Then learn from your customers how to define it
“If you get to market later, when there are other players in the space, like in Graspr’s case, you’re constantly defending," said Teresa Phillips, founder and CEO of Graspr, a video how-to site. "You’re on the defensive in terms of trying to differentiate from those who made it to market first."
Teresa's point is well made. These days, when she interviews with people, including yours truly, the question she's faced with is: "How are you different or better than Expert Village and other 'how-to' video sites?"
If she were to do it all over again, Teresa would spend less time planning and researching in the abstract. "I had the idea of Graspr very early on but spent six to nine months researching," she said. The basic strategy she adheres to today is "get them [products] out there," she said, owing a lot of her sensibilities to something someone had told her once, which was: "If you're not embarrassed about your product when it goes to market, you've launched too late." Once the product is out, then learn from your customers, she said.
Teresa also talks about lessons she's learned about building a video site, and what she learned from Revver, a video sharing site that raised about $13 million in funding, and sold this year for under $5 million.
Bambi Francisco Roizen
Founder and CEO of Vator, a media and research firm for entrepreneurs and investors; Managing Director of Vator Health Fund; Co-Founder of Invent Health; Author and award-winning journalist.
All author postsRelated Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs
Graspr, Inc.
Startup/Business
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Graspr is an online video community that offers high quality instructional content on a wide range of topics. Our mission is to make the world a smarter place by bringing together people who possess different kinds of expertise, and helping them share what they know with others. We want to make knowledge more accessible, and thus empower users to explore new interests, cultivate new skills, and become even more proficient in the subjects they know well.Graspr offers a number of features designed to enhance learning, connect people, and facilitate the discovery process.
At Graspr, you can:
- Find videos on specific topics that match your interests and skill level. Search by keyword, search by Producer, or browse our videos by category.
- Control your viewing experience. With Graspr's 'Scene' feature, you can jump straight to the parts of a video that interest you most.
- Take notes. Add your own notes to a video - and keep them private or share with the Graspr community.
- Rate and comment on videos. Your input helps other users make informed choices about which videos are best suited to their needs.
- Share videos. We make it easy to send videos to friends or embed them on other Web pages.
- Control distribution. Choose to share your videos with the entire Graspr community, or just with your friends.
- Connect with people who share your interests. You can chat with others who are viewing similar content and swap stories, share tips or seek advice.
- Impart your wisdom. Have specialized knowledge of your own? We invite you to share it with the Graspr community by uploading your own instructional videos.
Teresa Phillips
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