Jeremy Toeman Finds a Traditional Business Model in a Web 2.0 World
These days it's all about making your free web site "go viral" right? Maybe that was the all-too-common business plan in recent years - but many people were uncomfortable with that vision at a time of relative economic well-being. You can imagine how crazy such a plan sounds now.
Well-known PR pro Jeremy Toeman has started a business you'd hardly recognize as part of an era of YouTube clones, yet it is dependent on that very world of free, prolific, user generated content. Legacy Locker is a new service that stores your passwords to important services like email and social networks and delivers them to a caretaker in the event of your death. The company charges money and has a real-world market channel primed to resell its services. It's something we think many web entrepreneurs could find inspiration in.
Now that "social media" has been around for a few years and has grown past its stereotypical demographic of teeny-boppers, families are starting to learn that there's no easy solution for accessing online communication channels used by deceased loved ones. Email addresses for contacts that would like to be notified of a death, photos that family members would like to export from online accounts and balances of cash sitting unclaimed in online services like PayPal or eBay are just a few examples of the kinds of assets that are all too often lost upon a death. Toeman was inspired to start the company after being unable to access important online accounts held by his own grandmother, a prolific web user, after her passing.
It's a clearly defined, widespread and very real need that Legacy Locker is aiming to fill. There's also an apparent lack of anyone else in the market serving this need. How many other startups can you name that fit that description? There's nothing wrong with other companies trying to compete in serving a market demand that is only beginning to emerge (that's what most "web 2.0" startups are probably doing) but there's really something to be said for Toeman's approach, too.
For a $300 one time fee, or $30 yearly payments, Legacy Locker will store usernames and passwords to important accounts you hold around the web. The company doesn't store media files, though it may in the future, but it does offer features like delivery of a last email to loved ones. Legacy Locker releases digital assets to predetermined caretakers once a report of a death has been received, an email to a customer hasn't been returned and the company has been sent a death certificate to its physical office. From asset release to security, Toeman says his company is taking lessons from the life insurance and banking industries.
Sure there are workarounds to accomplish the same storage of information, but Toeman believes there will be a significant number of people who want this service provided by a company that specializes in it. We suspect he is right.
Legacy Locker's go-to-market strategy is to reach out to will and estate planning professionals, who will bundle the company's services into their offerings to their clients. Toeman says there are 25,000 estate planning professionals in the US serving 12.5 million people who have set up a will or estate. Given the cost of estate planning, an extra $300 (plus markup in some cases) to preserve family access to digital assets is not at all unreasonable.
At the same time, the company's service and storage requirements are simple enough that Toeman says there is very little risk of Legacy Locker ever going out of business.
It sounds like a great combination to us: disruptive technology has created a widely felt new need, no one else is serving that need, the solution offered can be sold for a fair price and there's an existing market channel waiting to carry it to customers.
Starting a business as a digital undertaker of sorts might seem macabre, but looked at as a business we think Legacy Locker is a sound idea. We wonder how many other real business ideas like this will spring from the chaotic world of free user generated content.
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I definitely think they have identified a need in the market (prepaid digital cemetery) ... but $300 and no media files? Get out!
Making a big deal out of nothing. Another service can do the same thing for less money.. I just scheduled an email to be delivered 10 years from now. How is this company able to verify if the person died or not? If the next of kin know nothing of the services the person that died used, how would they know to request it from this company? I'm assuming if I passed away, and stopped payment no one would get my passwords ? Anyways maybe they have all these questions answered, I would not use it, Ill leave a usb key with my lawyer. Much easier.
Cease, USB key with your lawyer may not be as easy to keep updated with change passwords, etc. as a web interface. to each their own though.
Yes, there's free alternatives to this such as just keeping it all on a USB drive and storing it with your living trust, but I do think there are people who would prefer this service, especially since new Web apps and services pop up daily.
Legacy Locker could be a hassle-free option, and an alternative to having to continually update your USB drive/key and drive it over to your safe deposit box or wherever you keep your living trust and other sensitive data.
I think it's a great service and something a lot of people probably don't think about and haven't prepared for. It's a good reminder to us all to make sure we have this in place so whoever handles our affairs after we're gone isn't face with hunting for all this data and money residing in the cloud.
@Marshal and @Miiko
Yeah I think its a good idea to leave all your sensitive data in one place to some startup with no prior reputation. Sorry for the sarcasm. I think putting all your sensitive information in one place is sort of scary, but again if its just like a myspace, or facebook password, is it really worth $300.
you know its a good idea, my father passed away and I was unable to get his paypal account back, He was a big ebayer and its thought he had about 1000 in it and lets just say paypal were less than helpful wanting stuff that we don't need to prove someones death in the uk. The banks and insurance companies were fine with a death cert but not paypal.
anyway this would have been good if he had used it.
Miiko, I don't think those are the only two options. At GoEverywhere (which is currently free in the beta testing mode) allows a user to store their important documents, files, and all of their username/passwords under one login ID on their online personal webtop. This way it’s accessible from anywhere. This may be a another option - just leave your GoEverywhere username/password in your will.
Also check out http://VitalLock.com a forthcoming similar yet consumer oriented service that supports media and client side encryption.
I think that any new creative idea is good! and if every time I told someone my cool new idea they shot it down I would stop telling them. I think its great and I want to here more.
The banks and insurance companies were fine with a death cert but not paypal.
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For business blog networks , a hybrid approach definitely makes sense. Business blogging is about engaging prospective clients for new business by providing useful and timely information.