Yep, It's Porn - StreamHer.com Takes 2nd Place at Entepreneur Idol

Ask anyone, I love to pitch.  It's exciting, you get immediate feedback, and an adrenaline rush - what's not to love? Last night at NWEN's Entrepreneur Idol, I pitched an idea which my husband and I have been discussing over the past couple weeks: live streaming adult content, like Ustream -- but for porn (which is against Ustream's TOS).  It all started when I complained on Twitter that Lovers Package is like going to WalMart to purchase erotic toys and video.

First of all, I should probably point out that this product is in the concept stage and no development work has gone into it at this point.  I could easily cobble together existing software to create a prototype site with a couple models, but I'm enjoying marketing the idea and talking to a lot of people right now - particularly women.

What About Zivity? They're Featured on TechCrunch A Lot

I checked out Zivity (link is NSFW), hadn't heard of them until last night (might be a failure of their marketing since I think I am their target market - or at least my husband is), and the site has black background... which sent warning bells ringing immediately for me... bleagh, but I digress. More disappointing that some of the aesthtics (although they are devoid of ads, which is nice) according to Compete.com the site's traffic is pretty flat, and not doing that much better than Seattle 2.0:

I hear they are founded by a woman, it would be great to figure out what is (or isn't) working for them.  Compare this to forthegirls.com (NSFW) which is targeted directly at women

I've Heard the Porn Industry is HUGE

Yep, you heard right.  Huge and losing money like any other media industry, due to the proliferation of free amateur content on the web.  According to an article in yesterday's Austin Chronicle (Austin is a hotbed for sex workers, if you didn't know), "The porn industry, according to the best estimates, makes four times what Hollywood makes".  That's a lot of money, I'm not even sure how much. Wikipedia says:

The sex industry earns as much as $13 billion a year in the United States and has been credited with driving technological advances in popular media , such as home video and DVD, pay-per-view, live streaming video and video on demand

For a startup, a big market is actually a big problem.  How do you approach it?  Where do you start?  How do you get enough attention to your site and cut through the noise?  I figure if I pursue this, it would be great to start with a market that is under-served, and familiar to me, women.

Imagine a site that has content similar to what you might read in Cosmo's "70 Ways to Excite Your Man" or "10 Positions to Try Tonight", except that you have video content, an anonymous persona, and you can see live demonstrations of the positions, preferences, or toys suggested - and you can ask questions.  Of course, experts in various niches would emerge and could become well-paid affiliates for specific products.

What Motivates Me

Personally, I'm excited about developing the business model and providing an awesome content distribution platform. I've spoken with several women who either run in home pleasure parties (like Tupperware for sex toys) or write online reviews (or create educational content) and they're making good money, but have plenty of complaints about the technology and ability to re-use what they've created to generate as much revenue as possible.  One thing that I am learning as I talk to more women is just how many different preferences there are, and how many different needs can be served (definitely a topic for another post).  It's not even about being wild and crazy, it's mostly about feeling confident and sexy with their partners - or even by themselves.

I've been asked if I'll be producing video of my own, or if I already have an online persona in the porn world, and the answer is no to both question.  I won't say that I'll never do it, but frankly I think there are so many talented and ambitious models and actresses out there looking to reach a greater audience, that I'll leave that to them for now.  Will I watch?  Sure!

What's Next?  When Can I Watch?

I've got a honey-do list for Kevin to get started on while I get back to work on what I actually do for a living, which has nothing to do with this.  If you've signed up for the beta list you'll receive an email from me once and awhile about our progress and invitations to test out features as they are released.  Be patient with us, it could be awhile.