The Next Big Thing: MoviePass

Thinking big is a trait we love to see from our entrepreneurs, investors and startups.  After all, thinking big means innovation, creativity, and no limits. 

And we love people who think as big as we do.  One startup company that recently came across our radar is MoviePass. What caught our eye about MoviePass is the goal of the company; to be the “Netflix for movie theaters”. The goal sounds like a lofty one and immediately the question of “how?” came to our minds.    

The model of movie distribution is a flawed one and is easily defeated by piracy. Because of piracy, the cost of a ticket to the movie theater is at an all-time high. Movie theaters have raised the price of tickets to account for piracy, which puts the burden on the wallets of the average movie-goer. In an effort to save theaters, MoviePass has come along to offer an unlimited movie service that everyone can enjoy. It’s a major undertaking considering the partnerships that need to be made with national theater chains as well as the studios. But here’s the kicker—MoviePass hasn’t done either.

If you’re confused right now, don’t worry, so was I. Let me explain how it works:   

• To have a “membership” with MoviePass, you pay a monthly fee (depending on where you live, between $24.99 and $39.99)* and you’ll be granted one movie ticket per day.
• To use your ticket, all you have to do is pull out your iPhone (not on Android yet), locate the theater (you need to be near the theater) and determine which movie you want. 
• Once you’ve done so, you have to check-in via the MoviePass app.
• When you arrive at the theater, you “pay” for your ticket with your MoviePass payment card. To the theatre, it looks like you’re paying with a normal credit card or gift card.
• Next, you’ll receive your movie ticket from the box office and enjoy your movie.

*This is all independent from the theaters because when you select your showing via the app, MoviePass loads the cost of your ticket onto your card. As of right now, this is only for the standard movie experience, but 3D and IMAX movies will become available later at a higher subscription price.

MoviePass aims to fill theaters, and so far it has done just that. During its private beta, the startup saw a 64% increase in movie theater attendance. MoviePass is clearly set out to target faithful moviegoers who patron theaters at least once a week. But it also appeals to those who previously avoided the high price of movie theaters by making them affordable.

If MoviePass is able to continue to provide an affordable option for moviegoers of all types, the startup really will save movie theaters all across the nation.

Do you have a company or idea in mind that really Thinks Big? Please contact me via email at Bobby.Miller@thinkbigparners.com.  You could be featured in our blog as The Next Big Thing!  

Kansas City Big Thinker Profile: Michael Bleigh

 Netflix lovers rejoice, there is now an easier way to soak up the freshest content and you have Michael Bleigh to thank. Created by the Olathe, KS native, Hack the Midwest winner Qup (pronounced queue-up), allows Netflix addicts to receive email notifications when new titles are added. Like all great things, Qup was born out of necessity. An admitted Netflix addict and overall movie fanatic, Michael created Qup because he got tired of the old way he was doing things. What was he doing you ask? The old way was to use Google reader to receive Netflix’s RSS feed via mobile device. Then from those, if he’d like to add something to his queue he’d have to login to Netflix’s non-mobile friendly U/I. He wanted to create a way to be able add something to his queue with one click. Once Qup is paired with a Netflix account, this becomes a reality.

However Qup isn’t the only project in Michael's queue. As a Partner at Intridea, Michael is also an avid competitor in hackathons. He competes because he has a lot of ideas and feels that the time crunch based format gives him a chance to really try something out and see if it has legs. One of the ideas that grew legs is Divshot, created at Startup Weekend along with his brother Nathan Bleigh and designer Jake Johnson, whom they met at the competition. Though they did not win Startup weekend, they did build a great foundation for Divshot, and were recently selected as a finalist for the upcoming Crowdstart LA Competition.

*Editors Update: Divshot was just announced as the first place winner of Crowdstart LA taking home $25k. We here at Think Big would Like to congratulate Michael and the rest of the Divshot team. More info available here via Silicon Prairie News."

Divshot is a rapid prototyping tool for web apps, a drag and drop editor similar to a balsamic or mock up tool, but different in that it exports valid semantic html & CSS which can then be taken and used a basis for web apps. It leverages Twitter Bootstrap to provide a pallet of tools to build an interface. Its ultimate goal is to become the interface builder for the web. It is designed with a vision to be a tool that developers wouldn’t turn their nose up at. As a developer he feels there has never been a tool that truly outputs data in this way. As he simple puts it “(he) wanted to see if it were possible to create something that would export the same kind of markup if he were to code it by hand”.

