Hulu is the newly proposed “Youtube killer” from NBC Universal and News Corporations joint venture.
Hulu is an invite only beta which I had the opportunity to test….Only 580 invites left and counting, according to OM only 2500 invites were up for grabs. The Hulu site is no joke in terms of weighing in on the video scene. The site raised $100 million in financing from Providence Equity Partners, well above other Youtube copycat sites. Not a surprising first round with Youtube securing a purchase price of $1.6 billion by Google and major players like NBC and News Corp that have built-in content and built-in audiences– probably not a bad bet for Providence Equity Partners. Makes you wonder if the mob is affiliated with web 2.0 these days (just kidding, I have a buddy from Federal Hill, RI).

Back to the invite beta only that I experienced. I truly thought the user interface rocked the house, more friendly and more intuitive than Youtube. All the ajax and jquery bells and whistles were associated with the site. Besides an interface work-over that is better than Youtube, Hulu can truly offer a competitive advantage with premium content that can be subsidized by large advertisers similar to a 30-second spot on the traditional NBC network. Family guy, Simpsons, Las Vegas, on and on the content kept coming. This type of content is usually covered by my wonderful DVR, but seeing how I had an DVR meltdown (issued box by Comcast) I thought Hulu really filled a gap in my content viewing lifestyle. First of all my iPod couldn’t obtain any of the missed shows because of an NBC and iTunes fallout, so NBC and News Corp have clearly picked up the content ball here with Hulu on the Internet. Youtube competitor (maybe), but I’m more likely to say Hulu fills a consumer need of that of a DVR and Tivo. Content your way right away when you want it. Youtube continues to comprise of a plethora of amateur videos that is a launching board for Google consumer video search.

I Hope you all can catch the last 100 invites by the time you read this blog post. As an insider the private invite beta email from Hulu will read as follows:

Upon signing in with your temporary login and password you will be
prompted to choose a permanent login and password. This will provide
access for one individual to the Hulu.com beta. For now, videos are
available for streaming from the U.S. only. That said, our intention
is to make Hulu’s growing content lineup available worldwide in the
future.

This private beta period is our chance to gather real user feedback
and refine the user experience, so let us know not only what you like,
but also what you think we could be doing better. There is a feedback
button located to the left of every video screen. By clicking on the
feedback button, you will open up a feedback form where you can easily
provide a suggestion or comment. You also have the option of sending
your feedback directly to feedback@hulu.com.

The team will be reading these messages every day and we hope to
address your feedback as soon as possible. Over the course of this
preview, we will be adding more content and updating features, so please
check back often.

We hope you enjoy the Hulu service and look forward to hearing from you,

The Hulu team

http://www.hulu

This is a brilliant startup idea for a fast growing and high demand market. I use to be hooked on “Lineage” a World of Warcraft type MMOG where I found myself addicted and actually paying real world money for virtual clothing, bow and arrows etc. Effectively supporting a frowned upon gaming practice known as “gold-farming” (virtual money, exchanged for real money). I was forced to navigate sketchy websites carefully because some websites never deliver the digital goods after you purchase. Furthermore, game publishers frown on the practice and do not condone such activity.

The demand was clear but not the solution where game developers granted consent of third-party wares or trophy wares from the game, a legitimate marketplace is needed. Enter
Live Gamer with a trademark statement of “A legitimate market for virtual trading.” The company officially launched yesterday armed with $24 million in funding from Charles River, Kodiak and Pequot Ventures. The gamer has a real opportunity to make money with only 10% of the sales price being split between Live Gamer and the publisher with the remaining 90% of the sale price going to the gamer. The startups mission statement on the home page is the following:

Live Gamer enables a complete marketplace solution for the player-to-player trading of virtual items. Through our partnerships with leading publishers and developers worldwide, players now have a convenient, secure, and reliable outlet to buy and sell virtual goods and objects. Only Live Gamer provides virtual trading the way it should be: Safe. Simple. In Game.

The all encompassing ebay for MMOG approach should pay off big and ultimately spur a flurry of good virtual startups (think facebook apps) in a marketplace that will return real money or nice bartering opportunities.

The 2008 new year is looming and like many of the Venture Capitalists have been hoping the web 2.0 phrase may finally lose it’s luster and make way for the next buzzword, but not before loosing some casualties of war. Agloco one of the most hyped web 2.0 startups and a protracted launch (even longer than the 2.0 release of StartupAddict, may be going under according to Venture Beat. and a source that Agloco close to closing up shop. This comes on the heels of Edgeio and Feedster taking dirt naps as well.

Check out the nice explaination of the Agloco pyramid scheme and companies that attempt that method.

PayperPost fights Google’s Page Rank with a new Real Rank system, that has received mixed reviews. I originally posted about Google’s link adjustment onslaught a half a month ago. The Real Rank system works a 10 base numerical ranking system 1 – 9. An advertiser selects a number such as 6 which effectively excludes 60% of bloggers from the opportunity leaving the top 40% of “Real Rank” bloggers the opportunity. WebDosh is a fan of the Real Rank and can get more info there. ComtechNews on the other hand feels Payperpost has taken a hasty turn with the new Real Rank, (at least in its’ existing form). Be sure to check out his top four reasons why and the consultation to Payperpost on how to fix Real Rank.

As for me, I have always been a fan of PayperPost and will continue to applaud Ted Murphy for being an successful entrepreneur that fits well with the Startup Addict motto “Dream Big, Be Great”. Don’t forget PPP received 7 million in VC recently before the IZEA umbrella rebrand and the company wasn’t going to lay down for anybody, including Google.