Comments on: Big Round For Aggregate Knowledge http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/ Startup and Technology News Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:02:54 -0800 hourly 1 By: Paid Content : Deal Radar 2008: Aggregate Knowledge http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-2489731 Paid Content : Deal Radar 2008: Aggregate Knowledge Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:03:55 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-2489731 [...] of funding is definitely a vote of confidence in AK's business model. According to an April 2007 TechCrunch article, the company was rumored to be at or near profitability, with most of the original $5 [...] [...] of funding is definitely a vote of confidence in AK’s business model. According to an April 2007 TechCrunch article, the company was rumored to be at or near profitability, with most of the original $5 [...]

]]> By: Deal Radar 2008: Aggregate Knowledge - Sramana Mitra on Strategy http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-2489532 Deal Radar 2008: Aggregate Knowledge - Sramana Mitra on Strategy Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:31:52 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-2489532 [...] funding is definitely a vote of confidence in AK’s business model. According to an April 2007 TechCrunch article, the company was rumored to be at or near profitability, with most of the original $5 [...] [...] funding is definitely a vote of confidence in AK’s business model. According to an April 2007 TechCrunch article, the company was rumored to be at or near profitability, with most of the original $5 [...]

]]> By: ATG Buys CleverSet For $10 Million http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-2302565 ATG Buys CleverSet For $10 Million Sat, 17 May 2008 03:09:09 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-2302565 [...] But it doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the hype surrounding “discovery” right now. CleverSet offers discovery and recommendation engines to e-commerce sites, using a statistical approach to making product matches. The Seattle-based startup competes with the likes of Aggregate Knowledge, Criteo, MyStrands, and ChoiceStream. The investors in those companies are expecting much larger exits. Criteo just raised $10 million in a venture round. And Aggregate Knowledge has raised $25 million. [...] [...] But it doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the hype surrounding “discovery” right now. CleverSet offers discovery and recommendation engines to e-commerce sites, using a statistical approach to making product matches. The Seattle-based startup competes with the likes of Aggregate Knowledge, Criteo, MyStrands, and ChoiceStream. The investors in those companies are expecting much larger exits. Criteo just raised $10 million in a venture round. And Aggregate Knowledge has raised $25 million. [...]

]]> By: ATG Buys CleverSet For $10 Million : New Web 2.0 Magazine http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1935335 ATG Buys CleverSet For $10 Million : New Web 2.0 Magazine Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:20:52 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1935335 [...] But it doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the hype surrounding “discovery” right now. CleverSet offers discovery and recommendation engines to e-commerce sites, using a statistical approach to making product matches. The Seattle-based startup competes with the likes of Aggregate Knowledge, Criteo, MyStrands, and ChoiceStream. The investors in those companies are expecting much larger exits. Criteo just raised $10 million in a venture round. And Aggregate Knowledge has raised $25 million. [...] [...] But it doesn’t quite live up to a lot of the hype surrounding “discovery” right now. CleverSet offers discovery and recommendation engines to e-commerce sites, using a statistical approach to making product matches. The Seattle-based startup competes with the likes of Aggregate Knowledge, Criteo, MyStrands, and ChoiceStream. The investors in those companies are expecting much larger exits. Criteo just raised $10 million in a venture round. And Aggregate Knowledge has raised $25 million. [...]

]]> By: Just a random blog ! http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1498827 Just a random blog ! Sat, 14 Jul 2007 21:26:36 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1498827 [...] competes directly with Aggregate Knowledge, a high flying startup that has raised a total of $25 million in venture [...] [...] competes directly with Aggregate Knowledge, a high flying startup that has raised a total of $25 million in venture [...]

]]> By: Loomia Partners With Wall Street Journal http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1498451 Loomia Partners With Wall Street Journal Sat, 14 Jul 2007 13:57:15 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1498451 [...] competes directly with Aggregate Knowledge, a high flying startup that has raised a total of $25 million in venture [...] [...] competes directly with Aggregate Knowledge, a high flying startup that has raised a total of $25 million in venture [...]

]]> By: A Look at Supernova 2007 Connected Innovators http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1471986 A Look at Supernova 2007 Connected Innovators Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:53:29 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1471986 [...] personalized recommendations by looking at user’s collective behavior. They just closed a large round of financing and are rumored to be profitable after a little over a year in [...] [...] personalized recommendations by looking at user’s collective behavior. They just closed a large round of financing and are rumored to be profitable after a little over a year in [...]

