An introduction from Seat Amigo
Jun 13, 2019, 4:19 pm
#91
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Event Horizon
Programs: Flying Colonels, Go-Getters, WorldPass, Amerikat Expositors, Ephemeralizers
Posts: 82
In order to monetize the IP to achieve any desired multiple for a c2c social media application? 10%. But upthread there are multiple posts noting why that is impossible.
And that's just the revenue number. Uber are announcing flying car stations the week after their CFO and COO quit because they are losing $1B a quarter and post-IPO they decided to cash out and live on the beach rather than face the reality of figuring out how to actually be profitable. Monetizing 21st century mobility requires deep pockets, a lot of luck, or a rock-solid business plan backed by an unassailable business model with very few risks. Amigoware fails a number of tests against any of these topics.
The saving grace for Randy is that he came here and saved himself a lot of unrecoverable time, treasure and toil.
My hope is that Denton Drive hires him as a UX consultant for their upcoming exploratory conversations with uber and lyft regarding destination ridesharing, as a compensatory "reward" for standing down his site and surrendering his IP with no legal entanglements.
Or, maybe we're all full of it and Randy and his investors have the dog by the tail.
And that's just the revenue number. Uber are announcing flying car stations the week after their CFO and COO quit because they are losing $1B a quarter and post-IPO they decided to cash out and live on the beach rather than face the reality of figuring out how to actually be profitable. Monetizing 21st century mobility requires deep pockets, a lot of luck, or a rock-solid business plan backed by an unassailable business model with very few risks. Amigoware fails a number of tests against any of these topics.
The saving grace for Randy is that he came here and saved himself a lot of unrecoverable time, treasure and toil.
My hope is that Denton Drive hires him as a UX consultant for their upcoming exploratory conversations with uber and lyft regarding destination ridesharing, as a compensatory "reward" for standing down his site and surrendering his IP with no legal entanglements.
Or, maybe we're all full of it and Randy and his investors have the dog by the tail.
Jun 13, 2019, 4:23 pm
#92
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Event Horizon
Programs: Flying Colonels, Go-Getters, WorldPass, Amerikat Expositors, Ephemeralizers
Posts: 82
Jun 13, 2019, 4:32 pm
#93
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,698
Jun 13, 2019, 5:27 pm
#94
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Reno, NV
Posts: 27
Hi Guys,
Sorry I haven't responded but I had to get some work done! I appreciate you guys thinking you might have been harsh. If I folded after a few tough comments, well then that would have been my loss. Some of you have looked me up - I've been around the block. It's very interesting being an entrepreneur at 56 vs 25. At 25, with my Fretlight guitar invention, you guys might have done me in...might. But now, I try to look behind the surface of your comments and try to understand what is really going on with what you're trying to communicate. Your comments were helpful. Again, thank you. I wanted to comment on the market for you all...
I've done the research and the Southwest Airlines Market, just by itself is huge (it may not be huge for Apple, but for Seat Amigo it's a great start). 160M passengers travel per year on 4,000 flights per day. 103 destinations. One class of seating and everybody - i mean EVERYBODY, no matter when you board sits next to someone. Unless the flight isn't full and you're lucky. Their market is growing. 4-5% per year. A little hiccup with 737 MAX but otherwise growing. Also, what's very important in any business venture is CAN YOU FIND YOUR CUSTOMER ECONOMICALLY? The answer here is a resounding yes. They're on the plane and in the airport. So I'm still as enthusiastic as ever about this and I've had some great talks with private investors.
Seat Amigo will get funded and we'll give it a shot. It may work it may fail. I guess we all get to find out. I'm not just saying this, I hope I get a chance to meet you guys someday - I'll bet you're all pretty nice guys. Tough, but genuine. I'll check in from time to me and please - feel free to email me at [email protected].
Thanks
Rusty Shaffer
Sorry I haven't responded but I had to get some work done! I appreciate you guys thinking you might have been harsh. If I folded after a few tough comments, well then that would have been my loss. Some of you have looked me up - I've been around the block. It's very interesting being an entrepreneur at 56 vs 25. At 25, with my Fretlight guitar invention, you guys might have done me in...might. But now, I try to look behind the surface of your comments and try to understand what is really going on with what you're trying to communicate. Your comments were helpful. Again, thank you. I wanted to comment on the market for you all...
I've done the research and the Southwest Airlines Market, just by itself is huge (it may not be huge for Apple, but for Seat Amigo it's a great start). 160M passengers travel per year on 4,000 flights per day. 103 destinations. One class of seating and everybody - i mean EVERYBODY, no matter when you board sits next to someone. Unless the flight isn't full and you're lucky. Their market is growing. 4-5% per year. A little hiccup with 737 MAX but otherwise growing. Also, what's very important in any business venture is CAN YOU FIND YOUR CUSTOMER ECONOMICALLY? The answer here is a resounding yes. They're on the plane and in the airport. So I'm still as enthusiastic as ever about this and I've had some great talks with private investors.
