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November 20, 2007

100 Seesmic Accounts, And A Disclosure

Michael Arrington

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One of the hardest to get beta accounts right now is Seesmic, Loic Le Meur’s new startup that went into private beta in early October.

The service, which can most easily be described as a video Twitter, is popular with the 300 people who are beta testing it so far. Le Meur says that more than half of them are extremely active, and 200 videos are being posted daily.

There are over 5,000 people on the beta invite wait list. But if you’ve gotten to this post quickly enough, you can get in immediately. The first 100 people to send an email to techcrunch@seesmic.com will be given beta accounts. Everyone after the first 100 will be added to the beta list.

At some point, Le Meur says, existing beta holders will be able to invite others to join as well. As soon as that functionality goes live we’ll add Seesmic to InviteShare.

Disclosure: I have also become an investor in Seesmic and have updated my disclosures on our about page.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 6:09 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. franky

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    Video twitter sounds awesome. Being able to test it sounds even better.
    I’d love to get in.

    Thanks, Michael and Loic, for this action.

  2. Sean Price

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:15 pm

    Ive not heard of this service until now and it sounds like a very useful or timewasting service. I never really got into twitter although jaiku did grab me and i still use it frequently, so maybe a video based twitter service could prove very useful especially for comunicating with work collegues and using it for GTD purposes.

  3. WiredMike

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    Looks great!

  4. ajadoniz

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:22 pm

    Sounds very interesting. Another addiction to add to twitter.

  5. alizasherman

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:25 pm

    Hoping my pleas for a Seesmic invite will be heard thru the cosmos. How many more Tweets about wanting my Seesmic before the Seesmic gods send that coveted invite. Ready for another addiction.

  6. Dallas Freeman

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:29 pm

    I think it will be a huge time waster, yes it will be cool but I’m not going to use it as it will suck a lot of Internet bandwidth and it will be completely distractive. It will target the younger generations whereas Twitter can target everyone else.

  7. Tyler Willis

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:30 pm

    I sent an email about 7 minutes after the post, and I’m not sure if I’ll get one. That means two things

    1) Seesmic has NAILED invite buzz
    2) I’m addicted to Techcrunch

  8. Rex Dixon

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:36 pm

    Very cool. I tried, see if I made the first 100.

    Rex

  9. O(n) Software Labs

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

    this is sooo coool

  10. The Mad Hatter

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

    I wonder if Michael could post a list of companies he **hasn’t** invested in.

  11. Peter Cooper

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

    Whoops, thought I got in within 20 minutes, but no.. it’s 40, so no chance :) I’ll post again if I do get in tough ;-)

  12. Amanda Mooney

    November 20th, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    I’m proud to be using and testing Seesmic. It is a genuinely engaging tool for real-time 3D community interaction or, as Loic describes, creating “conversation in video.”

    @Dallas- I’m seeing a pretty equal mix of people using the site. Loic’s done such an awesome job connecting with our Twitter community, I see that most of the people using Seesmic right now are really active Twitterers.

  13. Kosso

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:10 pm

    As a tester, I can say it’s fun for a bit. But they have along way to go to add the features many of us expect from a service like this. I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops.

    The tech behind it is not new, as you’ve been able able to set up a service like this for years using Flash Communication Server (now called Flash Media Server) - the one thing holding back people from creating potentially popular systems like this had always been the cost of the FMS servers and bandwidth. These days, things are cheaper. And if you’re Loic, I expect you have a bob or two to be able to throw at this. ;)

    If they get the right people advising them what to build - and how - and naturally the right people building it, it will be an interesting system. Especially if they expose more data and provide an API to build even more interesting stuff on top of it.

    It’s fun for now. ;)

    Good luck with the investment Mike! If you need more ideas, you know where I am ;)

  14. Vinvin

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:18 pm

    > Kosso: “Especially if they expose more data and provide an API to build even more interesting stuff on top of it.” You’re right. Coming sooooo. :-)
    Vinvin (seesmic)

  15. Mesa

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:36 pm

    In my opinion, Seesmic appears to be full of PR fluff w/no real business plan, revenue model or substance.

  16. best wishes

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:44 pm

    Honestly, I expected more from Loic.

  17. King Tut

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    I dunno if I want to see the fugly people on the other end of the Internet.

    Brilliant business plan, otherwise. All my friends and I always spend hours on complete and utter time-wasters.

