FAQ: Investors

While there are options and services that have a similar appeal, Nothing is as powerful as our platform.  We've take three proven, well-worn marketing strategies and added the power of social media to in effect "GLUE THEM TOGETHER" in such a way as to deliver a completely new shopping experience for the digitally connected age.

I read an article in MIT Technology Review several years ago about the problem of how to truly monetize social media.  In another MIT Technology Review article, I was stunned at how every "technology luminary of the day" who was interviewed had weighed in with zero fresh ideas—just more of the same tired old banner ads that people have learned to ignore.  A followup article from MIT Technology Review points directly to the need for an "earth-changing idea" to solve this problem... AND WE HAVE IT!!  I'm a problem solver by nature, so I really didn't set out to start an Internet business, I just did what I usually do: come up with a solution.  After reading the MIT article I laughed and casually thought to myself, THIS is how one would monetize social media.  It came to me in a vision almost as one thought—including the name Buddy Buddy Buddy.  I brought the idea to some business partners at the time and everyone was intrigued.  While almost 8 years have passed since I built the site and got a working model up and running, I got essentially nowhere with it.  Nevertheless, I could not forget about how great and still timely the idea is, so I keep at it and at it and at it despite getting nowhere.  Every time I think of giving up, it hits me that SOMEONE will eventually tie it all together as I have done and I will kick myself!  So I plod on hoping to seek out the ONE INVESTOR who sees it like I do and it's off the the races... and then to the bank!

The long-standing problem of the monetization of social media.  Are tired old pay-per-click ads that most everyone ignores the BEST THING we've come up with?  It seems so!  First, we have a digital battle going on between the advertisers and the ad blockers.  Add to that the fact that click ads are less than .01% effective and you have a giant problem that no one is trying to fix—possibly because there is too much money to be made on click ads for anyone to even try!  Is this not a serious problem that needs fixing finally?  I see it as an ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY to take Google's money when no one else is even trying!

Merchants are tired of the rising cost of pay-per-click ads coupled with their increasingly dismal performance of less than .01% effective.  Wouldn't it be nice if there was a PAY-PER-SALE option that bested the black hole for dollars that pay-per-click has become?  We are the FIRST to offer such a program with no strings attached.  Simple: Merchants pay us a 3% fee AFTER the sale in return for us sending them buyers via social media referrals.

You bet!  Statistics show that over 80% of online shoppers post their purchase info to social media, and over 35% of shoppers use some sort of digital "coupon" or discount.  Our platform leverages these two realities in a clever way that enhances the transaction experience for both the shopper and merchant.

It will scale like mad!  BBB is 100% software.  Once we get the platform launched, social media "word of mouth" will take it to the next level as shoppers are incentivized to tell their social media friends what they've purchased, and with three levels of rewards, friends will tell friends of friends who will tell friends of friends of friends.  Each Facebook user having approximately 100 friends, so when you work the math you see that 100 X 100 X 100 is one million!  So YES!  It will scale like MAD on it's own.  In fact, our biggest "problem" could well be that we will struggle to keep up with demand!

Not at this time.  There is just myself, the inventor of the platform.  Everyone else bailed when it didn't make a billion dollars the first year or two. 

Our financial projections show that $1 million dollars would effectively get us to the point where the above-mentioned word-of-mouth—or "word-of-mouse" to be more digitally correct—will take it from there.  NOTE: BBB will generate income from DAY ONE.  Unlike many other startups who must get entrenched first and THEN pump ads into the mix to generate revenue, BBB is a sales generator that creates revenue from the very first sale onward.

Revenue is generated from the 3% fee for every sale BBB generates.  As an added incentive to the shopper, BBB sale items carry a 3% discount while also giving buyers valuable Buddy Bucks rewards that are earned exponentially as friends, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends also purchase.  Once the ball gets rolling, sales will spike on their own—exponentially through social media connections.

Our financial projections show that with a $1 million investment we will be in the black by a small amount at the end of year one.  Beyond that, profits continue to rise with minimal additional capital.  In other words, the revenue generated beyond year one is more than enough to meet growth demands.

Everything but launch it!  We've built it; tested it; signed up a few stores; did a "test launch" to validate the workings of the platform; generated financial projections; prepared myriad marketing materials and more.  With this, we marketed the concept to well over 100 investors most of whom have passed while saying "Nice idea... call us when you have some traction...".  So we are stuck in the mud.  We are seeking an investor who "gets it" and sees the potential; appreciates the mountain of effort put in this far by myself, and believes in my abilities to lead the further development and creative/marketing angle moving forward.  I am pragmatic, reasonable and easy to work with.  I know my strengths and weaknesses and am willing to work with whomever to realize the potential of this timely, powerful idea.

While we have had well over 100 investors tell us they like the idea, but with zero traction, we have yet to find one that is willing to take the risk to realize the huge reward.  We are targeting Google's $40 billion pay-per-click/AdWords market—a treasure NO ONE is going after in any way similar to BBB.  This is why we feel the risk is minimal compared to the reward—empowered by the belief that it's the right time for a platform like this.

The only thing we fear is a deep pocket competitor "cloning" our idea and crushing us before we get to the point where our growth solidifies us as the INVENTOR of the three-level shopping rewards platform that relies on social media friend connections to promote and sell products and services online.  About the only "unknown" we would be worried about is if one or another popular social media platform (Facebook and/or Twitter) shuts us out while planning their own version of what I've invented.

The fact that BBB is a revenue generator from day one means that we are not out to launch, make a splash, and then be acquired.  Instead, it is felt that by the time we get on anyone's radar in terms of acquisition, we will already be poised to siphon off so much of Google's PPC revenue that it would be stupid to sell it off.  Really: why would you sell the goose that laid the golden egg??  BBB is a stand-alone software product that ties into any given shopping cart to boost sales through social media channels.  The fact that it relies on social media users to promote the platform means that we would not "need" an influx of cash such that a buyout would give us, so it would be more fun to just sit back and take Google's money and watch them get disrupted for a change!  All that said, I am reasonable and will do what's best for all when we get to the point of someone offering to buy us.

We have it all ready to peruse.  Business plan; 5-year financial projections; Investor's Slide Deck; Executive Summary; enough brochures, videos and web pages to tell our story from every angle.  In short, we are ready to go.

This is a problem that I can only guess at.  So many variables and so many different ways it could play out.  I see speed to market as an important strength to stay ahead of any competition that may arise.  Working with a IP attorney in the early stages of development I was told there is nothing directly patentable about our platform because it is nothing "new" rather just a clever "mash-up" of existing marketing startegies facilitated by a social media connection—which seems about right.  Only when we start showing up on the radar will we have to deal with a possible competitor.  The feeling is that after the struggle we've had getting this far, only a deep-pocket entity would be able to develop a similar product as we start to make a splash.  Were that to transpire we may want to enterain an acquisition—though that is not the objective at this time.