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Interview With David Armstrong, Founder of Bouncebase
By Rob | September 9, 2007
I recently had the chance to interview David Armstrong, found of BounceBase, a portal for searching everything on the web. He had some good replies to my questions about starting a business outside of silicon valley.
1. How did Bouncebase get started, and where did the idea come from?
Bouncebase is a startpage that uses our own API. The Bounce API aggregates many different verticals; search, blogs, video, shopping, jobs. etc. It pulls it all together and then gives easy access to it via simple, standardized protocols; like REST and RSS. The API is open to anyone. We also have a Google Gadget called BounceRemote and a search page called BounceFind.So the API came first and then we started to address a few areas of the web that we thought could use some design help for regular people; like an ad-free start page (www.bouncebase.com ) We opened the API to everyone because their are so many smart developers that could find other places to fix too.
The part I personally like is the co-op approach to sharing revenue. Our affiliate program shares 50% of our revenue back to the community. Each person’s piece of the pie is then based on the contribution of clicks from their widgets, web pages or whatever. It’s simple, it’s fair.
2. What technologies were used to build Bouncebase?
Primarily, it is based on RSS. You won’t ever see us say that though. We joke about sites that put “What is RSS?” link on their page. That’s like putting “What is an internal combustion engine?” sticker on the door of your car, useless and confusing.
3. There are lots of different sites I can use to search for things around the web. Pitch me on Bouncebase. Why should I use it?
I use it for one reason, I know it’s a comprehensive view of what is available on the web It’s as if you went to each site and searched it yourself, then added all the results together. This gets to be pretty difficult for things like shopping, jobs or news.A few other compelling reasons are that we are ad-free, we enable sharing in a really easy way and also have persistent search.
Persistent search is available on any of the Bounce products can save that search to your favorite start page (I use bouncebase of course) and every 10 minutes, it checks for new items. Google doesn’t do that. I use it to keep track of anytime the word “Bouncebase” is mentioned on the web, blog, or video description.
4. You have multiple US locations. Has most of your work been coordinated virtually?
We are 99% virtual, the other 1% is at Starbucks. We had some people on the team that didn’t work out. It’s a pretty demanding environment and it’s not for everyone. I support having a smaller team and taking longer to deliver, a different approach than the SV teams I’ve met.
5. What are the pros and cons of being outside Silicon Valley for a company like Bouncebase?I’ve never lived in the valley, however, I’ve been there a few times. It’s “money central” for sure, but I personally struggle with that. Putting it bluntly, an entrepreneur that doesn’t have a lot of their own money in the game and subscribes to “fail fast, fail often” is banking on luck. What investor would want this? Maybe the money is in the valley, but I’ve met many more entrepreneurs NOT in the valley who know how to create and run a business.
The “pro” of not living in the valley is that you don’t get grouped with the hype. You get to meet real people who also care about real business, not just a “repeat” model. You have to understand your market, know your model and execute. Ok to fail? I don’t think so.
The “con” of not living in the valley. You get ignored by the press. This’ll get to me sometimes as everyone has an ego, but growing your business because you are actually serving customers needs and providing value is better. You just have to accept that you’ll never be on the front of any magazine even though you are running a company in debt, no real business model and stressed out servers like some of the valley darlings.
I think it’s a special kind of entrepreneur that can get it done outside the valley. After taking a few trips to the valley, I was lucky to figure out that I didn’t need the hype.
Check out Bouncebase and let David know what you think. Also be sure to check out BounceFind, which has a more traditional search interface, and the Bounce remote on iGoogle.
Topics: Startups |