]]> By: Betsy Flanagan http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1328448 Betsy Flanagan Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:52:54 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1328448 I just posted an interview with Chris Law, one of the founders of Aggregate Knowledge at http://www.StartupStudio.com. It was recorded a couple weeks ago. Chris answers many of the questions that people have brought up here as well as other things I find interesting: * What is the long term network vision for the company (18:38) * Where the company is going -- online is a great start, but offline holds a lot of opportunity (19:40). * How Aggregate Knowledge is able to implement their technology so quickly (16:36) * Why it has taken so long for this technology to be available/used widely given that Amazon has been doing something similar for years (15:41) I just posted an interview with Chris Law, one of the founders of Aggregate Knowledge at http://www.StartupStudio.com. It was recorded a couple weeks ago.

Chris answers many of the questions that people have brought up here as well as other things I find interesting:

* What is the long term network vision for the company (18:38)
* Where the company is going — online is a great start, but offline holds a lot of opportunity (19:40).
* How Aggregate Knowledge is able to implement their technology so quickly (16:36)
* Why it has taken so long for this technology to be available/used widely given that Amazon has been doing something similar for years (15:41)

]]> By: Clint Redmark http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1327324 Clint Redmark Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:57:03 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1327324 "It’s actually a LOT more probable that you’ll close a few customer for 1M in sales than win a contest with arbitrary judges and rules" Kevin, are you on AK payroll?! The Netflix prize is absolutly not with arbitrary rules. Actually, it is quite the opposite. The accuracy of each algorithm is calculated with the same sample of data. No way to cheat. For details, you can check it at: http://www.netflixprize.com/rules For a company like AK, it would require just a couple of hours of work to process the data of Netflix (well obviously, if they have the scalability they claim to have). If AK had the proper algorithm, they wouldn't refuse this easy money, say nothing of the great promotion associated. “It’s actually a LOT more probable that you’ll close a few customer for 1M in sales than win a contest with arbitrary judges and rules”

Kevin, are you on AK payroll?! The Netflix prize is absolutly not with arbitrary rules. Actually, it is quite the opposite. The accuracy of each algorithm is calculated with the same sample of data. No way to cheat.
For details, you can check it at: http://www.netf...prize.com/rules

For a company like AK, it would require just a couple of hours of work to process the data of Netflix (well obviously, if they have the scalability they claim to have). If AK had the proper algorithm, they wouldn’t refuse this easy money, say nothing of the great promotion associated.

]]> By: 1000 Flowers Bloom http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1327144 1000 Flowers Bloom Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:27:28 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1327144 <strong>Why do a B Round for Aggregate Knowledge?...</strong> Well as reported in a variety of places (here a few of them) Aggregate Knowledge just closed another round of funding. It's a large one and I wanted to take a second to talk about why we decided to do... Why do a B Round for Aggregate Knowledge?…

Well as reported in a variety of places (here a few of them) Aggregate Knowledge just closed another round of funding. It’s a large one and I wanted to take a second to talk about why we decided to do…

]]> By: Rusty http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326565 Rusty Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:20:53 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326565 We've been using Spotback's new widgets on our blog http://www.theplugg.com and it's done wonders to our page views and visit length. Seems like perosnalized recommendations work. I really don't see the point of paying money for a service like this when Spotback is absolutely free.. Try it: http://spotback.com 25M?! Nice job guys.. We’ve been using Spotback’s new widgets on our blog http://www.theplugg.com and it’s done wonders to our page views and visit length. Seems like perosnalized recommendations work.

I really don’t see the point of paying money for a service like this when Spotback is absolutely free.. Try it: http://spotback.com

25M?! Nice job guys..

]]> By: Kevin Burton http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326491 Kevin Burton Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:45:56 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326491 "Did AK participate into Netflix Prize? No! Too afraid to test their engine against some serious algorithms." This is a non sequitor. Tailrank didn't partitipate in the Netflix prize. It's better to focus on customers. It's actually a LOT more probable that you'll close a few customer for 1M in sales than win a contest with arbitrary judges and rules. That said....... I think the Netflix prize is great but it's just not a revenue stream. Also.... real customers renew..... if you close 1M in sales for this year they might be customers for the next 5 years. “Did AK participate into Netflix Prize? No! Too afraid to test their engine against some serious algorithms.”

This is a non sequitor.

Tailrank didn’t partitipate in the Netflix prize. It’s better to focus on customers. It’s actually a LOT more probable that you’ll close a few customer for 1M in sales than win a contest with arbitrary judges and rules.

That said……. I think the Netflix prize is great but it’s just not a revenue stream.

Also…. real customers renew….. if you close 1M in sales for this year they might be customers for the next 5 years.

