Should founders innovate based upon customer feedback or is it better to develop from within and let consumer adapt. In this episode of Founder Stories with host Chris Dixon, Meebo’s Seth Sternberg discusses his philosophy: “Users tend to be very good at giving you incremental product suggestions.” But they are not product visionaries. “They may be asking for something that would be revolutionary,” he says, “but they don’t realize they are asking for it.”
When receiving such incremental suggestions, Sternberg instinctively skips the baby steps and instead asks the question, “what if we could completely change the game?”
Sternberg explains what he means in the video above.
In the below clip, Sternberg and Dixon touch on Meebo’s advertising strategy, connecting with consumers and measuring user engagement. Meebo ads have a one percent engagement rate, well above the norm for run-of-the-mill display ads.
Make sure to view prior episodes of Founder Stories by clicking here.
Seth Sternberg co-founded Meebo. Seth, a Connecticut native, worked in IBM’s mergers and acquisitions department, while also working on corporate strategy and venture capital initiatives prior to starting Meebo.
Meebo is a consumer internet company focused on driving user engagement across the web, reaching approximately half of the U.S. internet population. Our flagship product, the Meebo Bar, provides publishers and advertisers a surprisingly simple way to leverage this massive audience by organically weaving content engagement and brand experiences into the consumer’s web experience. The Meebo Bar is currently integrated into hundreds of premium websites and hosts rich, engaging advertising from many of the top Fortune 500 brands. Meebo...
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