Bootstrapping with Angel Money: Josh Levy, CEO of BeenVerified (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: I’m interested in more granular information.

Josh Levy: I think TV is a great example. In 2007 to 2010, television was cheap. The market and the economy were down. It was a great time for us to step in and grow the brand through television. At that time, we had been trying Facebook as an acquisition strategy for a long time. We were just never able to get it to work. Now Facebook has become more of a specific opportunity to focus on.

For us, it’s about, “How do we get Twitter to work now? What about Instagram? What’s our strategy now that TV is expensive?” We still believe in not just direct marketing. We believe in investing in brand marketing as well. Another strategy we’ve always looked at Ancestry, which is in the genealogy space. Are you familiar with Ancestry?

Sramana Mitra: Yes, very much.

Josh Levy: It’s a little different in the sense that you’re accessing information about data. Ancestry succeeded by continuing to invest in having the best content, much like Netflix. Their marketing strategy for a very long time was direct response. Now, their strategy is about being the number one brand. Those are the things that we always wrestle with as well – looking at marketing as a branding exercise, but also as a performance exercise.

Sramana Mitra: You said there are six segments where you see traction. Can you talk about what those six segments are?

Josh Levy: We have individuals. I’m just an individual who is looking to search for information about myself. We look at those as similar to what people who might be interested in their LifeLock or their Freecreditreport.com. Public data is just another view into that type of curiosity and wanting to know what’s out there. We also have family members like mothers or fathers who have kids they want to protect or grandparents that want to know more about the people around them.

We also have prosumers. These are not businesses per se but more of professionals. I could fit into this. I have a family but I also have a business that I run. Maybe, I want to know more about the people who are thinking about investing in BeenVerified or people who are thinking about doing joint ventures with. We also have dating. Obviously, dating is a huge segment. These are people that are curious about who it is that they’re meeting online. They’re meeting someone at a bar or for dinner for the first time. Facebook just gives one set of data. LinkedIn gives another set of data. Obviously, Google search is just another set of data.

The fifth is reconnecting. I’m looking for somebody and they’re not on Facebook. They’re not on LinkedIn. How can I find them? That’s like Classmates.com. They’ve always tried to do that sort of thing. Last is, as nebulous as it sounds, others, which fits 15% to 20% of the people. We’ve heard crazy reasons all over the map of why people use BeenVerified.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Bootstrapping with Angel Money: Josh Levy, CEO of BeenVerified
1 2 3 4 5 6 7