How he Thinks Big:  by taking something that is a little bit annoying to a lot of people and making it easy. For example it may take 30sec to a minute to do all the click throughs from an RSS feed to add something in Netflix. Which probably takes 5-6 minutes a week, but that’s 5-6 minutes a week of wasting time on something that is annoying. If it is possible to spend a day creating something that solves that. Then he views that a win. 

Why Did Google Choose Kansas City for Fiber Project?

WRITTEN BY CLAYTON P. BURNETT, GUEST BLOGGER & LIVE BLOGGER FOR THE GIGABIT CHALLENGE FINALE

The wait is nearly over….

Web pages loading, videos downloading, music buffering—it’s all coming to end. 

All coming to an end, thanks to the Google Fiber project implementation in Kansas City.  “Layman’s terms” here, what is the Google Fiber Project and what does it mean for me? Simply put, Google chose Kansas City (don’t ask why...just take it) to deploy the fastest internet speeds in the world.  These speeds will pretty much transform your entire web experience and quite possibly help transform new web technologies for the world! 

So why did this supposed tech titan called “Google” choose Kansas City over the 1,000+ communities that applied for this opportunity?  We’re known for cows and BBQ, and not anything tech related...right?  First off, let’s go with luck.  Google will officially state that Kansas City was chosen because “we could build efficiently, make an impact on the community, and develop working partnerships with the local government, utility and community organizations.”  All well and good, and I buy it to some degree…but I’m thinking that we were awarded this prize because it’s probably a little more cost effective here in the Midwest.

The internet speeds that Google will provide are fast...really fast.  Like, 100 times faster than you probably have in your home right now.  So what is this going to do for you, and how can it “transform” your web experience?  Ultimately, home users can download and watch “cute kitten” videos on YouTube much faster, or stream Netflix in full HD.  “Great…that really transforms my life…thanks Google (heavy sarcasm)!”   While Google does care about your media consumption, there is a bigger picture here.  First; profit.  Businesses are in business to make money, right?  Google will make a few bucks off of this deal in the long run, not based upon providing the actual internet service, but mainly based upon their business model of ad revenue (faster/better internet experience = longer time online = more ad revenues).  Second, Google is a very “forward thinking” enterprise with a number of philanthropic ventures aimed at the “greater good” of the world.  And this venture is partly about innovation.  Kansas City; this isn’t charity to us.  We are just lucky they chose us as the test bed.  Given this opportunity, Google also hopes to spur innovation for new web technologies. Who knows what ideas and/or technologies this network will generate. 

One might think that Google would take a more active role in the development of these ideas and technologies, but alas, it appears that they are simply supplying the network and leaving the rest up to us.  I dig this approach, as it lets us “little guys” in on the action.  I can help make what I want of this project without a big bureaucratic control leading a painstaking process.  So ultimately, the success of this project really depends on the creativity of the Kansas City residents.  Again, Google has given us a “tool”—its potential use and application are up to us.  Kansas City, it’s time to think broad…and BIG!  Sure, this tool may improve our current businesses and home web experience, but the rest of the world (myself included) is looking at this opportunity for us to potentially create entirely new industries and technologies!

“So, uh…if it’s up to me, where do I even begin?”  Thankfully, a few local groups have stepped up to lead Kansas City’s efforts, including the Brainzooming Group, the Social Media Club of Kansas City, Think Big Partners and the Kauffman Foundation.  Under their leadership, we have been given the opportunity to vet our ideas to the world, and even have the chance to win seed/prize money for these ventures.

Kansas City has a infinite number of ways to benefit from this opportunity, so let’s focus on how amazing this opportunity really is.  The Mayor of Kansas City, MO was recently quoted in saying, "As a result of this announcement, we have become the most attractive city on the planet to entrepreneurs."  Yep, that’s right.  Because of this opportunity, Kansas City should see a good influx of tech-savvy businesses enter into our market.  A little bit of a stretch here, but Kansas City has a golden opportunity to become the next Silicon Valley of the world.

Now that I’m done telling you about the who’s, how’s and what’s of this project, I’m going to give you my own personal commentary and plea for ideas.  Kansas City and fellow earthlings, we have the opportunity to truly revolutionize the world.  I know what you’re thinking: Revolutionize the world?  Are you kidding me!?  I am not.  Technology is behind everything we do today. Even your common “ditch digger’s” job is, in some way, impacted by technology.   With this gift from Google, we have the opportunity to develop new ideas and technologies that can truly change and influence the way we do business, interact with media content, exchange ideas, etc., etc., etc.  But it’s up to all of us to come up with these “game changing” ideas.