]]> By: Dead 3.0 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326447 Dead 3.0 Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:10:41 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326447 Aggregate Knowledge is an example of a company providing real value to its customers. While consumer-facing web apps get the majority of the press/buzz, Aggregate Knowledge is generating real returns. Unlike pageviews, that's a pretty good indicator of a viable and sustainable business model. More at http://foroobar.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/aggregate-knowledge-raises-20m-to-expand-sales/ Aggregate Knowledge is an example of a company providing real value to its customers. While consumer-facing web apps get the majority of the press/buzz, Aggregate Knowledge is generating real returns. Unlike pageviews, that’s a pretty good indicator of a viable and sustainable business model. More at http://foroobar...o-expand-sales/

]]> By: Dead 3.0 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326441 Dead 3.0 Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:08:59 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326441 <strong>Aggregate Knowledge raises $20M to expand sales...</strong> Aggregate Knowledge (AK) has closed a $20M Series B financing round. The company tracks user behavior and provides personalized “discovery” features to boost top-line revenue growth for its customers. VentureBeat confirms a post-money valua... Aggregate Knowledge raises $20M to expand sales…

Aggregate Knowledge (AK) has closed a $20M Series B financing round. The company tracks user behavior and provides personalized “discovery” features to boost top-line revenue growth for its customers.
VentureBeat confirms a post-money valua…

]]> By: Jon Foreman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326288 Jon Foreman Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:52:55 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326288 Looks like washingtonpost.com is using another service altogether: http://www.inform.com/ 'Powered by Inform' is printed beneath the module under all of their stories that identifies related content. Looks like washingtonpost.com is using another service altogether:

http://www.inform.com/

‘Powered by Inform’ is printed beneath the module under all of their stories that identifies related content.

]]> By: Allison Kellman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326279 Allison Kellman Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:45:24 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326279 Interesting that Baynote, (developer of software that "delivers product recommendations, content suggestions," etc.) also raised more funds last week, 10.5 M. Anyone know how similar AK and Baynote are? Interesting that Baynote, (developer of software that “delivers product recommendations, content suggestions,” etc.) also raised more funds last week, 10.5 M.

Anyone know how similar AK and Baynote are?

]]> By: Paul Martino http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326268 Paul Martino Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:31:12 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326268 I would like to address a few of the comments here. The round is not a rumor, it is now closed and you can read the press release on our website here. http://www.aggregateknowledge.com/news/index.html If you would like to read some of our partner quotes you can look at the links below. They include Overstock (the 18th largest retailer on the planet) and the Washington Post (one of the most respected news brands in the world). http://www.aggregateknowledge.com/news/releases/2007/pr_070130_overstock.html http://www.aggregateknowledge.com/news/pr/index.html Also, many of our customers are able to get the product up and running in 1 hour. But since our clients are some of the largest websites on the entire web the, 2-week window is required because of UI approvals, pushes to staging, QA verification, then push to production. The integration is as easy as adding a few lines of JavaScript to a page, but when you are doing 20-50m page views a day on your site, its not like just editing the gutter of a blog. They’re quite a few steps to ensure accuracy. As for spending (and to Kevin's point about culture) --- raising the money is to expand as we have demonstrated results for our customers. The culture of the company is firmly in place and we will be working very diligently to retain it during our growth phase. I do appreciate Kevin’s comment and take it to heart. Paul Martino CEO Aggregate Knowledge I would like to address a few of the comments here.

The round is not a rumor, it is now closed and you can read the press release on our website here.

http://www.aggr...news/index.html

If you would like to read some of our partner quotes you can look at the links below. They include Overstock (the 18th largest retailer on the planet) and the Washington Post (one of the most respected news brands in the world).

http://www.aggr..._overstock.html
http://www.aggr...s/pr/index.html

Also, many of our customers are able to get the product up and running in 1 hour. But since our clients are some of the largest websites on the entire web the, 2-week window is required because of UI approvals, pushes to staging, QA verification, then push to production. The integration is as easy as adding a few lines of JavaScript to a page, but when you are doing 20-50m page views a day on your site, its not like just editing the gutter of a blog. They’re quite a few steps to ensure accuracy.

As for spending (and to Kevin’s point about culture) — raising the money is to expand as we have demonstrated results for our customers. The culture of the company is firmly in place and we will be working very diligently to retain it during our growth phase. I do appreciate Kevin’s comment and take it to heart.

