What do the following online videos all have in common?
Besides the fact that they star three people who have never been in my kitchen, they are also three of my favorite online videos. I never really thought much about it, but if I really think hard about it, here are a few common traits:
- Irreverent humor
- Strong pop culture references
- Shorter than 5 minutes but longer than 30 seconds
- Have a bit of a geeky vibe to them
About ten years ago, a group of researchers started the Music Genome Project in an attempt to find similarities across a wide range of songs, which eventually grew into the Pandora personalized music service. Today’s idea is to use that same basic technique on online videos to build a Video Genome Project, and eventually a personalized streaming video service similar to Pandora.
What’s nice about this idea is that there is already a very solid blueprint in place outlining exactly how to build something like this, what the monetization options are, how to market it – just follow the same path as the MGP/Pandora team.
I’m very big on the idea that the Internets and TV are on a fast convergence path, and Internets-based, lean-back experiences like this have a ton of potential. Instead of focusing on simply aggregating content like the countless other online video sites, by focusing on the backend and building a unique and valuable data set, this service would be in a great position to deliver a ton of value powering personalized streaming video sites right around the time that TV/Internets convergence goes mainstream.
What do you guys think about this one? To stay up-to-date on my latest ideas, you can follow me on Twitter: @astartupaday
A Startup A Day 