Startup Revolution

SoLoMo Nightmare

I came home to see water seeping into my garage from my house. A leak in a downstairs half bath has done some serious damage and may be doing more now (if it is in the wall). 

I look for a plumber stating with Angie's list. Bad Experience because the search algorithm is stiff and pitching a strange set (probably those paying the freight to be at the top). Every plumber has an A review and putting in people I know about was only a fifty fifty shot to find anything at all. 

 Where Is The BEAUTY? FUN?
 I'm confused. We've got Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook and looking for a plumber is a hair's difference from using the yellow pages. I moved from Angie's LOST List to Google and Yelp reviews. 

If Angie's LOST List seems rigged and inauthentic Yelp and Google have no scale. I tweeted and asked friends on Facebook if anyone knew of a good plumber. My friend Kate saved the day with a great recommendation.

I Want A New Drug!

Here is the problem in my head we are already working in the predictive real time of Web 3.0, but the reality of this brutal plumber search makes me wonder why an army of startups isn't thinking about social reviews like the one Kate just provided. 

Social reviews can be very brief because they come from such trusted sources (friends). Kate should have been rewarded for her immediate and high quality thought. Instead her great idea disappeared into Facebook's either. Where is the tag cloud when you need it? 

I Want A New Drug!

Call me crazy but the process of finding a plumber should be beautiful. I'm using this beautiful Tumblr feed again, the Poetry Of Material Things to point out that a sad truth.

The problem is US. We lack the imagination to mashup scaled systems to produce, reward and scale a reviews / recommendation engine that provides beauty, immediacy and support. Why? Because we can, because we HAVE a new drug called the Internet. 

If you are a startup or so inclined and have already spent some mental cycles on this let's grab lunch. If I can't fund you I know people who can. Tell me the story of how looking for a plumber can be beautiful and fun and you have the proverbial million-dollar idea.