MyStrands looking to invest $100k in your recommender startup
In my extreme busy-ness of last month, I missed this item. In the spirit of the NetFlix prize, MyStrands has issued a 'call for recommender startups'.
They are looking for teams with an original, creative, viable and
relevant recommender idea. Five finalists will travel to Lausanne
Switzerland for RecSys08 where the
final selection will be announced. The winner will receive an offer of a
$100,000 investment in their idea/company.
Unlike the NetFlix prize, the MyStrands prize is loan/investment whose
terms are 'determined by Strands in its sole discretion.'
I'm not in any position to participate since I don't meet the eligibility requirements (individuals or sole proprietors and privately held businesses), but if I did, I'd be a little cautious about responding to this call, since my cool recommender idea would be published in a public forum - where anyone could see it and copy it. On the other hand, if I had a good idea, that was hard to duplicate or had some secret sauce - this might be just the thing to give me a year or two to turn it into the next Google.
Via MyStrands Blog » Looking for the best early-stage recommender start-ups