Stardust Global Ventures

We’ve been big fans of location based services for quite some time now. We both think they’re a vital part of the future, but we’ve also had plenty of reason to think about the reality of LBS in our world, privacy concerns, and a number of factors that tie into the general concept.

We were early adopters of Brightkite a long time ago.  We had a few moments of “do we really want the world to know what restaurant we’re at” thoughts. While it’s a bit of a no-brainer for me, as a woman, Sheryl has the random whackaloon stalkers that show up every now and then. I remember an instance in particular that gave us pause to think about how we use those services, and how public to make the information. Brightkite never gained enough critical mass to really catch fire. I was seriously frustrated with it on our recent trip to DC, and have pretty much lost hope for its ongoing success at this point.

Before we move to the others, there’s a sidenote on privacy to consider. The devices we carry, from iPhones and Blackberries, to those we drive, and many we carry are all easily trackable. And these tracking devices can be used for a number of purposes beyond what we’re sold as consumers. For example:

• Did you know your EasyPass toll booth token can easily be used to issue speeding tickets? It tracks the time you pass toll gates, and if you exceed the speed limit, this information is easily passed to law enforcement. Yes, I’ve actually been in conversations where law enforcement agencies talked of this in terms of fully automated revenue generation that the consumer pays for.
• Your cell phone is a GPS device, and it tracks to a pretty fine granularity on the planet. And while the paranoid of the world rant about the boss knowing they’re on the golf course when they’re claiming they’re working, other uses have been explored. The automotive insurance industry has invested a great deal of consideration into mobile phone tracking for the purposes if dynamic insurance rates. Imagine exceeding the speed limit and having your coverage costs go up because your carrier monitors your location in realtime.

Privacy. It’s an illusion. You have no right to privacy. It’s not in the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. We have no right to privacy. It is an illusion. It’s a courtesy, non an inalienable right. The question with this sort of privacy, and Internet privacy in general is not whether or not we can be seen. We can absolutely be seen. The Internet sees all. Whether or not we’re being watched is a more interesting question that I’ll leave for the conspiracy theorists among us.

The reality is, our location provides good information to the world about us, and sharing it opens the door to the world giving us good information in return.

Google Latitude presented a great example of potential. I wrote about it here in February. I held great hope for Latitiude and a rise in LBS, but Google utterly failed to capitalize on the potential. I don’t see that as a permanent failure, but a result of the half-decade mentality at Google. IMHO, it takes a half-decade for Google to understand and fully exploit the value of the services they create and acquire. They may move a tad faster with voice (GrandCentral/Google Voice and now Gizmo), but only because telecommunications represents a trillion dollar revenue stream and the Googlemonster is always hungry for money. Latitude and LBS will take Google longer to leverage. As will Wave.

Some recent entrants in the fray include Gowalla and Foursquare. Sheryl looked at Gowalla. I didn’t bother because it is iPhone only. Not even the iPod Touch. It simply can’t work for me. I’m not invited. Foursquare is very iPhone friendly, but with a mobile web interface, and recent inclusion in SocialScope’s closed beta that we’re part of, it can be used on the Blackberry.

We played with Foursquare quite extensively on our recent trip to DC. We love it. And there are things about it I hate.

First and foremost, Foursquare today is a quirky, silly game designed for youngsters. And that’s attracting a very specific demographic. It’s also going to be the biggest single obstacle to mainstreaming Foursquare in the bigger market. If the three guys who put this neat little idea can wrap their heads around mainstreaming and seizing the market, and let go of any emotional attachment to the idea of being the mayor of donut house or whatever, they’ll have a winner with platform support and added cities.

Why? It’s simple. Foursquare leverages, and the out-Twitters Twitter. The idea of status update microblogging on Twitter hasn’t been fully embraced by the mainstream yet. It isn’t even close. But the underpinnings are penetrating everywhere we turn, and being adopted by the business world.

Foursqaure goes beyond that because it tells you where your friends are checking in and who’s nearby. That’s a huge winner if you drop the silly games and start applying it to business. Sales people and road warriors working on business will love it. Remote workers at Starbucks. Executives at dinner. It’s a winner. A big winner. Why, you ask? It’s simple.

That random chance encounter at a restaurant with a friend is cool. Make it with that client who I’m waiting for a contract and now you’re talking money in my pocket. The potential to seal a deal. Business.

It’s the Return on Investment (ROI) of sharing my location. It’s a revenue stream and a business reason. It’s the value I want.

I don’t give a rabbit’s fart to be the mayor of anywhere, but give me increased power in random and chance encounters that lead to business, and I’m in. And so are you.

Sure there’s lots of conversation to be had here. That’s just a conversation starter.

Foursquare team, you want help turning that game into a billion dollar valuation? Drop me a note.