    And think of the mad ad revenue they’ll bring in. Wow! Zillions of page views, what with flipping from video to video. And, it will definately attract the high-spending, high-dollar income users. Each and every Semenmic user!

    Wish I could get in NOW!

  18. larry

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

    Is this post a sponsored pay-per-post item? I didn’t know Arrington was a postie :)

  19. Ian

    November 20th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

    Looks interesting but I don’t know if I have that much time to waste not reading TechCrunch.

  20. The Mad Hatter

    November 20th, 2007 at 8:08 pm

    So I signed up, but I need to say out front that if I don’t get in I will have to become a real troll on this site (instead of, say, sort of a troll).

  21. Don Jones

    November 20th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    See utterz.com

  22. gregory

    November 20th, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    ha, digital twitter, expose digital divide, here in india a can’t even watch youtube videos, the connection is so slow…. and you guys are doing video twitters? left behind once again, of course when the sunspots strike… we will be even

  23. agnes

    November 20th, 2007 at 9:03 pm

    loic le meur has been very savvy in how he’s marketed this site, yes. but seesmic is engaging…a site of users posting content on idea and issue discuss, vittering daily activities, random monologues, reading excerpts of poetry, silliness… it is brill, too addictive and very entertaining.

  24. whoopie

    November 20th, 2007 at 10:37 pm

    video chat? yahoo and anywebcam had that five years ago

    really, isn’t this just video chat?

  25. Hollywood Gossips

    November 20th, 2007 at 10:57 pm

    its really cool!

  26. Carl Lee

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    Disclosure: I have also become an investor in Seesmic and have updated my disclosures on our about page.

    Total bull shit mike…stop with the PR crap.
    best,
    Carl

  27. Richard

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Would love to give it a try.

  28. jimbo

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:39 pm

    God….these beta schemes are getting out of hand. What is such a bid deal about this. This is nothing than a PR plug for these guys. Just to show TC has no journalistic integrity.
    Mike if you want to promote this on YOUR site that’s fine. But you can use a banner ad spot and not run a infomercial like this.

  29. KArim

    November 21st, 2007 at 12:10 am

    “is popular with the 300 people who are beta testing it so far”

    Is this something to be proud of when you’re still in private beta? I mean, I really don’t get it… This “fame” is due to the yet unknown product or to its initiator’s one?

  30. Yelp Sucks

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:04 am

    deadpool fodder.

  31. Jas

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:05 am

    If this were you or me i do’nt think we would be getting this much attention to a pretty ordinary site,it’s not all of this and that,it’s not even innovative it’s just plain old and quite rightly so it’s old technology put together because it’s now affordable.
    To many people have a sheepish mentality and go with the crowd!!!

  32. Jas

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:05 am

    And Mike Arrington are you English ???

  33. Tech For Novices

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:06 am

    me too.. me too..

    we sent an email

    so pls give it to us..

    pls pls

  34. Jas

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:08 am

    agree with 30 deadpool fodder!!

  35. Rajeev

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:15 am

    Congratulations man,

    Keep moving the Money.

    http://tekno-world.blogspot.com

  36. Dan Ackerman Greenberg

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:35 am

    I’m not sure I get it. The screenshot you posted makes it seem like the public list of video twitters have titles: Transformers, deviantART…, Plain White T’s, techcrunch test, Guy Jumping off Building, test2…. Doesn’t sound like a “Video Twitter” to me, unless the public vitters are just mini-ads.

    Maybe that’s not the focus, though, and it’s more about the social graph. I could see real addictive value in sharing video updates between closed groups of friends.

    Couldn’t this similarly be a feature on Facebook?

    Dan

  37. Darren

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:40 am

    I actually think you should disclose that you are friends with a startups founders, vcs and or angels.

    This looks good but I think youTube could pull a google calender and kill this.

  38. Troll

    November 21st, 2007 at 3:17 am

    @9
    every company is ‘cool’, till you see it go belly up

  39. Mano

    November 21st, 2007 at 4:41 am

    Hope I get to try this count me in .

  40. Web3

    November 21st, 2007 at 4:51 am

    I want to try Seesmic.. please :-)

  41. bob

    November 21st, 2007 at 6:15 am

    Seesmic? San Andreas Pool

  42. Chris R.

    November 21st, 2007 at 6:30 am

    “Disclosure: I have also become an investor in Seesmic and have updated my disclosures on our about page.”

    Invest in our search engine. At least send us a pricey Sun SAN we could never afford. You know you want you. Right now we don’t even have disk duplication.

    This guy’s from Europe Arrington, we’re your peoples.

