ValleyShadow

Streamy’s CEO Explains Why They Are NOT FriendFeed

As soon as news of Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed broke, the conversation almost immediately turned to “what will replace FriendFeed?” The reason this question is so important is because in the official press release about the acquisition, Facebook stated that "FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being..." (emphasis mine). Based on that language (which was chosen carefully, you can be sure), it’s reasonable that people jumped to the conclusion that Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed was primarily a “talent acquisition”, and that the service would eventually be shut down as the key features are integrated into Facebook.

What’s very interesting is where the conversation headed next. The conclusion that many came to was that a service by the name of Streamy would be the service that most FriendFeed expats would migrate to.

Now, I have been an enthusiastic Streamy user since March, and as soon as I was turned on to the service it quickly became my de facto start page. So, I was excited to hear that the service was finally getting the level of attention that I thought it deserved. But, just as soon as Streamy was suggested as a new home for FriendFeed users, suddenly the criticism began. Folks like Duncan Riley at the Inquisitr quickly pounced on Streamy, pointing out that it “is not FriendFeed.”

I think this criticism is completely unfounded, for one simple reason – Streamy has never claimed, nor do they claim now, to WANT to be FriendFeed. Apples and oranges come to mind. In fact, Streamy has a tight integration with FriendFeed, enabling people to utilize FriendFeed from within Streamy. BUT, it also goes much further than FriendFeed, by integrating a full RSS aggregator, drag-and-drop sharing functionality that enables you to share interesting stories and threads with your friends and social networks, as well as built in chat functionality (supporting all the major IM clients) – making it a much more well-rounded social sharing site than FriendFeed set out to be in the first place.

BART DECREM: Aligning People, Passion and Purpose

*NOTE: This post was written and based on an interview I did with Bart Decrem (currently the CEO of Tapulous, the maker of one of the iPhone's most downloaded apps, Tap Tap Revenge), way back in 2007. This interview was before he founded Tapulous, but gives some great insights into Bart the person and innovator, as well as the motivations that drive him. I'll catch up with Bart and post an updated post soon. Til' then, enjoy. 

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When Bart Decrem talks about his passion for world travel, it becomes very clear that his interest lies more in the people he meets along the way than the places he visits. While he’s clearly passionate about experiencing new places and cultures, I get the sense that for Bart, it’s all about collecting the background information to help him understand people better.

 And though his interest in people is certainly global, there is no doubting Bart’s love for the Valley’s tech culture as well. Bart, who was born in Belgium and attended a French university, landed himself at Stanford Law mostly because he wanted to be in the Silicon Valley, though he knew he’d, “never be an engineer.”

 “I knew I wanted to be in the Silicon Valley, so I figured Stanford was a good place to be – if nothing else – for the sake of the proximity,” says Bart.

His first year at Stanford, he attended his first MacWorld Expo and ran across a booth for a program called Computers and You, which was a free program run out of San Francisco’s Glide Memorial Church that taught people computer skills. Someone suggested that Bart start something similar in his own area. He was living in East Palo Alto at the time, and decided to start volunteering at a local Boys and Girls Club in East Menlo Park where he taught kids how to use the Internet.

 “It was great. I got to be a geek, but still help kids that needed help,” says Bart.