An interview with FavMonster
Billed as the place to share the coolest stuff you find everyday, Favmonster is shaping up to be the tool that Digg should have been. It incorporates a visual display a-la Pinterest when browsing suggestions, but perhaps the biggest attraction is its layer drag and drop tool - this means it's not in your way when you are not using it.
It will take a little time for new users to get the hang of the product but, once up-and-running, internet users will find this utility a great way to find new sites and share them with contacts. If you're finding the internet is getting overloaded, this could well be the way to cut it down to a manageable size without losing any current functionality. And, whisper it softly, but if a substantial number of net-surfers end up using this tool to navigate the web, then it could become a google killer - it is certainly a far easier way to classify and organise favourite websites than most current bookmarking tools.
So how pleased are the team behind this project, and where do they see this going?
I had the pleasure to meet one of the founders recently - Fran Gago who was on a business trip to London. I asked him a few questions about this start-up, and the answers perhaps highlight the possibilities and drawbacks of internet start-ups in Spain.
So after the hard work and the beta launch of FavMonster, are you confident of becoming the next internet billionaires?
Well first of all, we are not in this to become billionaires, rather we are trying to provide a useful tool to stop the web overload that many people suffer from. And although we have created what we believe is a great tool, we are aware that we will need to tweak many aspects of it as more users take it up. It's the recognition of what we've achieved that counts most for us.
Are you pleased with the response so far?
To an extent very pleased. We've had praise in many web and journal articles - and not just in the Spanish speaking world - and we're finding that the numbers of users are continuing to grow quite strongly every day.
What's been the hardest part of your project?
We've found that investors within Spain are only really interested in "copycat" websites that can make money from day one. We hear now from investors that they'd like to invest in the next Facebook; yet you can be sure they would not have been interested in the early days of Facebook or even Google. It has been a little depressing, which is why we are now open to overseas investors..
Could you recommend people from overseas building start-ups within Spain?
On the one hand yes, there are plenty of talented people here, and the lifestyle can be good. But there are drawbacks, such as high tax rates, and a lack of forward thinking investors. Moreover it has to be a project (like Favmonster) that can grow in the world market, because right now there is little demand in the national economy.
Thank you Fran, for your honest answers. I'm personally convinced that Favmonster is a great tool and will continue to grow worldwide. Whether it will become the default search engine for a majority of web users remains to be seen, but it's definitely worth checking out.
Directory Entry: FavMonster