Mystar.com is a platform that aims to bring talent competitions into the modern age by allowing grassroots artists to upload content, build followings, and become stars based on the number of "ups" they receive from viewers. The site has exceeded expectations with over 800 uploads by 600 artists and 200,000 unique visitors in just 5 months. It is working because it focuses only on promoting new artistic content simply and puts the artists first, unlike traditional talent shows. The team now wants to increase traffic to 1 million visitors and partner with a TV channel to create shows using Mystar content.

1. My Star
From talent show to grassroots
content platform

2. A few basic truths
We ALL have dreams of fame
We ALL deep down think that we could be the next big
thing
We ALL love to judge other people
We are ALL narcissistic

3. This is why talent shows exist
Believe in the dream!
Take your chance!
Anybody can try
Judge people
Pick the winner

4. Fact: talent shows are one of the
most profitable, scalable business
models ever invented.

5. But talent shows aren’t delivering
on their promise anymore
Not truly open: participation involves significant efforts. The
application process discourages most potential participants (fill in
forms, stand in the queue for hours, get humiliated in front of
snooty judges…). Openness is a façade.
Not democratic: reliant on a group of judges that are part of the
“system”. These shows perpetuate a model but can’t bring forth
new original artists.
Slaves to entertainment: “reality TV” aspect impacts these shows’
artistic value.
Not adapted to the social media age: these shows still follow
traditional media paradigms (highly scripted, reliant on ads for
revenues, audience as passive content consumers, “oligarchic”
structure with all powerful judges…).

6. 5 months ago, we launched
Mystar.com to bring talent
competitions into the modern age
Mystar.com was launched with a simple vision: provide a
platform on which grassroots artists can upload content
and build a following.
 Create your artist profile
 Upload your videos or audio files (partnership with Vimeo and
Soundcloud to maintain quality standards)
 Find great artists, follow them and give them your vote
through the “up” function
 Artists classified according to their talent: 3 key categories:
song, dance & comedy with further sub-categories (Ex: pop,
melodic, indie rock…)

7. What is Mystar.com
There are 2 dimensions to Mystar
Talent show: completely democratic, virtually no barriers to
entry, pure focus on artistic value of content. Build your
following and get the most “ups” to become one of the
stars of Mystar.com
Video/audio content platform: get access to fresh, new
artists. Find content most suited to your taste through
rankings and advanced search filters (Ex: artists from my
area, artists liked by my Facebook friends etc…)

8. The results
What started as a simple experience has exceeded our
wildest expectations.
 800 uploads by 600 artists (123 audio files and 677
videos)
 200.000 unique visitors
 Press coverage all over the place (Tech Crunch, Rude
Baguette, Le Figaro, M6…)
 Artists using Mystar as a springboard to mainstream
success
- 10 singers have signed CD deals
- 3 comedians have started touring

9. Why is Mystar working
Mystar is working for 2 reasons
Focus: Mystar is purely focus on promoting great grassroots
artistic content. Our platform only features high quality
uploads and all of its features are designed with the artists
in mind. This sets us apart against a generalist video site
like Youtube.
Simplicity: because Mystar is only about grassroots artistic
content, our platform is incredible simple to use. No clutter,
no useless features. Just you and the artists.

10. Where we want to take this
Key objective 1: increase site traffic
We have reached over 200.000 unique visitors with minimal
advertising. We want to double down on social media marketing
to drive site visits. Our objective is to reach 1 million unique
monthly visitors in 6 months.
Key objective 2: find partnership with TV channel
Mystar represents a formidable reservoir of talented artists. We
want to work with a major TV network to create TV show that
leverages Mystar content.

11. Our team
Judith Maersteirn – founder and business development manager
An amateur singer, Judith got the idea for Mystar after months of
unsuccessfully using Youtube to promote her self produced
album. An artist at heart, Judith used to work in the marketing
team at Musees De Paris.
Rupert Blookfempf - CFO
Rupert used to work for the dark side of the force at Endemol,
selling reality show and singing show concepts to major TV
channels in northern Europe. He has an in-depth understanding of
this most evil of industries and jumped on the chance to create
something that was truly relevant for artists with Mystar.

12. Our team
Moussa Saoui– lead product manager
Moussa previously worked at Vimeo as a senior product engineer
in charge of streaming optimization and analytics. He brings to the
table his experience in online video and is the main force ensuring
that Mystar works smoothly.
Leo Li – UI manager
Straight out of school, Leo is in charge of managing Mystar’s visual
interface and ensuring that the Mystar box matches the content.
He has previous experience as a design at ad agency Fref & Farid.