Splash SF Sept 2012 Finalist - Fandrop

Kristin Karaoglu · October 22, 2012 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/2b17

Check out Fandrop's presentation at Splash SF Sept 2012

Splash SF finalist Fandrop allows users to accurately capture the best part of their web browsing experience and share to any network. Any fragments (videos, maps, flash games, images, articles...) of a page can be saved and shared at ease, while preserving their original functionalities. Watch founder and CEO Ken Zi Wang present.

Even though success is not defined by how much money a company has raised, past Vator winners, such as Thumbtack, Getable, Grovo, Astrid, Udemy, and Geeklist have gone on to raise millions of dollars collectively from venerable VCs, soon after presenting.

Want to apply to get on stage at the next Splash competition? It's being held in NY on Dec. 5. Join the Splash competition here.

Here's some other testimonials:

"The process of inviting everyone one we knew to vote for us, even before the event, was a fantastic way to build support for our company. Then presenting at Vator Splash was a blast. The short presentation style ensured the audience was engaged and the follow-up questions from the judges were on-point and constructive. At Vator Splash, I made great connections with a number of investors and had a number of follow-up meetings. We were able to raise our last round entirely from investors who discovered us from the publicity we generated from Vator Splash," said Jon Paris, CEO and founder of Astrid.

"Working with Vator, and Bambi, is a pleasure. She's really passionate about uniting great ideas with the right people. We actually tied for first in last years Vator Splash SF and as a direct result raised $150,000 from an investor who saw us pitch. TEEC Angels approached us right at the event and invested soon thereafter. Reuben Katz, CEO and founder of Geeklist.

"Vator has acted as a launchpad for my startup in terms of awareness and exposure. As a winner of a Vator competition, my startup enjoyed early traction and buzz. Vator has kept my business relevant in the minds of investors, entrepreneurs and potential employees. I've made many invaluable connections to the investor and entrepreneur community." Tim Hyer, founder and CEO, Getable.

"DogVacay.com won Vator Splash LA in June 2012. The competition allowed us an opportunity to meet and pitch against some of the great Los Angeles startups and further foster our entrepreneurial community. There was such a positive energy with so many great minds providing insightful feedback throughout the night. Two paws up, Vator!" Aaron Hirschhorn, founder & Top Dog, Dog Vacay

"Events like Vator Splash are critical for startups to generate awareness. We were a top 10 finalist for Splash LA. It provided us with an amazing opportunity to network and gain exposure to a whole community of investors and VCs. Soon after, we raised $3M as a result of the momentum/exposure from the event and the platform in general," Peter Vogel, founder and CEO, Plink.

Join the Splash competition here.

Kristin Karaoglu

Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams

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Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

Fandrop

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on August 21, 2012

Novelty/Innovation:

Fandrop is a fast, elegant and fun way to discover and share the best content on the web while preserving their look and feel. It's as easy as pie. It's web surfing, reinvented.

Most people are frustrated with discovering and saving relevant web content. Existing tools had relatively rigid features and were not built to have network effect.

Fandrop allows users to accurately capture the best part of their web browsing experience and share to any network. Any fragments (videos, maps, flash games, images, articles...) of a page can be saved and shared at ease, while preserving their original functionalities. We have filed for a provisional patent on some of the technologies we are using.

As Fandrop gather the best curated content from users, it's effectively breaking down the web into fragments via collective intelligence. Content distribution and discovery will no longer be based on plain URLs or links, instead they will be based on highly relevant fragments of the best browsing experience. It's internet indexing, reinvented.

Competitive advantage:

Existing discovery tools had relatively rigid features and were not built for viral sharing. Existing products also focus only on only a subset of the problem but not trying to solve the big picture. In order for the mass to adopt, the service needs to cover all bases and be so intuitive to use that once you look at it, you get it.

Fandrop solves the pain points of web discovery and content sharing with ease by combing the best elements of existing tools. The interface is intuitive and anyone can figure out quickly. It’s easy to organize and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime.

The Fandrop team has the technical advantage of being very product oriented. We have filed for a provisional patent on some of the technologies we are using. We are data driven and extremely analytical. We understand marketing of this app would depend greatly on network effect and viral growth.

In terms of user acquisition, we do not have a chicken and egg problem. First of all, the fact that it is a utility itself, does not require other users to be in the network to begin with. Secondly, as you join through existing networks (facebook, twitter), we automatic pull all the content you have previously shared and save to the app. This enrichment of content from the get go yields high conversion rate. Thirdly, the app itself has built in virility as every time content’s being saved to the user’s account, it has the opportunity to spread through the user’s other networks (facebook, twitter etc).

Ken Zi Wang

Joined Vator on August 21, 2012

Programming since 12, computer science major, Masters and Doctorate at Columbia, started ecommerce business at 18 (yearly revenue 100k) and sold, ran a social news startup (buzzreport) and exited.