500 Startups and AngelPad look at Everloop
Hilary DeCesare presents her social network for children aged 8-13
As Vator Box watchers know, this show has always starred high-profile investors and CEOs who act as guest hosts/judges to analyze and give feedback to up-and-coming startups, who have uploaded video pitch to Vator. As you can imagine, with only a video pitch to go off of, offering up feedback can be a bit like remarking on a race course, say the Markleeville Death Ride, without ever having ridden it yourself.
So, in the interest of providing our judges "more" information to provide solid feedback, and to be fair to the entrepreneurs, since they typically get beat up and aren't around to defend themselves, we decided to start holding live shows. That is, we decided to bring in an entrepreneur to do a live pitch in front of the judges.
In this episode, we have Hilary DeCesare, the co-founder and CEO of Everloop, a safe social network for 8-13 year olds. Thanks to our guest hosts Dave McClure of 500 Startups and Thomas Korte of AngelPad.
In this segment, Hilary gave us a 90-second pitch. Then we had Q&A for about five minutes. Then Dave and Thomas gave their feedback in two minutes. Finally, Hilary got the last word, in response to the feedback.
We hope you like this format.
As for what the feedback was, I'm not going to say. I don't want to spoil the show. You'll have to watch. But I'll leave you with a few highlights and statements made.
- Hilary kicks off by saying that Everloop's goal is to be the largest social graph for Tweens and Tween companies as well as the largest app store for Tweens in a safe environment. She said there are 28 million Tweens in the US, who spend $43 billion annually out of their own pocket and influence $155 billion.
- Both Thomas and Dave (both fathers of pre-school/kindergarten-aged children) agree that sites like Everloop are in their future."Clearly Facebook is not a place I want my children to be at that age," Thomas said. "Services like yours are in our future," Dave added.
- Thomas raises a question about why Everloop is focusing on 8-13 years of age when children seem so vastly different. Hilary explains that members can create their own groups, or "loops" as it's called on Everloop. This way they can find like-minded kids who share similar interests.
- The market for Tweens is a crowded one. It's also unclear how Everloop differentiates or competes with Club Penguin or Gaia Online.
- How does virality work in the Tween space? Adults typically use email to invite friends to new sites. It's not the same for Tweens (who typically don't have an email).
- Everloop says that sponsorships from Tween-centric companies are a main form of revenue. Both Dave and Thomas dig deep into Everloop's relationship with the sponsor, the content and the audience.
(Editor's note: Thomas Korte will be one of the venture capitalists onstage at Vator Splash Feb 3 in San Francisco. There's still time to get early-bird tickets. Go to the registration page to reserve your tickets and see the agenda. These prices are good until next Monday!)
(To be considered for Vator Box, email newsroom@vator.tv)
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
Everloop
Startup/Business
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Everloop provides kids under 13 a free, safe space where they can connect with friends, play games, share pictures and music, send messages, discover new talents and learn. Everloop’s unique patent-pending “looping” technology introduces state-of-the-art privacy protection and monitoring that guards young users against bullying, bad language and sharing private information. Everloop partners with leading innovators to provide both tween-focused entertainment and educational activities. Kids get to be in the loop and parents get peace of mind. For more information visit http://www.everloop.com.
Awards:
-CEO Hilary DeCesare: AlwaysOn’s “2010 Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch”
-2010 DEMOgod Award for Social Media
-AlwaysOnGlobal2010
-AlwaysOnHollywood 100
-Board of Directors of The Max Cure Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Causes
- Board of Advisory for The Max Cure Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
-Speaker at 2011 Youth Mega Mash Up Event
-Invited to Innovator Spotlight at Pii 2010
-CEO Hilary DeCesare invited to speak at President Obama's Cyber Safety Summit
-2010 Winner of Global Entrepreneurship 50
-2010 Winner Best in Class Social Media
Dave McClure
Joined Vator on
Thomas Korte
Joined Vator on