Blist Brings Bling to Databases and Spreadsheets
Written by Marshall Kirkpatrick / February 20, 2008 5:00 AM
/ 8 Comments
Blist, a darling of the DEMO 08 conference, is announcing this morning that they have raised a $6m "A Round" of venture capital. Who knew that spreadsheets made social = big investments? That's what they do, they make database information and spreadsheet social.
Wonder at their uninspired blog, wonder at their nerdish CEO's executive background at Microsoft and Smith Barney but more than anything wonder at their DEMO video - embedded below. All the marketing issues aside, this company can wow a crowd with interface alone. Now they've got institutional backing to support their attack on a still-too inhospitable market, at least in the consumer software space.
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Cool, looks like another great tool is coming out. Thanks RWW.
http://www.itrush.com
Posted by: ITrush | February 20, 2008 6:32 AM
Their technology is great, but the idea of a "social spreadsheet" makes me feel a little urpy. It'd be hard to imagine a more antithetical phrase ;-).
Although...Numbers is a friendly spreadsheet, I guess. Blist might be onto something here.
Posted by: Scott A. | February 20, 2008 6:36 AM
I think they're onto something, especially for us non-spreadsheet, non-database-friendly people. I mean, we're word guys -- we need tools like this! Congrats to Blist. They were the first ones to pitch me in the hotel lobby at DEMO, soon after I checked in. And, as it turned out, they made my top-picks list after all was said and done.
Posted by: GraemeThickins
|
February 20, 2008 9:06 AM
Hey Marshall,
We missed you at DEMO - we kept hearing about Marshall sightings, but somehow didn't get a chance to talk to you.
We're proud of what we've built so far, but as you point out, we know there is a ton to do going forward in order to take blist far beyond the basic online spreadsheet use case.
Thanks,
Mathew
blist
Posted by: mathew johnson | February 20, 2008 9:40 AM
They should get someone to stand up for them at these events, or the Chief should get some coaching. That is one stiff fella.
Posted by: Alan Wilensky | February 20, 2008 10:34 AM
@Alan,
It's me "one stiff fella" - Kevin Merritt. I know I was a little stiff at DEMO. There's nothing like 6 months of preparation and pressure boiled down to 6 minutes of stage time to tighten you up. It was also literally the unveiling of our company and our product. How about if you give me a mulligan on this one and catch my performance on March 20th at Under the Radar? If I'm still stiff, I'll heed your advice and hire a coach or turn the presentation reins to someone more lively.
Cheers.
Posted by: Kevin Merritt | February 22, 2008 1:28 PM
Great product, but needs a better name I think.
Posted by: Philip Tellis | February 23, 2008 11:28 PM
Excited to see a flexible database web app. The interface is slick and it is flexible as you'd expect with a web app.
I think one place they can greatly improve the interface though is the starting point. The reason that most databases are run in Excel is that most people don't think they are making a database when they begin - thinking about column types, forms and whatnot - they simply begin typing. I think the Blist interface would be greatly improved if it started with some sort of blank grid where you can simply start typing in data and then intelligently suggest ways to better structure that data.
Great job to start though. Excited to see how it evolves.
Posted by: Jason Reneau | February 25, 2008 8:04 AM