7 ms·

OMG Digital (YC S16) Is BuzzFeed for Africa

32 points by stvnchn 10y ago

danso 10y ago
Is this one of the first media startups funded by YC?
- katm 10y ago
  In this batch of YC (Summer 2016), we also have The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/ https://theathletic.com/.
jswny 10y ago
I don't exactly agree with BuzzFeed's business practices because it uses a lot of clickbait tactics. For that reason this comparison carries a sort of negative connotation, although I understand it.
- ahoy 10y ago
  Putting aside your "that damn liberal media!" misgivings, of course they compare themselves to buzzfeed. I had zero idea what LadBible was until your post, I know exactly what buzzfeed is. There's a reason that "Uber for X" is a bit of a meme, but "Lyft for X" isn't.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
rosalinekarr 10y ago
It's good to see a media startup getting some attention. Not every tech company has to be some cutting-edge, shiny research project to be successful. (In fact, most of them aren't.) There's nothing wrong building a business by taking existing, time-tested technology and bringing it to a new, growing market.
pacificpelican 10y ago
Maybe listicles like 10 ways Western oil companies committed atrocities in the Niger Delta?
- kafkaesq 10y ago
  "More than 2 million people died of starvation during the Nigeria-Biafra war, while the world idly watched. The reason will surprise you."
- DanBC 10y ago
  http://omgvoice.com/ http://omgvoice.com/ "This is how these famous Ghanaian men would look if they had dreadlocks" "Different Kinds Of Women You’ll Find In A Typical Ghanaian Church" "13 Times The English Language Made Absolutely No Sense At All" I mean, good luck to them and everything. (EDIT: This post sounds grumpier than I intended it to.)
  - koolba 10y ago
    > I mean, good luck to them and everything. Rule #1: Build something that people want!
tyre 10y ago
$1.3 trillion that the continent is projected to spend in 2020. Please don't use statistics like this. The combined consumer spending of a continent (54 separate countries, I think) is not really a fair portrayal of the opportunity. The linked source notes that $200bn is projected to be discretionary, which is closer to being relevant (as discretionary spending is largely the target of advertisers.) The real question, which that metric may have been trying to address, is the purchasing power of the average consumer. From 1993 to 2008 the average per capita income of sub-Saharan African economies barely budged—it increased from $742 to $762 per year (measured in 2005 purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars). If we exclude South Africa and the Seychelles, we see a decline from $608 to $556 over the period.[0] For individual spending that small, you (an company making money from ads) either need: a) Companies who have incredible operations to sell at scale across the continent, given the low average customer value (e.g. Coca-Cola) b) Many companies, each tackling local markets, that you (or an underlying ad network) can reach effectively at scale Are there examples of large corporate ad buys from (a) or an underlying network for (b) in Africa? [0] http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/01/incomes-sub-saharan-africa http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/01/incomes-...
- yladiz 10y ago
  It's maybe not the best statistic, but many African countries are pushing for a common currency, so it's not completely unjustified.
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    You are correct its 54 states counting the latest addition South Sudan which is looking like things are going to kick off there again any minute. So out of that 54, 7 are failed states. Also I think the majority of Africa operates an "informal economy" which calls into question the accuracy of those projections. I do wish them the best though. Also Kenya has become something of a startup hub the last few years. I hope it continues. It's exciting to see Africa represented in tech news.
- izacus 10y ago
  Didn't you lump together all countries of a huge continent as well? What's the variance of purchasing power from SAR, Morocco, Congo, etc.?
true_religion 10y ago
If they actually manage to combine Nigeria/Ghana and Kenya into one site I'm going to be really impressed. Primarily, because I know from personal experience that a lot of people on the east side of Africa, do not actually care about random news on the west side of Africa (reasonable considering the two sides are approximately 3000 miles away from each other and have utterly dissimilar histories).
shostack 10y ago
I'm kind of surprised the name "OMG Digital" didn't raise any flags with legal given OMG is what Omnicom Media Group is often referred to, and is the media services division of Omnicom or OMD (one of the largest ad agency holding companies). Couldn't find any relationship between the two from a cursory look, but I'd be shocked if they didn't have OMG trademarked in some form.
Geekette 10y ago
Interesting that it's described as currently catering to Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria because the content is solely Ghana specific. These 3 countries also have very different social perspectives and very different flavours of entertainment and lifestyle. A number of popular sites also exist in this niche targeted at each country. Likewise, the remaining 51 countries also have significantly different cultures whose entertainment needs probably can't be comprehensively addressed by a single site. Edit: There's a different page for each country; I missed seeing the button to select accordingly the first time through.

