Twitter and Expedia Founders Start New Ventures; Medium, Branch and Trover
It's nothing new to have techies from internet giants like Facbook, Google, Twitter, etc. to come up with more ventures. It recently came out that the Twitter co-founders, Evan Williams and Biz Stone, launched two startups- Medium and Branch. This news was followed by the information of the launch of Trover, a mobile application by Expedia and Zillow co-founder Rich Barton. Barton founded travel site Expedia in 1994 while employed at Microsoft. He later co-founded online real estate database Zillow.
After getting the world hooked to 140 characters, the two Twitter guys have launched: Medium and Branch. They wish to introduce a new perspective to online sharing with these two publishing platforms where users can share pictures and text.
Medium: A new format of collections has been introduced with Medium. Collections appear in a very visual grid format, with the highest-ranked post always at the top.
You need to sign into Medium with your Twitter account. The basic idea is to get people to read, view and vote on content without worrying about developing their own audience, something crucial that Twitter lacks.
These collections that you create can be kept private and shared with family and friends.can also be private – for sharing with a select group of family or friends – or public, for the world and his wife to enjoy.
Branch: Intimate family conversations have been taken on to the internet, this is Branch for you!
With Branch, these Twitter alumni promise in-depth conversations among the users. You can start your own "branch" and invite other Twitter users to join you. There is no need to set up a separate Branch account.
Trover: On Trover, the Expedia founder’s product, you can share location-specific discoveries via Facebook, Twitter and email. Trover enables users to click photos of scenic locales and interesting objects. A brief description can also be added. What Trover does is add location data and images to the discovery mosaic.
Barton and Karas wish to replicate the feeling of strolling around neighborhood, window shopping, and discovering new things in your location. When you open the app, you can sign in with your Facebook account, and the app will show you a grid of photographs based on your location.
During a spring trial limited to the Facebook platform, the Trover community attracted more than 70,000 users across 150 countries. The startup adds it will introduce an Android application this fall.
Trover is a private company funded by General Catalyst Partners, Ignition Partners and Benchmark Capital with offices located in Seattle, WA.
