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Not the den’s best investment…

by dkarp 5y ago

GordonS 5y ago
I posted this after seeing it on Dragon's Den - I'd never heard of it before. I thought the pitch itself was very good - but it was very light on details of how it actually worked. Presumably it only works with certain advertisers? Given I'd never heard of it, the number of users claimed (I had a look, and there is a tiny subreddit), and the value of rewards per month seemed inflated. I guess the "other" company the pitcher mentioned was Brave?
- dkarp 5y ago
  Yea, it was also first I had heard of it. I think it's telling that there aren't any HN posts about them before. The pitch was good at getting investment. I think they actually use the browser extension to replace page ads with their own ads from advertisers they have a relationship with, but I'm not totally sure. I read around too, as I agree it was super light on details, and found this post [1] and it seems you don't actually accumulate funds on your account, but points. Then you have to refer the browser extension to other people before you can access a marketplace - red flag. Then you get into a marketplace where they regularly put up rewards that you can redeem, but the rewards are limited in number and go fast. Also one user mentioned they got a Google Nest but Google pretty much hand those out with everything. I also saw a comment from the Gener8 team saying they are funding the payouts with investor money, so clearly they aren't making enough from advertisers to pay out and have to supplement it. I wish they had asked how much had been paid out to-date and how much they had received from advertisers. Personally, I'd never install a browser extension that is explicitly to gather data for advertisers, even if I'm paid for it. A browser extension can view everything on every page you visit... It's much worse than a tracking cookie. It didn't seem like the den knew enough to ask the right questions. Honestly, it opened my eyes to how tech companies are able to woo investors with very little substance. Then you see the more traditional companies get torn apart as the dragons can understand them. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoneyuk/comments/lkhk1b/are_there_any_signs_of_gener8s_marketplace/ https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoneyuk/comments/lkhk1b/are_the...
  - GordonS 5y ago
    > I also saw a comment from the Gener8 team saying they are funding the payouts with investor money That was my guess when the pitcher mentioned how much money the average user was getting - IIRC, he said something like £25-45/m, which sounded completely unrealistic unless some skulduggery was afoot. > I wish they had asked how much had been paid out to-date and how much they had received from advertisers Yes, these would be exactly the right questions to ask! The pitcher was very good, but I was still surprised at how willing the Dragons were to throw money at him without digging in to any details.

Not the den’s best investment…

by dkarp 5y ago

Not the den’s best investment…

I posted this after seeing it on Dragon's Den - I'd never heard of it before. I thought the pitch itself was very good - but it was very light on details of how it actually worked. Presumably it only works with certain advertisers? Given I'd never heard of it, the number of users claimed (I had a look, and there is a tiny subreddit), and the value of rewards per month seemed inflated. I guess the "other" company the pitcher mentioned was Brave?

dkarp 5y ago
Yea, it was also first I had heard of it. I think it's telling that there aren't any HN posts about them before. The pitch was good at getting investment. I think they actually use the browser extension to replace page ads with their own ads from advertisers they have a relationship with, but I'm not totally sure. I read around too, as I agree it was super light on details, and found this post [1] and it seems you don't actually accumulate funds on your account, but points. Then you have to refer the browser extension to other people before you can access a marketplace - red flag. Then you get into a marketplace where they regularly put up rewards that you can redeem, but the rewards are limited in number and go fast. Also one user mentioned they got a Google Nest but Google pretty much hand those out with everything. I also saw a comment from the Gener8 team saying they are funding the payouts with investor money, so clearly they aren't making enough from advertisers to pay out and have to supplement it. I wish they had asked how much had been paid out to-date and how much they had received from advertisers. Personally, I'd never install a browser extension that is explicitly to gather data for advertisers, even if I'm paid for it. A browser extension can view everything on every page you visit... It's much worse than a tracking cookie. It didn't seem like the den knew enough to ask the right questions. Honestly, it opened my eyes to how tech companies are able to woo investors with very little substance. Then you see the more traditional companies get torn apart as the dragons can understand them. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoneyuk/comments/lkhk1b/are_there_any_signs_of_gener8s_marketplace/ https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoneyuk/comments/lkhk1b/are_the...
- GordonS 5y ago
  > I also saw a comment from the Gener8 team saying they are funding the payouts with investor money That was my guess when the pitcher mentioned how much money the average user was getting - IIRC, he said something like £25-45/m, which sounded completely unrealistic unless some skulduggery was afoot. > I wish they had asked how much had been paid out to-date and how much they had received from advertisers Yes, these would be exactly the right questions to ask! The pitcher was very good, but I was still surprised at how willing the Dragons were to throw money at him without digging in to any details.