32 points by stvnchn 10y ago

danso 10y ago

Is this one of the first media startups funded by YC?

katm 10y ago
In this batch of YC (Summer 2016), we also have The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/ https://theathletic.com/.

jswny 10y ago

I don't exactly agree with BuzzFeed's business practices because it uses a lot of clickbait tactics. For that reason this comparison carries a sort of negative connotation, although I understand it.

ahoy 10y ago
Putting aside your "that damn liberal media!" misgivings, of course they compare themselves to buzzfeed. I had zero idea what LadBible was until your post, I know exactly what buzzfeed is. There's a reason that "Uber for X" is a bit of a meme, but "Lyft for X" isn't.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

rosalinekarr 10y ago

It's good to see a media startup getting some attention. Not every tech company has to be some cutting-edge, shiny research project to be successful. (In fact, most of them aren't.) There's nothing wrong building a business by taking existing, time-tested technology and bringing it to a new, growing market.

pacificpelican 10y ago

Maybe listicles like 10 ways Western oil companies committed atrocities in the Niger Delta?

kafkaesq 10y ago
"More than 2 million people died of starvation during the Nigeria-Biafra war, while the world idly watched. The reason will surprise you."
DanBC 10y ago
http://omgvoice.com/ http://omgvoice.com/ "This is how these famous Ghanaian men would look if they had dreadlocks" "Different Kinds Of Women You’ll Find In A Typical Ghanaian Church" "13 Times The English Language Made Absolutely No Sense At All" I mean, good luck to them and everything. (EDIT: This post sounds grumpier than I intended it to.)
- koolba 10y ago
  > I mean, good luck to them and everything. Rule #1: Build something that people want!

tyre 10y ago

$1.3 trillion that the continent is projected to spend in 2020. Please don't use statistics like this. The combined consumer spending of a continent (54 separate countries, I think) is not really a fair portrayal of the opportunity. The linked source notes that $200bn is projected to be discretionary, which is closer to being relevant (as discretionary spending is largely the target of advertisers.) The real question, which that metric may have been trying to address, is the purchasing power of the average consumer. From 1993 to 2008 the average per capita income of sub-Saharan African economies barely budged—it increased from $742 to $762 per year (measured in 2005 purchasing-power parity-adjusted dollars). If we exclude South Africa and the Seychelles, we see a decline from $608 to $556 over the period.[0] For individual spending that small, you (an company making money from ads) either need: a) Companies who have incredible operations to sell at scale across the continent, given the low average customer value (e.g. Coca-Cola) b) Many companies, each tackling local markets, that you (or an underlying ad network) can reach effectively at scale Are there examples of large corporate ad buys from (a) or an underlying network for (b) in Africa? [0] http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/01/incomes-sub-saharan-africa http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/01/incomes-...

yladiz 10y ago
It's maybe not the best statistic, but many African countries are pushing for a common currency, so it's not completely unjustified.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  You are correct its 54 states counting the latest addition South Sudan which is looking like things are going to kick off there again any minute. So out of that 54, 7 are failed states. Also I think the majority of Africa operates an "informal economy" which calls into question the accuracy of those projections. I do wish them the best though. Also Kenya has become something of a startup hub the last few years. I hope it continues. It's exciting to see Africa represented in tech news.
izacus 10y ago
Didn't you lump together all countries of a huge continent as well? What's the variance of purchasing power from SAR, Morocco, Congo, etc.?

true_religion 10y ago

If they actually manage to combine Nigeria/Ghana and Kenya into one site I'm going to be really impressed. Primarily, because I know from personal experience that a lot of people on the east side of Africa, do not actually care about random news on the west side of Africa (reasonable considering the two sides are approximately 3000 miles away from each other and have utterly dissimilar histories).

shostack 10y ago

I'm kind of surprised the name "OMG Digital" didn't raise any flags with legal given OMG is what Omnicom Media Group is often referred to, and is the media services division of Omnicom or OMD (one of the largest ad agency holding companies). Couldn't find any relationship between the two from a cursory look, but I'd be shocked if they didn't have OMG trademarked in some form.

Geekette 10y ago

Interesting that it's described as currently catering to Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria because the content is solely Ghana specific. These 3 countries also have very different social perspectives and very different flavours of entertainment and lifestyle. A number of popular sites also exist in this niche targeted at each country. Likewise, the remaining 51 countries also have significantly different cultures whose entertainment needs probably can't be comprehensively addressed by a single site. Edit: There's a different page for each country; I missed seeing the button to select accordingly the first time through.