New CEO at HopStop Pushes for Rapid Growth
HopStop, which provides public transit routing and schedules, plus walking directions, has brought in new leadership and expects to pursue rapid growth to 200 cities. It is currently in seven markets (or eight, if you count Long Island as a separate market).
New CEO Joe Meyer, a former Quigo and eBay executive, was brought in by HopStop’s investors, which include top leaders from Quigo, a contextual search engine sold to AOL in late 2007 for $340 Million. The former Quigo execs and others came in during a funding round one year ago.The previous CEO, founder Chinedu Echeruo, is starting an African hedge fund.
Meyer notes that the service has grown year-over-year since its launch in 2005, and is “dangerously close” to profitability via several revenue streams, including contextual text ads, and direct and indirect sales of display ads. People using mass transit are good targets for “going out” services, such as personals or event ads, he says.
The service is also making increasing revenues by licensing its API. For instance, Duane Reade drug stores uses its API in the Northeast.
For a user, HopStop has been a mixed bag. Its execution has been spotty as well, as transit routing information hasn’t always been reconciled. The site has seemed unmaintained for months at a time. There have been startup issues, generally, in working with transit authorities, some of which were initially resistant to a third party site.
But Meyer says the site is over any hiccups it may have had, and currently providing excellent quality service; it has a clean new redesign; and that the brand recognition for local users in New York and other places is strong enough that people have even begun to say they’ll “HopStop” it when they are seeking transit directions (i.e. to “Google” it or “Mapquest” it).
And, I remember when the Huffington Post became valued more than the, at the time recent, acquisition of Philadelphia Newspapers (the Daily News and Inquirer). This news seems less impressive:
Facebook Worth More than CBS
A recent Mashable article points to a point that should not be taken lightly. With a recent influx of cash, Facebook is now worth more than CBS, the U.S. television network. That is, with their US$ 200 million infusion of capital, Facebook is now valued at around US$ 10 billion.
With this new perspective, it should be apparent that Facebook is becoming a force to reckon with. The social networking site is also worth more than Discovery Communications, the department store Macy's and even popular online property SalesForce.com.
A final note, with Facebook Connect coming on board and its new ad platform starting to gain steam, Facebook is looking to be a major player on the online ecosystem. Could they be the next Google? Only time will tell.
Want a Social Media Manager Job? Best Buy Has Low Expectations
Recently Best Buy, the U.S. technology retailer, posted a job ad looking for a candidate with mobile, social and video marketing skills.
What qualifications would you need to fill such a position? How about just 1 year of blogging experience and only 250 Twitter followers?
The requirements also demand 2 years of marketing experience at a director level and 4 years of resource leadership, but the lackluster social media experience is so glaring here. Just about anyone reading this post is probably already qualified for this "high-level" position.
What qualifications do you think should be needed to lead such a position? At this point, Social Media experts might be as plentiful as web designers were in the 90's.
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