Seat Amigo will get funded and we'll give it a shot. It may work it may fail. I guess we all get to find out. I'm not just saying this, I hope I get a chance to meet you guys someday - I'll bet you're all pretty nice guys. Tough, but genuine. I'll check in from time to me and please - feel free to email me at [email protected].
Thanks
Rusty Shaffer
Jun 13, 2019, 6:21 pm
#95
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,009
@Seat Amigo
1. I've met 100+ FTers over the years, and all of them are nice in person
2. That having been said, many of us have semi-harsh online personas; don't take it personally
3. You may well get funded because your app is pretty slick, but relying on a single company (WN) would certainly steer me away
1. I've met 100+ FTers over the years, and all of them are nice in person
2. That having been said, many of us have semi-harsh online personas; don't take it personally
3. You may well get funded because your app is pretty slick, but relying on a single company (WN) would certainly steer me away
Jun 17, 2019, 7:25 am
#97
Join Date: Jul 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, HGVC, WN RR, National Exec, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,055
I've only had one WN flight where I wish I picked someone else to sit next to. Actually he picked the empty middle next to me very late in the boarding process.You can usually tell early on whether someone wants to chat or just chill and take a break from life. If they want to chat I'm ok with that. If they want to chill I've got the iPad with 5000+ songs, some card games and usually 2-3 Netflix videos. I'll save the $5 and buy my favorite seat amigo a drink with it instead. I enjoy meeting people with different interests/skills and usually it's only for 2-4 hours anyway.
Jun 17, 2019, 5:11 pm
#98
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,559
If you really go forth with this, at least make sure to advise that the passengers who partake in this board together at the higher boarding number, or at most save one middle seat aft of the exit row.
Agree with the comments that attaching to one company, especially one on which there are no assigned seats, seems unnecessarily risky. Not that non-elite passengers can do much about their seat assignments on a legacy carrier...
Maybe add a Tinder for Lounge Access component...or just Tinder for Airports in general piece.
Agree with the comments that attaching to one company, especially one on which there are no assigned seats, seems unnecessarily risky. Not that non-elite passengers can do much about their seat assignments on a legacy carrier...
Maybe add a Tinder for Lounge Access component...or just Tinder for Airports in general piece.
Aug 8, 2019, 4:29 pm
#100
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
Programs: Sometimes known as [ARG:6 UNDEFINED]
Posts: 26,683
I love how the website's opening pic - a website promoting people connecting with each other side by side on a flight - is that of a single person looking out the window AND at her phone, simultaneously. 
Aug 9, 2019, 7:45 am
#102
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,559
Notice the site now has images that are clearly of other airlines (interiors and exteriors).
Best possible outcome for this site: they write some interesting code and somehow one of the bigger platforms finds it attractive enough to buy and integrate into their ecosystem. They're smart to move this away from being a Southwest thing, where it frankly doesn't make much sense to begin with because of the open seating process. As a standalone site, it doesn't seem like a moneymaker. As a niche feature for Tinder's existing multi-million-user base, maybe a different story... My own company has purchased some pre-revenue IP before. Ideas that would have had tough sledding by themselves, but fit well into one of our products as a feature release.
Best possible outcome for this site: they write some interesting code and somehow one of the bigger platforms finds it attractive enough to buy and integrate into their ecosystem. They're smart to move this away from being a Southwest thing, where it frankly doesn't make much sense to begin with because of the open seating process. As a standalone site, it doesn't seem like a moneymaker. As a niche feature for Tinder's existing multi-million-user base, maybe a different story... My own company has purchased some pre-revenue IP before. Ideas that would have had tough sledding by themselves, but fit well into one of our products as a feature release.
Sep 19, 2019, 3:08 am
#104
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,286
The site has recently been updated, and now says "Allegiant, Spirit and Frontier Airlines capability coming soon."
Also, it looks like their Indiegogo funding campaign closed, with a total of 3 backers, raising $190 of their $25,000 goal.
I sincerely hope they didn't sink too much money into this thing. And I agree that at this point the best outcome is their IP being bought and integrated into someone else's system.
Also, it looks like their Indiegogo funding campaign closed, with a total of 3 backers, raising $190 of their $25,000 goal.
I sincerely hope they didn't sink too much money into this thing. And I agree that at this point the best outcome is their IP being bought and integrated into someone else's system.