BE is a mobile first parody social network; it’s a discussion platform where users impersonate as others anonymously.

1. Parody 2.0 mobile platform
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2. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
CONTENT
•Cracking user generated content
•What is Be?
•Use cases
•Power of impersonation
•Initial traction
•Why mobile?
•Team

3. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
CRACKING USER GENERATED CONTENT
•The key challenge for UGC platforms is to get users to create content.
•Start-ups that have cracked it by bringing a real world activity online while leveraging some deeply rooted human behavior have seen spectacular growth.
•In real world we express with our faces. Snapchat allowed people to convey their expressions better (as compared to emoticons) through selfies by leveraging ephemerality.
•Behind the back conversations happen all the time in the real world. Secret brought restroom gossips into the open leveraging anonymity.
•Role-playing and mimicking other people happen all the time in the real world. Be is an attempt to bring that way of storytelling online by leveraging impersonation (and derivative anonymity).

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WHAT IS BE?
•Be is a parody network, a conversation platform where users impersonate as others
•It liberates the storyteller by giving her the flexibility to step into the shoes of anyone and speak her mind
•The final output would be a conversation among people/ characters/ objects/ brands
•Conversations on Be are fresh and topical as people like to step into the shoes of the newsmakers, at global as well as social/ local level
•Controversies, polarity in point of view, meetings/ associations between famous people feed into the content
•PR is built into the model as some of these stories will become popular and be picked by the media / social media/ influencers
•It gives structure to all the conversation humor (boy -girl, boss -subordinate jokes) and also leave scope for readers to participate
•Lets everyone think and speak like the celebrities/ experts
•Why be anonymous when you can be Barrack Obama?

5. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
USE CASES
•Trolls
•Now there can be an Alia Bhatt in every network. One mistake will set the foundation of a genre.
•Misquotes
•The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you never know if they are genuine. -Abraham Lincoln
•Dude, I never said half the shit people attribute to my name, lolz. -Mark Twain
•Add your spin.
•Expert comments
•Anyone can be a film critic by Be’ingFilm Critic
•Parody conversations
CA Your ex wife has demanded 400cr as alimony, it turns out to be 8 lakhs per night for 14 years.
Alia Bhatt What’s alimony? Did Suzzannemean Alia Money?
HrithikRoshanKhali haataayethhehum, khalihaathjaaenge?
CA Badlalenahaitohapplication daaldo RBI mei, Rs100 crkecoins le letehai, baakichequede dena
Rakesh RoshanDumb blonde can't count for shit, this can be fun. Maybe I can save some for Krissh4 funding
SRKMy Chennai express crossed 250cr, my CA told me I made 45 lakhs per day during the shoot.
AamirKhanMy Dhoom3 crossed 500cr

6. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
POWER OF IMPERSONATION
•Storytelling has always been about impersonation
•Storyteller thinks and speaks from the perspective her ‘characters’ (tortoise, hare, etc)
•Impersonation is deeply rooted in human psyche
•Right from Role Play games during childhood (Doctor, Teacher) to MMORPGs
•Real life is full of use cases of impersonation
•Mimicry is one of the oldest form entertainment; stand-up comedians often impersonate to create humor
•Thousands of parody accounts on Twitter (@GSElevator, @BoredElonMusk, @TheTweetOfGod)
•Online satire magazines like Onion.com, TheUnrealTimes.com
•Fake FB walls have become a popular way to communicate non-linear interactions
•Historically authors have used pseudonyms/ pen names (Mark Twain, JK Rowling, George Orwell)
•People participate in Model United Nations (MUNs) worldwide and the delegates impersonate premiers of various countries
•Fake Wikipedia site Unwikipediahas 30,000 detailed pages
•Liberating the user
•Impersonation is not just about making it interesting
•It is about allowing the user to be what she is without the burden of the image that she needs to maintain

7. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
INITIAL TRACTION
•Seed the platform with topical, even controversial, content
•Hyper-local focus
•Concentrate on one college initially
•Make parody stories out of influencers and popular/infamous characters there
•Strong pull for non-users
•Usually one does not have a motive to join a network till the critical mass is on it
•On Be, if someone has commented impersonating as me, I have a strong reason to go and set things right for myself
•This helps in users (as well as influencer) acquisition
•Gamificationof the entire content creation
•Your rank in your network/ city on the ‘Be interesting’ scale
•Most impersonated people in your network
•Keywords associated with a character

8. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
WHY MOBILE?
•4 billion smartphones
•Typically people check their smart phones 150 times a day
•Always on internet, always accessible, it’s the go-to device
•Let’s just say that the opportunity that mobile offers is monstrous, bigger than anything we have seen

9. STAPLE MEDIA LABS
TEAM
Diversified team
Complimentary skillsets
Covers all aspects of the business
Strong pedigree
Rich relevant experience
Worked together for 30 months
AMIT SINGH
Product
Director at Jabong; built JabongWorld
VP at Axis PE; instrumented 5x exit
IIT Delhi 2002, XLRI Jamshedpur 2006
DEEPANSHU MALVIYA
Front end technology
Product & Marketing at Jabong
Hacking at Yahoo
IIT Kanpur 2006, ISB Hyderabad 2010
ANOOP CHUGH
Content & Constructs
MTV
Columnist
Delhi University
NEHA SINGH
User Experience
Head, Design & Branding, Oyo
Asian Paints, Amar ChitraKatha
NID Ahmedabad 2007
HARSH PODDAR
Back-end technology & Data
Technology, Jabong
BITS Pilani2010
YATIN GARG
Distribution
Digital marketing, Jabong
MBA 2012
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
COPY WRITER

10. Thank you
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