真正“懂你”的社交網站
????你的社交網絡了解你多少?是不是太多了?谷歌(Google)的無孔不入和Facebook的無所不知讓很多人感到害怕,但是曾在迪斯尼(Disney)和惠普(Hewlett-Packard)擔任過市場高管的邁克爾?曼登豪卻認為,在用戶的個性特征上,社交網絡可謂一無所知。他說:“這些網站是用來聊天、分享、發現和交友的,它們從來不問關于你這個人本身的事,它們不知道你是個什么樣的人。” ????針對這個問題,曼登豪專門于去年11月推出了一個名叫ArchetypeMe的社交網站。曼登豪相信,用戶想要的是一個更智能、更“懂你”的社交網絡,可以根據你的個性定制內容,而不是根據你的朋友或是根據你的職業。這個網站目前仍處在內測階段,它的宗旨是“重新定義個人搜索和個人品牌打造”,讓用戶和最感興趣的事物聯系起來。曼登豪說:“大家總是聽到企業拿‘個性化’說事,但我還沒見過真正個性化的產品。” ????為了實現這個目標,ArchetypeMe既有點像Facebook,又有點像瑞典著名心理學家卡爾?榮格,還有點像電視購物頻道QVC。換句話說,它不是我們常見的那種典型的社交網絡。這個網站是曼登豪與化妝品企業家克里斯蒂娜?卡利諾一同創辦的。當時,卡利諾找到曼登豪,提出了這樣一個設想:是否可以建立一個社交平臺,以一種更加個性化的方法推送內容、推廣產品——即通過人類的心理原型或行為模式來做社交網站。 ????卡利諾之前曾創立過兩家護膚品公司,而且研究過多年心理學的“原型”理論。她的這個靈感是2009年一次給自己衣櫥里的衣服歸類時誕生的,那時她正經歷著自己的“原型危機”。當時卡利諾剛剛失去了對第二家公司的創造性控制。她說:“我那時就像一個失去了國土的女王。”她說,在一大堆的西裝、孕婦裝、創意時裝里,“我看到了我的‘原型’”。同時,她也看到了多年來她嘗試過的許多并不那么適合她的角色,而且覺得,其他人也應該通過自我認識來幫助自己做決定——不管是在買鞋、家居裝飾、事業還是在情感上。 ????曼登豪也漸漸對社交網絡內容篩選的不完美以及算法的種種限制感到失望,因此與卡利諾一拍即合。他說:“唯一真正試圖了解你的網站就是婚戀交友網站。” ????卡利諾與曼登豪會面的時候,曼登豪正在一家名叫Revolate Holdings的公司擔任合伙人、總裁兼首席運營官。這家公司是2011年創立的一家私募股權公司,旗下擁有紐約的Lipman廣告公司。這家公司不僅對創業公司進行投資,還利用內部市場幫助這些公司做推廣。曼登豪現任Archetypes公司的CEO,卡利諾則擔任公司的常務董事長,Revolate公司的大衛?利普曼和安德魯?斯佩爾曼也是Archetypes公司的共同創始人。Archetypes是ArchetypeMe的母公司,旗下還擁有一些出版、制造和品牌推廣公司,現在這家公司已經募集了1,900萬美元的資金。 |
????How much do your social networks know about you? Too much? While many fear Google's creep and Facebook's omniscience, Michael Mendenhall, a former marketing executive at Disney and Hewlett-Packard suspects social networks are clueless when it comes to users' personalities. "Those sites are about chatting, sharing, discovery and connections," he argues. "They never ask you about yourself. They don't know who you are." ????Mendenhall's answer is startup ArchetypeMe, which launched in November last year. Mendenhall is betting users want a smarter, more-knowing network that will customize content, not according to your friends or profession, but in light of your personality. The website, which is currently in beta testing, aims to "redefine personal search and personal branding" by connecting users with what's most relevant to them. "You always hear personalization, but I have yet to see it," says Mendenhall. ????To that end, ArchetypeMe is part-Facebook (FB), part-Carl Jung, part-QVC. In other words, the site is not exactly your typical social network. Mendenhall founded the site with cosmetics entrepreneur Cristina Carlino when she approached him with an idea to build a social platform to distribute content and market products in a more personalized way: by archetypes or patterns of behavior. ????For Carlino, who previously founded two skin care companies and has long studied archetypes, the Eureka moment came in 2009, in the midst of her own "archetypal crisis," as she sorted clothes on her closet floor. At the time, Carlino had just lost creative control of her second company. "I was a queen losing my queendom", she says. In the mounds of clothing -- business suits, maternity wear, creative garb -- "I saw my archetypes," she explains. She also saw the less suitable roles she had tried on over the years and decided others should be empowered in their decisions -- be they about shoes, home decor, careers, or relationships -- through self-knowledge. ????Carlino's idea resonated with Mendenhall who had grown frustrated with imperfect content filters and the limits of algorithms while working in Silicon Valley. "The only sites that really try to figure you out are dating sites," he says. ????Carlino met Mendenhall when he was being recruited by Revolate Holdings to become partner, President and COO. Revolate is a private equity firm founded in 2011 that owns Lipman, the New York advertising agency. The company invests in startups that it helps promote with its in-house marketing. Mendenhall now serves as Archetypes' CEO; Carlino is the company's executive chair. Revolate's David Lipman and Andrew Spellman are also Archetypes co-founders. Archetypes, which is the parent company of ArchetypeMe as well as publishing, productions, and branding companies, has raised $19 million in funding. |