A good time to be great…

Jon:

Here are a few articles I stumbled about while doing some research for CabCorner.  Thought they might be interest.

As Portfolio pointed out in its February 2009 issue, (see “The Best of Times“), the economic climate has presented an amazing opportunity for our website.  It noted that, historically, “when the economy tanks, conditions in Silicon Valley and other tech communities actually become more advantageous for starting and building companies.”  Nothing could be more true for a website such as ours, whose core objective revovles around trying to save consumers their precious dollars!

And take heart in Zipcar’s success, by the way.  That company has built a multi-million dollar empire off of our core audience: an environmentally aware, cost-conscious, Internet-bred generation of urbanites who have come of age sharing information (Wikipedia), music (Napster), software (BitTorrent), videos (YouTube), entertainment (Netflix) and the excruciating minutiae of daily life (anyblog.com).

This article notes that “sharing” is a popular concept among the Millenial Generation because it is “clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern.”  But most important are the marketing strategies it chronicles:

First, tackle a single neighborhood.  Focus on intense, “hyperlocal” marketing, which includes curbside demonstrations of CabCorner technology and membership giveaways.  Then move on to the next neighborhood.

And, uh, keep these names in mind: Benchmark Capital and Greylock Partners.