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The Foj Times

The Foj Times. How I want to write and read news. Reading – Current ( Foj ). Paper: The Economist Twitter Facebook “Sponsored” Blogs (e.g. HBR, Gizmodo ) “Indy” Blogs (e.g. Seth Godin ) Process: Twitter Copy link to Instapaper Read from Instapaper at a later time.

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The Foj Times

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  1. The Foj Times How I want to write and read news

  2. Reading – Current (Foj) • Paper: The Economist • Twitter • Facebook • “Sponsored” Blogs (e.g. HBR, Gizmodo) • “Indy” Blogs (e.g. Seth Godin) • Process: • Twitter • Copy link to Instapaper • Read from Instapaper at a later time

  3. Reading – Problems (Foj) • No local news – I don’t subscribe to any local newspapers because most of the content is crap. Their online outlets are inconsistent and inefficient. • I spend a significant amount of time scanning and searching for relevant news • I depend on multiple sources to determine if something is worth reading (i.e. Relevant): • Twitter Followers • Aggregate News Sources • Facebook “Likes” • Verbal Recommendations • I hate advertisements on the page. They are nothing but distracting and I have become very good at ignoring them • In general, I feel like reading online is a pain and a lot more work than it should be

  4. Author – Current & Problems (Foj) • I have a “monthly” blog • I refuse to put advertisements on my blog because they are distracting and the ROI is hit or miss • I would write more if I knew I could make a few bucks some other way • Hard to increase readership: • Play the viral lottery by adding a bunch of “social” media links on my blog (e.g. Facebook “Like”)? • Spend some of my money investing in advertisements (ACK!) to market my blog? • Invest a ton of my own time on writing a number of decent blogs and hope that someone decides to read them some day? • Maintain you’re own Wordpress deployment or pay someone else to maintain it for you? Seems expensive just to publish a few words. • Again, writing online is a pain

  5. Context - The Internet is Dead • http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1 • Consuming online media via web browser is in a decline. • Communication: Facebook. Video: Youtube. Music: iTunes. Etc. • Text: ?

  6. Context - $$$ • Major news sites (e.g. New York Times) are absurdly complicated (1000+ links on the front page) • Advertisements and relevance engines take 10-50% of the screen space on most websites • Solutions like Instapaper and Readability become relevant because they strip away the advertisements from the content: bad news for the authors! • Terrible reading experience

  7. Context – Micro Transaction Successes • iPhone App Store

  8. Context - Market Being Disrupted • Kindle Singles: Cheap $1-$3 dollar downloadable PDFs from Amazon • Dedicated iPad Applications (e.g. The Economist) • The Daily (http://www.thedaily.com/): Corporate media’s rich media answer to news online. • My Times (http://my.nytimes.com): Customised New York Times? Just went from beta to production in the last few weeks

  9. Context – Platform Wars • Are companies really going to invest in technology for every platform? (e.g. The Economist for Kindle, iOS, Android, WebOS, etc.) • How can it be cost-effective? • Online hyper-competition for content will lead to the need for a “configure” type solution (i.e. 1 solution that does it all) as opposed to a “custom” solution (i.e. many solutions that serve specific purposes)

  10. Context – Chatter • http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/02/end-of-bestseller.html - Things are going to change and there needs to be a lean solution • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12406171 - Facebook executive thinks that news is due for a “social revolution” • http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/02/who_rules_the_web_now.html - Media delivery is changing • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html - Things aren’t working like they should • http://gigaom.com/2011/02/22/blogging-is-dead-just-like-the-web-is-dead/ - Opinion piece on the NYT article above • Dozens upon dozens more being written every day on the subject...

  11. Summary (IMO) • It is too complicated to consume text • It is too complicated to publish text • Existing business models (ads & subscription) are not working • People, both authors and readers, are looking for a solution to the problem

  12. The “Foj” Solution - Process 1. At a time of my choosing (say 11:23), I open my iPhone and open the “Foj” application. 3. Read 2. GET THEM NEWZ $1.32 Click on a button and download (the 11:23 FOJ Times) for a disclosed cost. 4. Store (to reread on a different device or for future reference) 5. Repeat

  13. The “Foj” Solution - Content • My 11:23AM edition of the news would contain: • Stuff that I want to read (a priori): • Subscriptions (e.g. Twitter, Blogs) • Relevant by Interest (using hashtags or categories) • Relevant by Location (using GPS coordinates for home, office, phone) • Information that I should read (posteriori): • Relevant by what others are reading • If non-zero cost, I can read the abstract/twitter and choose to buy next time I download the foj news.