  43. Car Donation PA

    November 21st, 2007 at 6:37 am

    Hmm. I remember the days when investors would not touch any such app until they had about 1 million user in beta.

  44. Chris R.

    November 21st, 2007 at 7:08 am

    “Hmm. I remember the days when investors would not touch any such app until they had about 1 million user in beta.”

    That’s still the case. This guy Loic is VIP. They flew him over, set him up in the valley, and now they’re finishing off the mile with the press. Like the fresh mint you get at the end of an all you can eat buffet.

    I would not include this case in statistical data.

  45. Chris R.

    November 21st, 2007 at 7:29 am

    Ask yourself this question, why would they fly a French media personality over to do a technology startup that’s eerily like all the other ones?
    People in California don’t really have an affinity for the French.

    They’re trying to push a square peg into a round hole here. They must want this guy REALLY bad.

  46. question

    November 21st, 2007 at 8:27 am

    Do people have time - at work or at home - to watch crappy videos & bloggers promoting themselves?

  47. jeff

    November 21st, 2007 at 8:59 am

    pimping your investment through a permission-based marketing ploy belongs somewhere else. the credibility of this site dropped a notch.

  48. King Tut

    November 21st, 2007 at 9:59 am

    Aww they didn’t approve my trackback. Guess they didn’t like the title: “Semenmic”…?

  49. Louis-Eric

    November 21st, 2007 at 11:32 am

    “People in California don’t really have an affinity for the French.”

    Uh ?

  50. TedC

    November 21st, 2007 at 11:46 am

    I’ve read all of the comments and many are missing the point. The power behind Seesmic is not the interface or its Twitter like video posts. Its power is in the data behind the videos and the community that Loic and company are building planet wide. The coming API and access to the data model will make this a hugely popular interface. Other applications are similar in functionality but not in data. Seesmic is a next generation web element.

  51. Average Betty

    November 21st, 2007 at 11:47 am

    An invite to the seesmic party? I’ll bring the hors d’oeuvres!

  52. Sam

    November 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    Yeh, heard this is cool…would like to give it a try…

  53. stowe Boyd

    November 21st, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    Please and thank you very much.

  54. Samuel

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:11 pm

    I want try Seesmic :)

  55. TheDuhMoment

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:42 pm

    {yawn}

  56. agnes

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:44 pm

    There are these thoughts. Small, but here they are, haphazard. Again, I point out that I am more qualified to reflect from a consumer view on tech services / products, for my interest in the sector is a recent obsession.

    Interest in seesmic:
    1) I find the product clever [I do like the UI, video content, the ease in which I can post]
    2) I like the community [interesting people]
    3) I am keen on watching Loic market his service. [The site, for me, has that sticky component, a la Tipping Point]

    Simple as that. As well, the seesmic team is great. I like a well-brought-up people, I do.

    Anyhow.

    Anytime a company is able to create a proficient level of marketing buzz and create a group of enthusiasts [no small feat, resources readily available or not], there will be plenty of detractors. But if a community is interested enough to witter over the service/product and marginalize it, even when the postings in communities are negative, then this is a very, very good thing. Same goes for TC.

    The exciting thing on Web 2.0, social media rise is that the rules of marketing have been thrown a spanner. There are those frustrated here having dreamt up a great service/product, implemented it, and trying to get that product out there on little resources. But flashes of inventive and brave [no small creative challenge, right] might get you better notice than pointing out that your startup is American and not French. :-)

    PR buzz/hype/formula is an essential magic component here. It draws the right interest and users to create a rather vibrant community, etc, etc. That hype formula being boo’ed here is magic, make no mistake… That is all.

  57. agnes

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:46 pm

    Excuse stylistic errors above. That was written with haste. Darn tenses. :)

  58. Sean Price

    November 21st, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    got my invite through a couple of hours ago and have had a little play with this service and i must say i think it could be very addictive …. not good especially when i have so much i want to get through :(

    But overall im not sure if it will take off very much but its certainly abit of fun

  59. tickle me michael

    November 22nd, 2007 at 4:37 pm

    video twitter… Now theres an idea

    Pfft, oops sorry some hot air got out

    Happy thanksgiving

  60. Damdam

    November 23rd, 2007 at 6:04 am

    Seesmic is great ‘coz it’s simple. It’s gonna be greatest with the mobilty layer. I wanna share good things with my friends from my iPhone/N95/whatever ; Then, it’ll a real kiilerapp!

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