We had ambitious, though perhaps misguided plans to revolutionize recipe publishing across the web (and also didn't have the idea for long before applying). Since applying, and talking a few other folks, we've realized that what we really want to do is pick up the torch of the early work on RecipeML and make an open format for the web to encode recipe data in. Ideally, we'd like to see companies like Epicurious and Allrecipes.com use this format and compete on features rather than data. We believe all recipes should be open and public to the web, allowing anyone to cook anything, anywhere.
So, we're still on the task, but maybe this is about creating a consortium to manage an open format / standard, rather than a company... though I certainly think profitable companies could come from this.
What's in it for Epicurious and Allrecipes, considering they currently own the data and competing just on features probably means they lose market power?
Well, one of them would have to race to have market dominance, but imagine being the publisher / host for every recipe on the web. You could really only achieve that by opening in your platform / format to 3rd party devs and other services, to allow other tie-ins.
So... Instagram didn't invent JPEG... they just made it really simple and easy for everyone to share images, and the 3rd party services that have sprung up around it have strengthened their ecosystem. That's a bad example... but... you get what I'm saying I hope.
So, we're still on the task, but maybe this is about creating a consortium to manage an open format / standard, rather than a company... though I certainly think profitable companies could come from this.
You can view our submission here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n99prz9wkxjb223/s2014form.htm
Just open in a browser (or text editor, if you really feel like it).