion what are some of the most clear and/or creative videos from startups out there?
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faramarz
Square, without a doubt.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSzsFAJAKHI&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSzsFAJAKHI&feature=related)

~~~
samps
For more Adam Lisagor, try the video for the Birdhouse iPhone app, which is
_even more_ charming than the Square video:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8yRaWY1xV8>

~~~
blasdel
He's one of the developers of Birdhouse, which he started as a side project
from doing Hollywood VFX work. Now he's working on making these kinds of
promotional videos full time — he's mentioned that he's done internal stuff
for companies, and he just published a new one for an iPad app:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00o>

Y'all should hire him, he's the new Stan Freberg.

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chamza
I thought this one was genuinely funny and well executed:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FC_eMDnCRg>

Thumbtack; saw this because they just got funded through Venture hack's Angel
list.

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peteforde
Straight up, Shopify made my favourite promo video:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVVui4oXL4Q&hd=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVVui4oXL4Q&hd=1)

Aside from high production values, the reason this is a great clip is that
they start with "Why?". If you're not familiar with Simon Sinek's awesome TED
talk, I highly recommend it:

[http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi...](http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html)

~~~
patrickk
+1 for the Simon Sinek link, that was great!

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JangoSteve
I'd just like to add that spending the time to put together a good-quality
demo video for your startup can be a rewarding experience, and very worthwhile
too. I think many still treat it like an after-thought when getting ready to
launch their app, though. I was almost more proud of my demo video than when I
launched LeadNuke in the first place (realizing that I lack any considerable
experience making screencasts). I also took the opportunity to slip in a plug
for my other startup, RateMyStudentRental.

That being said, it's just a simple screencast, so I wouldn't say it's
inherently creative or out of the ordinary. But it does go to show that you
can make a decent quality demo video on the cheap in under a few hours if you
take it seriously.

EDIT: Oh, and just in case you'd like to see it:
[http://s3.amazonaws.com/leadnuke-com-cdn-
streaming/introduct...](http://s3.amazonaws.com/leadnuke-com-cdn-
streaming/introduction-demo.mp4)

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thegyppo
I'm a big fan of the SoundCloud demo: <http://vimeo.com/1857085> just feels
slick & tells you exactly what the service does.

~~~
jscore
The woman's accent helps too.

~~~
heromaeda
LOL yeah. I digg her accent. and the BGM is pretty sweet

~~~
andreshb
Funny how you say digg instead of dig.

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buymorechuck
Flipboard. Very clearly explains the point:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2vpvEDS00o>

~~~
MichaelGG
Slightly OT, but I got distracted by the strange Aphex Twin cover they used as
background music. Followed the link, and now that group (The Bad Plus) has at
least one new fan. I like seeing new business models like that in practise.

------
thinker
Related: [http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-examples-of-
startup-...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-examples-of-startup-
product-demo-videos)

------
patrickk
The Google TV introduction is fantastic, note the use of simple graphics and
the clear, simple language:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diTpeYoqAhc>

In a similar vein, the famous "Twitter in Plain English":

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o>

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mp3jeep01
YC plug, but I really always thought DropBox did a great job - one of the
things I most appreciated was the key example - they put it in terms of an
item that everyone recognizes and a problem most people (if not all) have
probably dealt with. I think the present version is even extended a bit from
the original (now includes some computer files info)

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jonbischke
I collected some startup pitches/demo and did a blog post a while back. There
are some good ones here including Loopt, AdMob, Dropbox, etc.

[http://jonbischke.com/2009/11/13/a-dozen-of-the-best-
start-u...](http://jonbischke.com/2009/11/13/a-dozen-of-the-best-start-up-
pitches-on-the-web/)

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ideamonk
I find this introduction to Cloud Computing very nice -
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ae_DKNwK_ms>

Though not a product demo, but the way of explaining it in simple words and
illustration makes it stick to my mind.

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Flow
Back when DabbleDB was new, hot and for testers, they posted some videos on
what DabbleDB is. Those videos were so good. This application was everything
you wanted spreadsheets to be.

Take a look: <http://dabbledb.com/demo/>

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mertenz
One of the best I've seen recently is by blippy, <http://blippy.com/> Just
very simple animations that make it easy to quickly grasp the concept and
answer potential questions about the product (security, privacy etc.)

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bitboxer
Video that explains putpat, a german music video service:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EAkuKwS1JM>

~~~
andreshb
This has to be the most entertaining of all the videos so far.

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kloncks
The one by rule.fm that was shown a few days ago is quite good, even if I will
disagree with the way it was messages.

Link: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onDwiw2rfJE>

~~~
SwellJoe
That one is boring, left me with no idea what rule.fm is/does (I stopped
watching after about 45 seconds), and looked lovely doing it. F+ (a + for
looking good while being completely and utterly pointless).

~~~
zaidf
Agree. Crappiest demo in a while. It's very decieving in that you know these
guys know how to use a video editing tool. But if there was a well-edited demo
with the CRAPPIEST content, rule.fm demo wins it hands down.

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siruva07
So these are all really well done videos -- very professional, and probably
cost a ton. anyone know of a web service that lets you easily create your own
demo vid?

~~~
andreshb
I know of a studio in Costa Rica that makes these really well really fast and
do not cost a ton.

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flexterra
I love: <http://culturedcode.com/things/ipad/> the one for the iPhone app is
pretty good too

