We’ve mentioned how one crucial component in the development of meebo has been our advisors. We haven’t, however, gone into just how critical they are!
We’ve been insanely lucky to have been surrounded with really great advisors from the start, even before we had the initial idea for meebo! As Elaine, Sandy and I were thinking through ideas, many of our close friends served as great filters. “So you wanna be an aircraft expense monitoring system? Right…” They also helped us to design the initial product and gave us spot-on suggestions on how to build a scalable system. The most important, however, was moral support!
Scott Epstein also started advising us before meebo launched. Scott is an absolute guru on consumer internet (he co-founded spinner.com) and also helped us think through the real benefit we’d be providing meebo users. We also quickly found Elizabeth Scheuring. Elizabeth has been a friend for years now and has her own PR firm, three-forty communications. Elizabeth has been incredibly helpful in advising us on how to communicate the benefits of meebo to folks interested in potentially partnering with us.
Once meebo launched and started to get traffic, we were lucky enough to be introduced to Zaw Thet. A classmate of mine from Stanford, Aaron Tolson, had worked with Zaw and suggested we chat with him. Not only did Zaw help connect us with others who’d later become advisors, but his advice going through the angel fund raising process was invaluable.
One person Zaw introduced us to was Auren Hoffman. Auren has built three companies, and he’s only in his early thirties! Auren has provided a bunch of advice, both when we were raising our series A (what deal terms are acceptable, what should the size of the option pool be) and in structuring meebo (benefits, company policy, etc.).
And then there’s our advisor who can pretty much say “been there, done that” to almost anything…Marc Andreessen. Marc, as a student, founded Netscape. Marc has insanely great insight on where technology is heading and an idea-a-minute on which direction meebo should take. In our first discussion with him, he came up with two fantastic ideas we’d never contemplated…WOW!
There are many more advisors. John, our lawyer. Roelof and Doug, the two folks at Sequoia who are involved with meebo on a regular basis. Saar and Ben, two GSB alums who constantly introduce us to fantastic people and who have insanely great ideas.
So as you all think about embarking on a project of your own one day, make sure you surround yourself with really great mentors and advisors. Without the help of so many people, meebo would never have gotten to where it is today.
Seth
[ comments ] [ past blogs ]
February 23rd, 2006 at 1:12 am
ddf
February 23rd, 2006 at 1:38 am
Meebo is such a useful tool!
Let’s spread Meebo on blogs!
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:04 am
i have been fallowing this one for quite a while now and i wud admit that it’s a real good stuff. i wish meebo saves the conversations as well and includes voice chats. keep up the good tech stuff any which ways.
cheers to the meebo team
viv
February 23rd, 2006 at 5:18 am
متاسفانه متدینین برخلاف حضور شکوهمند خود در جامعه ، در فضای وب حضور کمرنگی دارند و خیلی کم اظهار نظر می کنند و به این ترتیب دگراندیشان خود را بسیار بیش از آنچه هستند می بینند و می نمایند ؛ لذا از شما و دیگر عزیزان دعوت می کنیم که با ارائه نظرات ارزشمندتان ما را در راهی که برای بیداری جامعه مان در پیش گرفته ایم یاری نمایید.
کلبه اندیشه : http://montazerim.blogfa.com
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:33 am
It’s suprising that I keep seeing names mentioned that are aquantances of mine. I’ve played frisbee in a couple of tournaments against a few of you and went to high school with Zaw Thet.
No, I don’t really know any of you, but it goes to show how the internet is shrinking our world. Either that, or I spend too much time online reading blogs, which is entirely possible.
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:42 am
seems like a tough readthrough, but in the end it’s a good thing I did…
Don’t have business ideas, but service ideas nonetheless.
February 23rd, 2006 at 9:26 am
olá galerinha do mal….. hehehehhehe
February 23rd, 2006 at 10:02 am
y doesnt my buddy list show up..!!! it doesnt ever say whos on…….
February 23rd, 2006 at 10:39 am
fist of all you guys reading this article give me a inspiration im starting my hosting company with some strongs friends and what i read every day in the blog of meebo always inspire me to keep on goin what im doing even in desperated time thanks people you are the best and Meebo Ruleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee even i deinstall my msn chat and yahoo and use meebo everyday +) thanks folks for such great tools of comunication.
February 23rd, 2006 at 10:53 am
yeah meebo is pretty cool. its alot better than aim express or nething like that
February 23rd, 2006 at 1:22 pm
fist! good stuff.. great project. whoooooooooo
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:09 pm
hey…i cant change my profile on here. i think that would make this website just the better
February 23rd, 2006 at 7:58 pm
meebo is just awesome. i just got to know about this!! i love you guys. this really rocks.
February 23rd, 2006 at 10:00 pm
how can i edit the meebo account, to add or remove IM?
February 24th, 2006 at 12:17 am
Hi,
I have been using meebo for the past two months. You have launched meebo account. That is really good.
But, I have one very very simple advice.
The default cursor position when I open http://www.meebo.com is at AIM account. It would be really nice and convenient if you change the default cursor position to meebo id.
Thanks and Regards,
Hemanth.
February 24th, 2006 at 12:36 am
I really thank Meebo for their wonderful work.
February 24th, 2006 at 3:31 am
meebo is realy helpful in makin wonderful frnds.thanks “once again”fr launching such a wonderful site which brings closeness among each other.
