The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: oBaz
Quick Pitch: oBaz lets users band together in groups to get discounts on the products and services they want.
Genius Idea: Social haggling.
Testing the notion that there’s power in numbers is the just-launched Chicago-based startup oBaz. Its promise: To go to bat for consumers who band together in big groups; it haggles with merchants to bring back big discounts.
oBaz, short for online bazaar, is kind of like an inside-out version of the daily deals model popularized by Groupon. Instead of businesses offering up pre-set deep discounts to groups of online denizens, people self-organize on oBaz around the products and service they want, and the startup then tracks down the merchant to negotiate a better price.
oBaz members can express their intent to buy anything they want by starting or joining a product group. “We don’t control what our users put on the site,” says CEO and co-founder Brian Ficho. “We’re just here to haggle.”
Each group has seven days to recruit more folks via Facebook, Twitter or email and reach critical mass. oBaz will then negotiate on their behalf and attempt to secure a discount. Once the deal is shared with the group, members have 24 hours to buy it — though oBaz charges a small fee for the convenience.
oBaz was birthed after Ficho, who would often organize his friends to do things — say a dinner with 20 friends after a Cubs baseball game — realized that businesses might have a keen interest in the buying intent of big groups.
Ficho first pitched the idea to Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell — Groupon co-founders and Lightbank partners — 18 months ago. The oBaz concept took shape under their guidance and officially launched to the public Tuesday, after a six-week alpha period.
The site does have its limitations, especially since oBaz’s team of hagglers can’t guarantee a discount on everything its users want. Apple, for instance, is unlikely to award an oBaz group with deals on iPads or MacBook Airs. Still, Ficho believes that most merchants will happily offer up discounts in exchange for acquiring new customers.
“We’re free customer acquisition for business,” he says. “We’ll find all the customers for you, and let you make them offers for free.”
oBaz has raised seed funding from Lightbank. The startup eventually plans to release mobile applications, but is currently focused on improving its website.
Image courtesy of FernandoPolo, Flickr
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
More About: bizspark, lightbank, oBaz, spark-of-genius, startupFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:34:11 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/zugkb-Hv_sk/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/09/obaz/#comments
Name: oBaz
Quick Pitch: oBaz lets users band together in groups to get discounts on the products and services they want.
Genius Idea: Social haggling.
Testing the notion that there’s power in numbers is the just-launched Chicago-based startup oBaz. Its promise: To go to bat for consumers who band together in big groups; it haggles with merchants to bring back big discounts.
oBaz, short for online bazaar, is kind of like an inside-out version of the daily deals model popularized by Groupon. Instead of businesses offering up pre-set deep discounts to groups of online denizens, people self-organize on oBaz around the products and service they want, and the startup then tracks down the merchant to negotiate a better price.
oBaz members can express their intent to buy anything they want by starting or joining a product group. “We don’t control what our users put on the site,” says CEO and co-founder Brian Ficho. “We’re just here to haggle.”
Each group has seven days to recruit more folks via Facebook, Twitter or email and reach critical mass. oBaz will then negotiate on their behalf and attempt to secure a discount. Once the deal is shared with the group, members have 24 hours to buy it — though oBaz charges a small fee for the convenience.
oBaz was birthed after Ficho, who would often organize his friends to do things — say a dinner with 20 friends after a Cubs baseball game — realized that businesses might have a keen interest in the buying intent of big groups.
Ficho first pitched the idea to Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell — Groupon co-founders and Lightbank partners — 18 months ago. The oBaz concept took shape under their guidance and officially launched to the public Tuesday, after a six-week alpha period.
The site does have its limitations, especially since oBaz’s team of hagglers can’t guarantee a discount on everything its users want. Apple, for instance, is unlikely to award an oBaz group with deals on iPads or MacBook Airs. Still, Ficho believes that most merchants will happily offer up discounts in exchange for acquiring new customers.
“We’re free customer acquisition for business,” he says. “We’ll find all the customers for you, and let you make them offers for free.”
oBaz has raised seed funding from Lightbank. The startup eventually plans to release mobile applications, but is currently focused on improving its website.
Image courtesy of FernandoPolo, Flickr
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
More About: bizspark, lightbank, oBaz, spark-of-genius, startupFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:34:11 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/zugkb-Hv_sk/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/09/obaz/#comments