SimpleFeed Helps Clients Boost the Value of RSS Feeds
Date : 25 Sep 2008 Category : Technology
NewsFactor NetworkAfter seeing an XML button on The New York Times Web site a few years ago, Mark Carlson started thinking that companies such as The New York Times could benefit greatly from such a service. "I knew a lot about XML from other start-ups and I played around with it and figured out that they could offer RSS feeds of their content for customers," says Carlson, who co-founded Los Altos, Calif.-based SimpleFeed with Alik Eliashberg (the company's executive vice president and CTO) in June 2004.
"The fundamental thing was that you can subscribe to content without providing an email address," says Carlson, SimpleFeed's CEO. He previously served as CFO at First to File, an enterprise software company. He was also the founder and CEO of Walk Softly, Inc., an Internet privacy firm. "[Walk Softly] offered some of the first software that allows you to control your cookies," says Carlson. "We positioned it as Internet protection software. So maybe it was that privacy bug that made me look at RSS and how you didn't have to provide an email address."
Startup Facts
SimpleFeed was created as a solution for companies that wanted an effective way to get their messages to customers. Ensuring customers' privacy was an added bonus. "I looked at it and thought it was going to be a great way for companies to get their information out to customers directly, and that it would work well because not having to provide an email address makes it a lot easier for people to opt-in for information," says Carlson. He and Eliashberg took their idea on the road and pitched it to potential customers. The first to show an interest was VMware, which was on...