WebInno Recall: Citysquares
This post is the second of a set of featured WebInno blog entries that profile companies which have demonstrated either as a main or side dishes at past Web Innovators Group events. These “WebInno Recall” posts further highlight startups and their founders by providing a set of info which isn’t typically found on a company’s website or elsewhere in the blogosphere. They also provide a little additional exposure for these emerging startups to those WebInno members who may have missed them at a previous event, as well as an update on new developments for those who did have a chance to see them in the past.
Following the first Recall profile on Arlington,MA-based startup Isabont, this second one features Boston-based hyperlocal search service, Citysquares. I recently asked one of the Citysquares founders, Ben Saren, a few questions:
Could you provide a brief overview of the service?
Citysquares.com provides comprehensive, hyper local content for people seeking local businesses, resources, and other types of information for their locale. Citysquares provides local businesses with an opportunity to reach out to a highly targeted local online audience through its highly trafficked website. Local advertisers are able to fully customize, personalize and track the performance of their Citysquares.com advertising campaigns. The next version of our site will also be developed as a licensable platform that will be sold in other markets.
What is the founding story? What was the inspiration behind your idea?
Bob Leland and I [Ben Saren] have worked together and have been friends since early 2004 when we worked together at my previous company. The idea for Citysquares.com was conceived out of pure need. Over the span of a couple years we grew exceedingly frustrated with the lack of accurate, online, hyper-local information for the neighborhoods in which we lived, worked, and played in. Once we both realized we shared the same frustrations with the local online experience we also realized we’d identified an opportunity. In August of 2005 we started vetting the idea with local consumers, friends, family, and local businesses. Sixty days later we launched our first proof of concept.
What is the basic idea or premise of the company? What problem are you trying to solve?
Citysquares.com provides local businesses with an opportunity to reach out to a highly targeted local online audience through its highly trafficked, consumer facing website. Businesses are able to fully customize their Citysquares.com advertising campaign with SEO tools, content management, and soon content syndication tools, email newsletters, video, classifieds, and much more. Users are able to easily find this content, rate businesses, review them, and contribute other kinds of content.
What is innovative about the idea or the approach?
We’re taking a bottoms-up approach to building an online community based on neighborhood and community locales. We believe in digital delivery and analog relationships. While 50% of local merchants have websites, they are mostly brochure-sites. The 50% that don’t have websites are ready for an online presence. Citysquares.com proposes to effectively become their online presence, by providing rich, comprehensive content that they can easily update and manage on their own and that is targeted to a relevant local online audience.
How do you plan to monetize your service?
Our revenue model is advertising based. All local businesses receive a free profile on Citysquares.com, including their business name, address, phone number, and interactive map. Businesses can upgrade their profile to include much more about their business including description of their business, hours of operation, product or service offerings, special offers to consumers, pictures, and more. Advertisers pay an annual fixed fee. We also offer sponsored display advertising. The next version of Citysquares.com will allow for other revenue streams and will be built as a platform that can be licensed in other markets.
What are some notable accomplishments since you presented at WebInno? How has the company changed and developed since then?
We were a side-dish at the November 2006 WebInno. Since then, we rolled out several new features for advertisers and users. We also closed our Series A financing from eCoast Angel Group, moved into a new office at TechSpace Boston, grown to seven full time employees, and have begun building the new and improved Citysquares.com and its platform.
What can you share about the company that isn’t immediately apparent from the website?
We have a socially responsible mission, in that we intend to provide online exposure and value for locally owned businesses who are struggling to compete with the growing presence of national chains and big box retailers. As a result of this national trend, small businesses are teaming up like never before to ensure that the economic benefits of local business are more widely known, and therefore embraced among consumers. We’ve made this the core of our mission and we intend to make it more apparent.
How did you find your WebInno demo’ing experience?
Perhaps the biggest benefit of being featured at WebInno was the validation we received from the numerous people who stopped by to talk with us. Validation and affirmation, as a boot-strapping startup, is immensely valuable. WebInno reminded us that we were on the right path and that Citysquares.com is, in fact, a useful solution that addresses a clear problem that people can strongly relate to. WebInno also helped us fine-tune our pitch to users, businesses, and investment opportunities. Additionally, we made many valuable connections at WebInno that have brought us further down the road towards success.
