Got A Business Idea? Pitch It Online@Vator.tv
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Vator.tv, which is being lauded as the YouTube for entrepreneurs, is a video platform for the so-called "Elevator Pitches" which allows entrepreneurs and innovators to pitch their ideas online and help them connect with individuals who can help them out.
Having closely followed Vator’s launch since June, I hoped to read more about it here on WATBlog assuming the ever clued-in guys working with Rajiv must have posted their analysis, but when I searched for it, nothing came up. I had planned to blog about Vator on my blog but now it makes perfect sense to post my views here. So, here we go!
Vator.tv is the brainchild of Bambi Francisco, the former MarketWatch columnist. She has teamed up with Cyril Brignone who is the co-founder and also the CTO for the company. Vator.tv has done well for themselves as they are backed by some serious Angel investors including Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Richard Rosenblatt, former Chairman of MySpace, and Georges Harik, a former Google executive who helped build Google’s AdSense technology. The list has since grown even larger with the addition of Matt Hill, Thom Calandra, Andy Chase, Jimmy Wu, Michael Blend, Paul Buchheit.
What I like about Vator.tv, is the amazing opportunity it offers individuals to showcase their ideas to not just investors but also prospective business partners, service providers and fellow entrepreneurs. In fact, I was so excited with their launch that I had even thought about having a Vator.tv for India! (By the way, its a serious contemplation. I still feel its a very good idea which can be monetized. More on this later in the post!)
So here is a brief idea how Vator.tv works – Users can sign up for a free account and create their "3-minute" (there’s no such limit BTW) pitches for their ideas, projects or businesses in a rich media by uploading video, images, PowerPoint or PDF files. They can then decide whether they want to share their pitches with with the entire Vator.tv community or simply keep it more private by sharing it with a personal network only. The in-built networking aspect of the site allows the users to build their networks by inviting friends, investors and like minded individuals to join or browsing through other ideas and connecting with them on the site.
The website also includes separate channel which has tips on creating pitches that work, lessons on entrepreneurship and tips from successful entrepreneurs and investors. I personally feel this some amazingly great content being created which can be accessed for free.
Lately, Vator.tv has been on a shooting spree catching up with VC’s and getting them to share their insights on what kind of companies they would likely invest in. More than that, it has also rolled in directors and partners from some top name VC firms to view the ‘top of the class’ pitches. They have also generated a lot of buzz with the various business competitions that they have associated themselves with.
Now let’s jump and see the underlying business model here, and how the monetization bit will work. It doesn’t take much effort to note (in the above screenshot) that they have now started monetizing the traffic through Adsense (it wasn’t there previously) but that is only the start. The core business model includes sponsorships, placing video advertisements on their videos and offering premium services for a fee.
For a detailed version of Vator’s video pitch go to – Vator.tv Pitch
It’s encouraging to see that, the company is already leading by example by hiring a Pakistani group of web developers who won the business through their very own video pitch!
Personal Commentary
When I first came to know about Vator.tv, I immediately started Googling for any clones. Although, Vator claimed that it was the first site of it’s kind I always wanted to do my own searching. After being convinced that there were actually no clones, let alone Indian clones, I felt this could be a great idea for the Indian market and immediately made some notes. I am not against innovation, and in fact appreciate people who come up with their own wacky ideas, but at the same time I am a big follower of the idea group which preaches – Take up known business models and improve them or plug them into a new zone so that you can leverage the geographic footprint.
Although, I haven’t done much with my thoughts of starting a Vator.tv for India, I’d be open to help/contribute in a project if someone is willing to launch a similar site. Perhaps, the guys at Proto.in can latch onto this one!
Having made some notes about a possible clone site, I made sure to bring the topic up when I met my assumed mentor and an astute ’soon-to-be-CEO’ the next day. He has recently raised VC funding close to $10 million and I wanted to pick his brains on this one. So while we were discussing my existing business over a few mojitos I mentioned Vator.tv and an Indian version of the same as a business idea. What followed was an interesting debate and there were so many pointers I never considered.
To start with, he argued – "What do you think, how many venture capitalists will go to your website and actually see random pitches?" – I was quick to say that, this is where we come in and we’ll form a bridge between the VC’s and people who seek funding. In fact, this is the core monetization model if you guys have already not guessed it! Providing the VC’s with screened application and providing the entrepreneurs with sound advice and a fee-based membership where they get help.
We also generalised that this is like positing yourself as the online counterpart of TiE or a Proto. And there is nothing wrong in being one, but again what do you think is the success rate at such events. It was exactly, at this point where he mentioned that while speaking to a VC friend of his, he had casually asked how good was the Proto event this year, and the guy told him casually – Well, it was just the same. At least I got to catch up with other VC’s and say "hi" to everyone!
So, it seemed that, he wasn’t too kicked about the idea. He even mentioned that tomorrow if a VC decides to watch videos he can simply start a new channel on Google and ask people to upload their videos!
Why he cared even less about the idea was because he din’t see a potential to grow this into a $50 million or $100 million dollar business. This was a great learning point for me, because I had never evaluated this part of the deal. Although, there can be exceptions, he simply asked me one question – Do you know how big TiE or any such similar organization (especially "for-profit" org) is and how much do they make? Go figure, and you’ll have a better idea 
All said and done, he said that if you really like the idea (which I am sure I do) go run with it, but don’t seek funding. Seeking VC funding is a helluva stressing activity and takes more than a few dozen meetings (it took this guy over 35 meetings) let alone a 3-minute pitch! Let me know if there are any takers who are willing to put in sweat equity and I’d love to join you guys!
BTW, also checkout Vator’s competitors at – RaiseCapital.com
I hope those of you seeking investors will find this useful. If anyone joins Vator, you can connect with me here
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This seemed to be one of the sensible(and professional) posts in this site without following the Q&A pattern that's typically followed
Just an observation
@ Venkat – I agree with you its a very well written post. Thanks saumil. Hope you contribute ahead as well. Your writing shall inspire me and other WATBloggers to strive to do better and better in the future as well.
@Venkat – I am glad that you liked the post. It's such appreciation from readers like yourself that keeps us going. Thanks again!
@Rajiv – You guys are doing a great job already, I'll surely try and post more often!
I was there with Saumil when the discussions happened. Both of us had spent some time writing down all the points about Saumil's version of vator.tv before meeting our friend.
Well, what to say? He just sat there, and asked us a few questions that completely toppled our so-called business plan to the floor! It was like a mock meeting with a VC, and it made us see a very pertinent problem that underlies this business model. It takes more than just a meeting with a VC to convince him, let alone a 3-min video.
You may say that vator.tv can be a seed to the eventual VC meetings, but then that means the vator guys should be friendly enough with VCs to meet them for breakfast! So for an Indian model to succeed, the founders should know most of the VCs quite well to convince them to spend time on the vids. But our mock VC meeting didn't quite fly :$ …. There's a long way to go on this one…
@Kedar – Vator.tv has infact done just what we thought it would do – lined up an impressive line of investors and VCs to at least take notice. I recently saw Mr.Draper from DJF himself being showcased as one of the lead VCs who'd be looking at screened videos. Although, I believe that most of this is a huge publicity stunt … what I am waiting for is to see the number of success stories it can lead to! And yes, an eventual meeting with the VCs which turns into funding will be a success story for Vator in my books!
BTW, you missed the mojitos the next day dude!