Is it possible that a lack of good design had something to do with an Internet startup's failure?
PodTech Sells for Less Than $500k - They suffered from the same disease a lot of podcasting sites do--not spending a dime on real branding and design. Look at the god awful logo. They raised $7.5 million in funding and that's the logo? Should've spent the money on an identity and branding, not Robert Scoble.
That's Scoble, as in Robert Scoble, the guy who once exclaimed that ugly design (anti-marketing design) is key to Internet fueled success:
...sites that have ugly designs are well known to pull more revenue, be more sticky, build better brands, and generally be more fun to participate in, than sites with beautiful designs.
Kids, next time Uncle Touchy Touchy tells you that bad design equates to big success just remember there are at least seven million reasons why that's a load of horse pucky.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
I don't understand what PodTech does?
It wasn't clear to me looking at the homepage. I then read the About page and it still wasnt clear.
That in my opinion is why the site failed (which I guess you call bad "design").
With that reasoning, My Space should have been a collosal failure. The best product often doesn't win. There are many factors that make for a successful product. One of which is being in the right place at the right time.
Talking about best design winning...
I personally find Gmail extremely ugly, and find that Yahoo mail interface *much* better.
However, I will NOT use Yahoo mail solely because they bombard you with advertisements.
Gmail, ugly as it is, allows you to do exactly what it's meant for - emailing. So Gmail wins.
So to Tanny O'Haleys points, I completely agree - there are many factors that make for a successful product
Oh snap.
I somewhat agree with what Scoble stated. Successful websites aren't successful just because they're pretty. Look at Craigslist. It's all links. When a designer did a redesign of Craigslist and presented it at a conference, all Craig Newmark had to say was "Cool." The success of that site is the content and the people. Dressing up text won't make you money.
And I disagree that you should spend a large chunk of your startup capital on branding. Let's face it, raising 7.5 million for a podcasting site that John Doe can manage himself doesn't sound like good business to me. Especially with all the podcasting "me too's" out there.
Pod-What? Seriously, I have never heard of this company. Maybe that was their problem.
When the fuck did anyone start listening to Scoble's opinion on design?
If bad design made a difference, the majority of websites would be selling for millions everyday because there is far more shit out there than not.
Luke Wroblewski's comment on that thread kinda says it all.
Sure, ace content and good tech are good, but if your divs are broken and you're using, say, 7 fonts per page (one of which is Comic Sans) I will not trust you with my credit card info.
I don't know about the rest of you, but the higher the flaming skull gif to content ratio, the more likely I am to throw money at a website. Bonus points for under construction animations.
I think "pretty" should not be taken as a measuring stick of success for web sites where "relevance" and "value" are far more important aspects to consider. Scoble's clearly wrong: It's not ugliness what drives people to a site, but the perceived value those people get from it, regardless if it looks like a cyberturd or not.
Few examples embody this better than Craigslist. Ugly as hell? Damn yes for sure. But it works -and very well- for whoever uses it, so what gives? What's really important here? The looks or the fact that it just plain works and makes money for its users? Not all sites can be measured with the same stick.
@ Chris - Don't confuse style with Design, Please! PodTech looks like information vomit.
"Ugly" yet successful sites have been an interesting exception to the general rule. Get with it, brother.
I'm ugly, but all the ladies still want to get with Big Renaud. Why cuz I have the content maker.
Hey, the PodTech logo does its job. It's crappy and looks home made, just like the piles of unwatchable video PodTech produced. PodTech is synonymous with incompetence.
That company failed because of Robert Scoble period. He is such an airbag himself. Scoble is noise. The venture guys were betting on Scoble but they are suckers.
Good design wins everytime. You get what you pay for.
Good catch, Greg!