Many have already been hard at work, developing ideas for how to best utilize this amazing gift from Google.  I’ve read through a number of the early ideas and some have novel merits, but honestly, none have made me stop and say “that’s a game changer.”  I recently read that we are now down to 19 finalists in The Gigabit Challenge, down from the original 113 entrants.  “Wait…did you just say only 113 entrants….are you kidding me….that’s it?”  Yeah, I’m a little perplexed that given this significant opportunity that only 113 people submitted ideas.  We all use the internet every day, we all interact with various mediums of content on a daily basis….are you telling me that we only have 113 people in this world with a semblance of an idea about how we could potentially leverage this great gift?  Honestly, I’m a little vexed by this.  Where’s my idea, you ask?  Oh yeah…forgot to enter I guess.   Ok, I guess there are a few barriers to entry; legal documents, protecting your intellectual property, etc, etc….so I don’t blame everyone for not entering….it probably was a little daunting.

So I want to make it clear, I am NOT discounting or discrediting any of the ideas in the competition, but I’m honestly wondering if we’ll see some truly “wow” ideas after Google Fiber is up and running.  Personally, I’d be a little afraid of vetting my idea in front of the world only to have it potentially stolen by somebody with much deeper pockets than myself.  So maybe I shouldn’t be discouraged by the ideas given so far.  Maybe this is an amazing start…better than we could have hoped for.  Start small, think big…and let that little seed grow.

Follow The Gigabit Challenge! @GBChallengeKC     #GBFinale

A Million Reasons to Talk To Strangers

Don’t talk to strangers. Who hasn’t heard these words at least once while growing up?

But as a rebellious entrepreneur, what happens when you DO talk to strangers?

This is the story of BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos. For the uninitiated, this is name of the group that won Netflix’s innovation contest that challenged all comers to improve the recommendation technology used by the movie rental company by 10%. Comprised of a collection of computer scientists, electrical engineers, statisticians and more, this group worked to beat a rival group, Ensemble, by 24 minutes to produce the winning algorithm to help Netflix’s business dilemma.

You see, Netflix had a problem. Armed with its own team of smart engineers, they had been unable to find the right predictive algorithm to influence customer behavior. Unable to crack the code, they were faced with a decision to either hire more employees or continue down the same path that had failed to bear fruit. Wasn’t that Einstein’s definition of insanity?

So, like a slightly rebellious child that didn’t always listen to their parent’s advice, they decided to talk to strangers.

BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos achieved the Holy Grail when they were able to hit Netflix’s 10% mark that was given as the threshold for victory. The most amazing thing wasn’t just that Netflix didn’t have a business relationship with this group prior to the contest. It was that the prize winners – from all backgrounds and disciplines and parts of the world– didn’t all know each other either. In fact, the first time BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos had ever physically been in the same place at the same time was when they walked on stage to collect their Ed McMahon style oversized check for one million dollars.

To a large degree, they were even strangers amongst themselves.

The X-factor for both BellKor’s Pragmatic Chaos and Ensemble was collaboration between diverse ideas. The top two teams beat the challenge by combining teams and their algorithms into more complex algorithms incorporating everybody’s work. The more people joined, the more the resulting team’s score would increase. In fact, teams that had it basically wrong — but for a few good ideas — made the difference when combined with teams which had it basically right, but couldn’t close the deal on their own. Ironically, the most outlying approaches — the ones farthest away from the mainstream way to solve the given problem — proved most helpful towards the end of the contest, as the teams neared the summit and final hours.

It’s all about the power of collaboration and its surprising ability to produce unexpected positive results.

As an entrepreneur, just imagine the ability to discover solutions to unsolvable problems. Being able to be a matchmaker of good ideas with the right people. Or the business opportunities that are invisible but waiting to be discovered.

If collaboration aka crowd sourcing among all entrepreneurs was nearly effortless, seamless and as remarkably focused as Netflix’s innovation contest, the possibilities are endless.

For Netflix, not only did they achieve their goal of improving their customer’s membership experience through better movie suggestions, but the company also uncovered new business ideas and unexpected ways to improve their overall business model. And they did it for less than the payroll they would have spent internally over the same period of time on the same engineers that had previously failed to produce the desired results. In fact, Netflix was so pleased with the outcome to this contest, that they have already launched another one.

So the next time someone says “don’t talk to strangers” - tell them you can think of a million reasons to ignore them!


Reed Hastings, Founder & CEO of Netflix from Arik Hesseldahl on Vimeo.