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Union Square Ventures Leads $3 Million Round in Moot's Startup, Canvas

31 points| bproper | 15 years ago |betabeat.com | reply

20 comments

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[+] AndrewWarner|15 years ago|reply
The article doesn't seem to have a single link to the site or to any other site except its own.

http://canv.as/

[+] hugh3|15 years ago|reply
Ohh, so that's what it is. I've been hearing about it, and never actually bothered to figure out what it does.

So... it's a fancy lolcat generator?

[+] ltamake|15 years ago|reply
On an unprofessional note, Canvas is basically 4chan for hipsters.

But Poole's growth of this startup is incredible. I do enjoy the product occasionally, but it's definitely a game changer for messageboards.

[+] dreamdu5t|15 years ago|reply
Game-changer for message-boards? In what way, exactly?
[+] hugh3|15 years ago|reply
Isn't 4chan for hipsters just 4chan?
[+] hristov|15 years ago|reply
I wonder if somebody went back in time to the early 00s and told the kids from something awful that their photoshop Fridays would eventually inspire a business with a 3 million startup investment, what they would say.
[+] dreamdu5t|15 years ago|reply
How will Canvas generate revenue? Is the investment purely about unique views/traction?
[+] bproper|15 years ago|reply
Union Square Ventures has made a lot of big bets on big networks of highly engaged users without a clear biz model. Tumblr and Twitter are the most obvious.

Course, they sold a stake in Twitter on secondary markets already...

[+] scythe|15 years ago|reply
In his recent reddit AMA, moot mentioned that Facebook logins would stop being mandatory for Canvas in the future. That would probably expand the userbase significantly, but I'm guessing anonymous users are less likely on average to pay for things.

On a side note, hopefully this won't interfere with the future of 4chan. It's a favorite of mine.

[+] bproper|15 years ago|reply
So the FB login is just to set the tone among the early users? Maybe they switch to a Disqus model, with a couple options for identity.
[+] dolvlo|15 years ago|reply
That's good news on all fronts, except I'd like to point out that anonymous users will not always be less likely to pay for things.

The economic catastrophe hit disproportionately hard the age demographics of 4chan, and this in turn has manifested an entire generation of people unwilling (unable) to spend money on anything but necessities.

As the economy recovers, these people will eventually get decent jobs (I am an example of this) and will have money to spend. In the last month, (now that I have blow money) I've bought multiple items from J-List mainly due to their continued support of 4chan over the years. Thanks for supporting one of the last truly great communities on the internet, J-List.