As you’ve probably (hopefully? maybe? remote possibly?) noticed by now, we haven’t updated our blog in quite some time. You see, what had happened was..."It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to” (Shout out to all my hip-hop heads who know the song!)
No, no excuses, just an explanation - we’ve been REALLY busy rolling out a bunch of new features, setting up a whole new subsidiary, cranking out new videos, and honestly, not really having much of a summer vacation. But seriously, once you graduate from college, does anyone really have a “summer vacation”?!
So, if we didn’t go to summer camp, nor travel abroad, nor go camping or swimming in the lake or whatever else it is one is supposed to do during the Northern Hemisphere’s longest days of the year, how did we spend the summer of 2011?
Short answer - hustling, everyday!
Long answer - we completed (or in some cases, started working on) a handful of the many tasks necessary to take Jippidy from bootstrapped startup to at least break-even young company. These activities included, but were not limited to:
- Establishing a whole new subsidiary, Web Video Crew, which now serves as Jippidy’s video production arm, thereby enabling Jippidy, the umbrella company, to focus on building out a user-friendly website & brand, leaving the subsidiary to focus on the nitty-gritty of online video production;
- Creating several new product lines - a “creative video” product, editing packages, a web video series, website programming, webcasting, and OH, so much more;
- Expanding our presence throughout the country - we’re like Ludacris & Nate Dogg (RIP!), we've got videos in different “Area Codes”: 610/215 (Philadelphia area), 602 (Phoenix), 216 (Cleveland - down with LEBRON!!), 619 (San Diego), 301 (Washington, D.C. area), 617 (Boston area), plus a few more cities in the pipeline;
- Building out our business listings database by enlisting the services of an awesome new startup, Factual. We may not have every single business listing in your city, but we definitely have a MUCH more comprehensive database thanks to Factual and its mucho generous API;
- Introducing a “Pros” & “Cons” section along with star ratings for many of our business profiles, so you can find out what the masses think are the goods and the bads of a business at a quick glance. Try it out - read what people like and dislike about The Grubstake in SF, then watch their video and see some of it for yourself;
- Updating our homepage “Local Deals” box and Live Twitter feeds with even more cool, location-specific deals and live tweets from local businesses in your area, so you can find out which slick deals or last-minute events are happening at the restaurants or businesses in your area;
- Improving our search algorithm to make finding local businesses around you a bit easier - I emphasize a BIT easier, we’ve admittedly still got a ways to go, so please be patient;
- Bulking up our social media presence - just passed a quarter million views on our official Youtube channel, holler!
- Finding a company mascot - everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Jippidy, the dog. Jippidy, the dog, I’d like you to meet everyone! You can pet him at the bottom of this post if you'd like, don’t worry, he doesn’t bite
So, you ask, “How’s Jippidy doing? How’s he been?” Good, good, thanks for asking. How ya’ doin’? (in my best Joey Tribbiani voice)
So what next? Well, many of those things mentioned above have been finished to some degree, but in a startup, I’ve come to realize that nothing is truly ever “finished.” We’re going to continue to improve, we’re expanding to more and more cities so that the whole US of A knows our name, and then, hopefully, we can reach something like a tipping point as the online video tide starts rising, lifting this Jippidy boat along with it for the ride.
Do dah, Jippidy!
Julian Martinez is in charge of managing Jippidy's extensive network of professional videographers. As someone always looking to discover the new restaurant or bar in the culinary mecca known as San Francisco, Julian was intrigued by the opportunity Jippidy presented him to combine three of his passions - food, liquor & film - and joined Jippidy as its second full-time employee. In addition to overseeing their team of fantastic videographers, Julian also manages Jippidy's social media campaigns, including its Facebook Fan Page, as well as two of its twitter accounts - @Jippidy and @Julian_jippidy.
Julian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University.
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