  14. Low-FiMockup <Customized news header e.g. The Foj Times> <dashboard-y type stuff like weather and stocks> <user experience “extras” that reproduce the look of a real newspaper> <articles: news/blogs/etc.> <abstracts of what others are reading> <other feeds like non-link twitters or facebook updates, pictures?>

  15. An Instance: The Foj News The Foj Times Winnipeg: -24C (-36), Sunny Ottawa: -8, Overcast $1.56 The latest news as of February 27th of 2011 at 13:59 and 345694839483ms o’clock Free Fred Wilson avc.com bit.ly/a3dkfj Seth Godin sethgodin.typepad.com bit.ly/a3dkfj Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dictum diam eget nunc tempus hendrerit. Proin convallis elit id odio venenatis eget adipiscing dolor sodales. Aliquam vitae tortor quis felis suscipit cursus at quis tortor. Nullam at tempor massa. Suspendisse potenti. Curabitur eget ullamcorper libero. Praesent sollicitudin venenatis odio, eu ultrices eros tincidunt id. Sed dapibus malesuada nisi, eu ultricies felis sollicitudin nec. Sed purus justo, blandit non tincidunt at, commodo sit amet orci. Nam ut dignissim nibh. Morbi vitae odio elit. Maecenas vel est sit amet lorem pretium imperdiet in eget nibh. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Sed luctus sagittis rhoncus. Pellentesque blandit augue non elit porta non euismod lacus pharetra. Morbi sed pharetra lorem. Maecenas malesuada interdum metus, eu faucibus quam commodo vel. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dictum diam eget nunc tempus hendrerit. #a;sdlkfjasdf #asd;lfkajsd #sethgodin François Auger Blog.francoisauger.ca bit.ly/sdlfjdkf 0.15$ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dictum diam eget nunc tempus hendrerit. #a;sdlkfjasdf #asd;lfkajsd #fojtostring Bertrand Charlemagne .economist.com/blogs/charlemagne bit.ly/20fkdjf TMX Inc. Tmx.com bit.ly/dfiuern 12.00$ Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dictum diam eget nunc tempus hendrerit. Proin convallis elit id odio venenatis eget adipiscing dolor sodales. Aliquam vitae tortor quis felis suscipit cursus at quis tortor. Nullam at tempor massa. Suspendisse potenti. Curabitur eget ullamcorper libero. Praesent sollicitudin venenatis odio, eu ultrices eros tincidunt id. Sed dapibus malesuada nisi, eu ultricies felis sollicitudin nec. Sed purus justo, blandit non tincidunt at, commodo sit amet orci. Nam ut dignissim nibh. Morbi vitae odio elit. Maecenas vel est sit amet lorem pretium imperdiet in eget nibh. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dictum diam eget nunc tempus hendrerit. #a;sdlkfjasdf #asd;lfkajsd #fojtostring

  16. The “Foj” Solution - Publishing • Article Abstract = Tweet • 140 character abstract that is free and available to everyone • Factors of Relevance • GPS coordinate • Hashtags • Article Textbox • Simple text editing to facilitate lean authoring • Cost • Pennies, dollars?

  17. Vision • NO ADS (people don’t read them) • “POOR” MEDIA (vs. rich media) (facilitate multi-platform and multi-device solutions) • “SIMPLE” AUTHORING (limited text editing) • AUTOMATE RELEVANCE (vs. the reader doing the work) • LEAN CONTENT (forced by hyper-competition) • ANYONE CAN GENERATE CONTENT (news immediacy) • MOST EFFICIENT (cheapest way to publish and read news) • CUSTOMIZATION (pay for and read only what you want to)

  18. High-Level Strat • Instapaper++: Automate screen scraping of articles online. Leverage what everyone is reading for posteriori relevance. Build readership to the point that: • People start freaking out: “HEY YOU’RE REMOVING MY ADS, I MAKE NO MONEY”. To which we reply, here’s how you make money: publish with us. • Rule the (news) world (or get bought out by some big media company)

  19. Next Step? • Market analysis: Is anyone else currently doing or planning on doing The Foj News? • Plan • Funding? • Can IDF fund the project? If not, • Can IDF sponsor François to go to Ycombinator? If not, • ???

  20. THE END DOUBLE GUINNESS CHEERS!

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