Image via CrunchBaseOkay, so I am breaking my April Fool promise of restraining from blogging about FoodSpotting. Yesterday, or the day before, I read that both inDinero and FoodSpotting are Dave McClure companies. I kind of, sort of knew that. But it was one of those flash moments. I also have known FoodSpotting is an Angel List company.
But then I expect FoodSpotting's next round of funding to come from one of the major VC firms in the range of 10 to 20 million dollars, whenever that might be. In a year or less perhaps?
This reinforces my point that it is not either or. Old school VCs still matter, actually they matter big. But The Angel List, Y Combinator, TechStars, 500 Startups, they have changed the early stage game fundamentally, irrevocably. In short, they have innovated.
And FoodSpotting is proof. (Twitter ---> Instagram ---> FoodSpotting)
Along the same lines, Instagram validates coworking spaces. Coworking spaces have also innovated the early stage game.
Image via CrunchBaseAnd there is the arrival of Color that wants to be the ultimate photo app and social network. What implications does that have for FoodSpotting?
If flooding the airwaves with photos is how you eat FoodSpotting's cake, then FoodSpotting was toast before it was even born. Google Images already had billions of images. Facebook also had billions.
And money is not a problem. Color will sink or swim not because it got launched with a bang, but because it was a good idea. I think it will swim, but it is a little early. If having a lot of money were what got you sailing, Yahoo would be swimming with the sharks.
What makes FoodSpotting's day is it is about the starting point. Just like what saves FourSquare is it has this starting point: the check in. The dish saves FoodSpotting. It has a first mover advantage. But like they say, the action is on the windscreen, not the rear view mirror.
Image via WikipediaStartUp Anxiety For FourSquare?
I am under the impression FoodSpotting wants to do the Zite thing. But just like Google could not avoid the operating system space, I think FoodSpotting at some point will have to get into social in some way.
But FoodSpotting could spend upwards of a year on becoming "the Pandora of food" and still not have missed the social boat. It's got time. The idea that I can show up anywhere and have FoodSpotting recommend dishes for me based on how I have interacted with the app before, it is pretty revolutionary, if you think about it.
And you might have read the recent I-am-bored, I-am-hungry spiel on GroupOn's part. Well, that is GroupOn coming into FoodSpotting's space. FoodSpotting is so easy to monetize. I am hungry, are you hungry? People stay hungry on a daily basis, several times a day.
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