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Founders Parade: Flipboard

By yikwah on June 5, 2014

Flipboard

Screen Shot 2014-06-05 at 7.06.36 PM

Mike Mccue – Co-Founder and CEO (Left), Evan Doll – Co-Founder (Right)

On the Product:

Flipboard is an incredibly intuitive application for mobile devices, which advertises itself as the first “social” magazine. The application was conceived by co-founders Evan Doll and Mike Mccue (now CEO of Flipboard Inc.), as an application that allows people to share, tag and assemble their own collections of stories found online. Flipboard utilizes a variety of social networks and allows its users to aggregate their resources into content displayed as a digital magazine.

On The Founders:

Mike Mccue has a wealth of experience in the realm of mobile technologies both on the management and development side. His previous experience as the CEO of Tellme Networks (a Microsoft subsidiary) attests to his competency as a leader and his experience as the developer and founder of Paper Software, a company that pioneered 3-D browser technology and later bought-out by Netscape demonstrates his technical expertise. Evan Doll, a former iPhone Engineer for Apple and lecturer at Standford University, heads up the product development and strategy side of the operations. Between these two individuals, it is clear that Flipboard has a competent leadership team with vast amounts of valuable experience, both in terms of the business and product development.

Analysis and Reflection:

At the turn of last year, Flipboard announced that they had reached the 100 million user mark. This news was quickly followed the company boasted the raising of another $50 million in their financing bid, raising their valuation to $800 million, a figure supported by Goldman Sachs amongst other venture analysts.What Flipboard’s success indicates is that a co-founder model, in which a business specialist teams up with a technical specialist can work exceedingly well, but the caveat being that both individuals have an understanding and appreciation for what the other brings to the table.

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6 Jun Posted on Founders Parade: Flipboard

I have to admit I have not heard of Flipboard but it sounds like an interesting app. I think that the app has the potential to make a lot of money because it helps users deal with the overwhelming amount of text and information on the web. In addition to this, I think that they have two very competent Co-Founder/CEOs. For starters, both CEOs have worked for huge tech companies including Microsoft and Apple which means they are probably skilled individuals and know something about how large very successful businesses are organized. The fact that Mike Mccure founded a company that pioneered 3-D browser technology which I hadn't heard of is pretty amazing. In fact, I just searched #-D Browser on Google and found this link to a Google April Fool's Joke http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/cadie/ which indicates that even Google doesn't have 3D browsing (yet). These two CEOs are certainly innovators on the cutting edge of technology and I think they will have a successful business venture thanks to their histories of working with successful organizations on innovative projects.

6 Jun
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danielle @danielle

I have to admit I have not heard of Flipboard but it sounds like an interesting app. I think that the app has the potential to make a lot of money because it helps users deal with the overwhelming amount of text and information on the web. In addition to this, I think that they have two very competent Co-Founder/CEOs. For starters, both CEOs have worked for huge tech companies including Microsoft and Apple which means they are probably skilled individuals and know something about how large very successful businesses are organized. The fact that Mike Mccure founded a company that pioneered 3-D browser technology which I hadn't heard of is pretty amazing. In fact, I just searched #-D Browser on Google and found this link to a Google April Fool's Joke http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/cadie/ which indicates that even Google doesn't have 3D browsing (yet). These two CEOs are certainly innovators on the cutting edge of technology and I think they will have a successful business venture thanks to their histories of working with successful organizations on innovative projects.

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6 Jun Posted on Founders Parade: Flipboard

I like the idea behind this application, in that it permits users to add information to an electronic flip board, and aggregate their resources into one magazine type of interface. It is quite unique in that is differs from most social media application, but similar along the lines of applications such as PINTREST, etc. that allow users to pin up information into one common area. His experience in particular as the previous CEO of a Microsoft subsidiary speaks volumes, and would suggest that he entails the competencies to be a good council for potential entrepreneurs. In addition, he pioneered a type of 3D software technology for web browsers that was later bought out by Netscape. The fact that large organizations are interested in him and his products suggests that he is keen and probably intelligent with products, understanding what is hot in the market, and what people need. Both him and his partner Evan Doll bring a wealth of experience and expertise into the organization, and would be excellent role models for new entrepreneurs starting out. They would be able to offer valuable advice, and suggest how they developed their business and gained certain expertise from past businesses. Mike seems to have led a number of successful businesses and would have the knowledge of how to improve certain ventures, through trial and error. With a valuation of around eight hundred million dollars it would suggest that they are doing something right to make money. Since they have worked in other businesses, they would most likely understand the different models, and structures that are most successful in making a profit; this would include, a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a social enterprise, etc.

6 Jun
0 Thumbs Up!
peteo @peteo

I like the idea behind this application, in that it permits users to add information to an electronic flip board, and aggregate their resources into one magazine type of interface. It is quite unique in that is differs from most social media application, but similar along the lines of applications such as PINTREST, etc. that allow users to pin up information into one common area. His experience in particular as the previous CEO of a Microsoft subsidiary speaks volumes, and would suggest that he entails the competencies to be a good council for potential entrepreneurs. In addition, he pioneered a type of 3D software technology for web browsers that was later bought out by Netscape. The fact that large organizations are interested in him and his products suggests that he is keen and probably intelligent with products, understanding what is hot in the market, and what people need. Both him and his partner Evan Doll bring a wealth of experience and expertise into the organization, and would be excellent role models for new entrepreneurs starting out. They would be able to offer valuable advice, and suggest how they developed their business and gained certain expertise from past businesses. Mike seems to have led a number of successful businesses and would have the knowledge of how to improve certain ventures, through trial and error. With a valuation of around eight hundred million dollars it would suggest that they are doing something right to make money. Since they have worked in other businesses, they would most likely understand the different models, and structures that are most successful in making a profit; this would include, a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a corporation, a social enterprise, etc.

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