September 4, 2007

Time To Learn How To Breakdance At 5Min

Michael Arrington

16 comments »

Sometimes its worth taking a second look at a startup a few months after we cover their initial launch to see how things are going. We first covered Israeli startup 5min back in May. The site is a sort of YouTube for short user generated instructional videos.

And there are some indications that it may be taking off. The company says 2 million videos were watched in August, and traffic is doubling month to month.

The video embedded above is a good example of the kind of content that you can find on the site - short, amateur videos that might actually be very helpful to various niches of people. There are videos on scores of subjects - dog training, cooking, working out, fashion (tying a tie, coloring you hair, etc.), playing instruments, parenting, etc. More good content is added daily.

And some of the videos are racking up decent view numbers, although it’s still peanuts compared to YouTube.

Part of the attraction of the service is more than the sign they’ve hung on the door saying people should upload instructional videos. The player also has special controls that are made for instructional videos, including freeze frame, slow motion, accompanying storyboards, and various language subtitles.

We’re keeping an eye on them to see if the growth rates and user adoption continues. In the meantime, I’ll be practicing those breakdancing moves.

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  1. Miquel

    Hi Mike,

    maybe you should also give a try also to http://www.sclipo.com. They’re doing a great job with Sclipo Live: a real-time education platform based on webcams.

    cheers!

    Miquel

  2. Arjun

    Reminds me of another great break-dancing blog entry I just read. More importantly, the company aspires to connect us with those who can teach us sweet skills like: breakdancing, bowhunting, algebra, etc.)

    http://blog.teachstreet.com/20.....g-teacher/

    (disclosure: i’m friends with the founders)

  3. Boogey Man

    initially i thought 5min was pretty good, at least it’s concept - of refined learning videos.

    but when i went on to youtube to check it’s respective ‘how-to’ videos, well - youtube just blew the doors off of 5min’s.

    arrington trying that breakdance video - lol, yah rite.

  4. HyperChris

    my personal favorite is: http://www.videojug.com/ Not quite usergen, but better in my book. Clean site too.

    I wonder how long till someone sues after breaking a leg following dodgy instructions from amatures??

  5. CasaMan

    5min is very very popular in the digg video section..

  6. ihero

    Probably a great idea to have this folded into http://www.ask.com or http://www.howstuffworks.com.

    And Arrington — everyone who is anyone knows that if you’re serious about becoming a Master Class Breakdancer — http://www.breakdance.com is where you need to go.

  7. Uri L.

    wooo…long time since I heard “we are electric” from flying steps…

  8. Laurent Emolument

    Nice site! thanks for the post

  9. BritishYosef.com

    Another awesome looking Israeli startup, I must have missed the first time you wrote about them. Thanks for posting.

  10. Thierry Schellenbach

    So Michael, when do we get to see the video of your moves?

    I like the developments in video, it’s really moving ahead.

  11. Heidi

    nice video :)

  12. Lin

    I love the idea of 5 minute learning videos. I just learned to break dance. cool!

  13. Kevin

    i’m a 37 year old computer nerd and I think i just hurt myself breakdancing. I hope TC has good liability policy:-)

  14. Pretty

    Amazing how after any of your posts (also in other subjects) the competition immediately after guides the readers to their sites .. -:)
    I like what 5min.com are doing: it’s young, creative, nad by all means different…