My Startup Crushes
Every week on Twitter I reveal a startup I love, essentially my startup crush. They’re not always from France either.
November 2012
My new bestfriend is FidMe, developed by Bordeaux-based Snapp. Similar in some ways to Apple’s Passbook or Google-acquired Punchd, this lovely little app turns all your annoying paper loyalty cards into digital ones – all in a single app. Absolutely no charge for the user and the visual and user experience is, well, beautiful. With over 3,000 loyalty cards to choose from, you can use your FidMe account – available in 14 different languages - in numerous countries. Download the app for iOS, Android, Windows, BlackBerry, you name it, here.
October 2012
Paris-based Youboox recently stole my heart. This “Spotify for books” currently offers over 2,000 free digital books available on tablet and web, reviews and critiques included. Currently, all content is availabe in French but it shouldn’t be long before additional languages and the premium offers are added. There are some absolutely fabulous books listed in this free digital library. Could be just as much fun as going to the FNAC!
August 2012
Berlin-based Wunderlist is perhaps one of my new favorite productivity tools. When it comes to trying to keep up with work, life, Girls in Tech, blogging, Failcon and whatnot, I confess to needing all the organizational help I can get. I’ve tried oodles of productivity tools – Yammer, Asana, and the likes. When I was installing new applications on my new Mac, I asked people for suggestions on what to install and Wunderlist the application recommended to me the most. Now I’m loving the application for its simplicity – it’s insanely easy to use and syncs on all your devices.
It’s kind of impossible not to love Visual.ly. The online community and database for infographics and data visualisation was founded by some of the former team from Mint.com in 2011. Even though it’s raised money with some of the big guys – Softtech and 500 Startups – I admit that I was slow to sign-up and check it out. But once I did, I was hooked. Actually, in many ways, I feel like they take 1 of verticals from Pinterest and do it really well. Clearly, digital content is becoming increasingly visual.
July 2012
Truth is, I’m kind of addicted to Popset - which was introduced to me by Maxime De Greve at a Startup Weekend event in London. Even though the Y Combinator startup has been hyped as a great photo-sharing app on numerous blogs, there are so many photo apps these days that I actually wasn’t really inclined to use it prior. I thought Instagram & Co. was sufficient. But I was wrong
I definitely think I enjoy Popset as much as Instagram…maybe even more? Instagram is stronger visually and in terms of photo editing but I think Popset integrates social in a very unique way. And if you still need a reason to try it out, ask Will Smith why he loves it so much?
June 2012
Some people describe Le Petit Ballon as “Birchbox for wine” but actually, it’s more. For anyone who has ever stood in the wine aisle at a supermarket unable to differentiate between the hundreds of almost-identical bottles, this is essentially a creative way to discover, try and learn about new wines – which you can enjoy in the privacy of your own home with friends.
Sign-up to the service (currently only available in France) and you’ll receive 2 full bottles of wine to try every month for less than €20 plus great deals if you want to repurchase directly from the producer. In addition to the wine itself, you’ll receive tasting tips from Le Petit Ballon’s renowned wine expert, Jean-Michel Deluc.
My other favorite part about their story is that one of the co-founders is a former musician! And go figure. Because that’s exactly the type of person that could shake up the traditional French wine industry.
I don’t remember exactly how I discovered Creative Market - oh wait, yes I do. The team has already earned their stamp of approval from Y Combinator’s Paul Graham and raised with the likes of SV Angel and Crunchfund.
But the reason why I love it is not because of the impressive names behind it (because, let’s face it, there are a lot of those), it’s the idea. Essentially, it’s Etsy for digital content – icons, fonts, you name it. Already a huge fan of Etsy, hard not to like the idea behind a digital version. If you sign up for the beta you can earn $5 credit (and more if you invite friends) and the public version should be online later this summer.