There was a lot of hype going around during the web 2.0 conference. All these ’stealth startups’ launching their respective products blowing everyone’s minds.
It was interesting, and frankly was exciting too. Things did die down after that, but it seems like recently the hype train has started to get going. ‘Stealth startups’ popping out of nowhere with millions in financing along with a dozen staff members. Connected to popular figures, these companies have been able to drum up support and publicity like nothing else. OF course, some interesting examples have been nothing more than repackaging an old idea (and in some cases, an old site), and sending everyone into a frenzy.
But that isn’t my (our) style. I don’t want iBegin to be the next hot buzz word, nor the site of the moment. We aren’t just a startup - we have a (profitable) parent company. No need to deal with VCs, investors, or any of those headaches. Plus, the stress of having to bringing in massive revenues is greatly eased.
I want iBegin to be the Craigslist of local search. We will concentrate on making our Toronto site perfect - fast loading, simple to use, community-moderated, and truly useful. Once we hit that goal, then we will be expanding into other cities (and hiring locally for each city). I have no interest in expanding to a dozen cities immediately, or in talking about how we are the best thing since sliced bread. We do something (well I believe), and will let our users help guide us forward.
What does this all come to? We had a period of closed beta - a huge necessity to stamp out bugs we didn’t catch in house. The people already contributing to the site have blown me away. But already in its current state I believe the site is instantly beneficial to the 4 million plus people in Toronto.
So sometimes before Monday midnight the site will be ‘opened’ to everyone. For those that want to give it a test run before it does go live, just register and I will let you in.