Paul Martino
CEO
Aggregate Knowledge

]]> By: Clint Redmark http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1326024 Clint Redmark Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:00:27 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1326024 I agree with Kevin. If AK is really near profitability and the $5M still in the bank, why do they need to raise another $20M? Looks like this time Mike didn't do his homework before posting this strange rumor. Aggregate Knowledge has one big skill: buzz, buzz, buzz. According to all competitors, AK's technology is pretty loosy. Did AK participate into Netflix Prize? No! Too afraid to test their engine against some serious algorithms. AK claims to have fifteen partners to date? Well, none of them are quoted on their web site! Why do they hide their partnerships? Afraid that we discover that most of them are not implemented? AK is likely to follow the same path than Choicestream: burning a lot of cash for very limited achievements. I agree with Kevin. If AK is really near profitability and the $5M still in the bank, why do they need to raise another $20M? Looks like this time Mike didn’t do his homework before posting this strange rumor.
Aggregate Knowledge has one big skill: buzz, buzz, buzz. According to all competitors, AK’s technology is pretty loosy. Did AK participate into Netflix Prize? No! Too afraid to test their engine against some serious algorithms.
AK claims to have fifteen partners to date? Well, none of them are quoted on their web site! Why do they hide their partnerships? Afraid that we discover that most of them are not implemented?
AK is likely to follow the same path than Choicestream: burning a lot of cash for very limited achievements.

]]> By: Kevin Burton http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325936 Kevin Burton Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:49:24 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325936 Def congrats to both Chris and Paul ... they both deserve it. I don't understand why they'd raise $25 when they still have most of the $5 in the bank. Spend the $5 first and raise the $25 on a higher valuation. You really can't spent $5M that fast without destroying the companies culture and hurting long term prospect anyway. Then again I tend to be conservative in these areas. Onward! Def congrats to both Chris and Paul … they both deserve it.

I don’t understand why they’d raise $25 when they still have most of the $5 in the bank.

Spend the $5 first and raise the $25 on a higher valuation.

You really can’t spent $5M that fast without destroying the companies culture and hurting long term prospect anyway.

Then again I tend to be conservative in these areas.

Onward!

]]> By: Daniel Gardner http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325869 Daniel Gardner Wed, 11 Apr 2007 07:34:23 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325869 Looks like DAG have been doing some nice investments: - Zimbra - SpikeSource - Podshow and now Aggregate Knowledge Last year on Gillmor Gang when discussing PodShow's round of financing I think Arrington's comment was "who's DAG?", looks like they might be moving up but maybe they might need more series A rounds... Looks like DAG have been doing some nice investments:
- Zimbra
- SpikeSource
- Podshow
and now Aggregate Knowledge

Last year on Gillmor Gang when discussing PodShow’s round of financing I think Arrington’s comment was “who’s DAG?”, looks like they might be moving up but maybe they might need more series A rounds…

]]> By: Chris Saad http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325839 Chris Saad Wed, 11 Apr 2007 07:15:07 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325839 Congrats on the funding Chris - you should consider supporting APML - www.apml.org Congrats on the funding Chris – you should consider supporting APML – http://www.apml.org

]]> By: Top Grubs http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325835 Top Grubs Wed, 11 Apr 2007 07:13:17 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325835 Does anyone know who their big clients are? Does anyone know who their big clients are?

]]> By: pallet jack http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325681 pallet jack Wed, 11 Apr 2007 05:24:08 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325681 wow great - sign for a company; but could'nt use the 5 million before getting 25 more? - I think they are getting too much capitol - if your doing as good as people believe ''they'' are doing ... you can get funding whenever you want it - so why not get it when you need it ? - RB wow great – sign for a company; but could’nt use the 5 million before getting 25 more?

– I think they are getting too much capitol – if your doing as good as people believe ”they” are doing … you can get funding whenever you want it – so why not get it when you need it ?
-
RB

]]> By: Chris Law http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325651 Chris Law Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:53:15 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325651 To answer one of the questions about how to check it out: 1. Go to Overstock - click on a product any product. (I'd put a link here but I think that is blocking my comment from posting.) 2. Look at the Discovery Window on the right labeled "People who viewed this also viewed" - that's us. If anyone here has a site that would like to try it out please drop us an email through our website - www.aggregateknowledge.com To answer one of the questions about how to check it out:

1. Go to Overstock – click on a product any product. (I’d put a link here but I think that is blocking my comment from posting.)

2. Look at the Discovery Window on the right labeled “People who viewed this also viewed” – that’s us.

If anyone here has a site that would like to try it out please drop us an email through our website – http://www.aggr...teknowledge.com

]]> By: Hashim http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/comment-page-1/#comment-1325640 Hashim Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:47:18 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/big-round-for-aggregate-knowledge/#comment-1325640 "discovery" will eventually prove to be more important and valuable than "search". If Aggregate Knowledge has cracked that code, then expect them to be huge. “discovery” will eventually prove to be more important and valuable than “search”. If Aggregate Knowledge has cracked that code, then expect them to be huge.

]]>