February 24th, 2006 at 5:30 am
Thank you for giving this insight of the team. Interesting to read which kind of different people are needed to build up a strong business. Kinda hard to find those people here in Belgium as not many people are open to new ventures. Keep up the great work! Bart Claeys
February 24th, 2006 at 5:43 am
well this site ..i just found out at the moment n its really cool..i’ve been able to contact with the other fren in other countries…well keep it up ..thax
February 24th, 2006 at 11:02 am
ok when i log on to AIM sometimes it shows that everyone is offliner and they arnt and it pissing me off….whats wrong
February 24th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
Hi,
I am using this from one month.It is not possible to enter into a chat room and make it available.
Thanks &Regards
Hari
February 25th, 2006 at 12:18 am
nice tools, thanks :X:X:X
February 25th, 2006 at 1:17 am
I totally agree with Hemanth: please oh please, make the default cursor position the Meebo account, not the AIM account. It will do 3 things:
1. Make it easier for those of us who registered. (perks of registration)
2. Encourage users to register instead of moving the cursor off every time which will
3. Increase your user base.
So why not? Also, if its not a company secret (which it very well may be), what were the 2 ideas that Marc Andreesen told you in your fist meeting with him?
February 25th, 2006 at 10:11 am
Hello friends !*! I am Gavin . I Fine Meebo a usefull tool because meebo has some really good features.
February 25th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Are you guys able to se what I’m typing?
I have no clue, please let me know..
Thanks
February 25th, 2006 at 10:15 am
And If you wanna talk to me just post your mail to garri_mehrotra@yahoo.com I would be happy to hear from you
February 25th, 2006 at 11:13 am
I think meebo needs a remember me function for people who have accounts with you.
Gtalkr has that feature.
http://gtalkr.com
February 25th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I want some gtalk icon in the gtalk login
February 25th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Hey guys.. just discovered meebo. Keep up the good work
. Heh.. its good to know that small things can still do big things post-bubble 
.
Cheers,
- V
February 25th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Hey guys.. just discovered meebo. Keep up the good work
. Heh.. its good to be frequently reminded that small teams can still do big things post-bubble 
.
Cheers,
- V
February 26th, 2006 at 3:37 am
hi ther! just as you are lucky with your adisors, we, meebo users feel the same way. thank you very much
Keep up the good work
Mabuhay
February 26th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Oooh, some big names up there
Nice to know of the kind souls that helps meebo along =)
Thanks for the tip!
February 26th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
Just wanted to say that your publicity worked quite well on me. I read an article about Meebo in the WallStreet Journal. You might also want to consider partnering with other up-and-coming websites – for instance i found out about mailinater from the meebo blog. People who tend to search for cool programs like meebo or mailinater or bug-me-not tend to want to find other cool products like them. For instance, after seeing how cool Meebo was, I was much more willing to try out mailinater and bug-me-not.
thanks for a great program!
March 21st, 2006 at 2:02 am
hi
great job guys., i can even be online after i reach my office. but how to get in to the chat rooms with your messenger in the yahoo messenger.
i know you guys will find out a way
keep going your good work
Jubi
March 23rd, 2006 at 8:56 am
AI VC ! ! ! É O UNICO COMENTARIO BRASILEIRO NA PARADA ! ! !
V C VC PODE ME AJUDAR FRANCIS ! ! ! !
EU USO O MEEBO PQ AQUI NO MEU TRAMPO O MSN É BLOQUEADO ! ! !
E ESSE POR ENQUANTO NAUM BLOQUEARAM AINDA . . .
MAIS EU NAUM CONSIGO MUDAR O NICK NAME ! ! ! !
SE TÁ LIGADO COMO MUDA ??? SE PUDER ME AJUDAR AGRADECO ! ! !
FALO
AGUARDO RESPOSTA
ABRAÇO
March 26th, 2006 at 9:14 am
heyy everyone. have you ever been to NEW YORK. its all a dream come true. everyone is nice down here. did i say everyone? i meen MOSTLY everyone. but it is just sooo… i dont know how to explain it. but if i could… it would take all day.i thought i wouldnt like it at first but if you look back on all the things going on in the areas of the KATRINA victums it looks great. an even before that. i think that it dosent look to good in the winter. but it is the most beautiful thing you will ever see in the summer. so i would put seeing NEW YORK on the list of things to see before you die. cause i know it will be an expiriense you will never forget.
LOVE YOUR FRIEND, LISSA
March 28th, 2006 at 6:54 am
متاسفانه متدینین برخلاف حضور شکوهمند خود در جامعه ، در فضای وب حضور کمرنگی دارند و خیلی کم اظهار نظر می کنند و به این ترتیب دگراندیشان خود را بسیار بیش از آنچه هستند می بینند و می نمایند ؛ لذا از شما و دیگر عزیزان دعوت می کنیم که با ارائه نظرات ارزشمندتان ما را در راهی که برای بیداری جامعه مان در پیش گرفته ایم یاری نمایید.
کلبه اندیشه
March 28th, 2006 at 7:00 am
April 13th, 2006 at 2:57 am
Best !
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:30 am
MEEBO LOVES IT! I LOVE MEEBO MAXMUM PWNAGE N00B L33TAGE PWNALL NOOBS! MEEBO PWNS ALL!
W00T W00T
W00T W00T
W00T W00T
W00T W00T
L33T PWNAGE!! NOOBS!!
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:13 pm
oh i liked soooo much but i dont know what is thaaaatttttttttttttttttt!!! hahahahahaha
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:14 pm
i liked it sooo much but i donno know whtas that haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
December 11th, 2006 at 4:17 am
how can i use meebo?
July 4th, 2008 at 6:40 am
i think that would make this website just the better
August 5th, 2008 at 4:40 am
hi there
is it necessary to have a meebo account to use it ?
and if your answer is “YES”, how can i get it ?
thank you