Vermont’s next biggest business venture has nothing to do with maple syrup or ice cream – that is, unless you want to share a picture of it. Ello is the newest social networking website sensation that was founded in Burlington, Vermont. Dubbed as the “anti-Facebook,” Ello is a social networking website that mirrors Vermont’s own decree against billboards dedicating itself to being completely and totally ad-free. With a minimalist design platform, Ello is, as its slogan states, “Simple, beautiful, and ad-free.”
On Ello, users can bump friends into two different categories: “friends” for people with whom the user is closer or interested in following and “noise” for everyone else. Currently, users can only post text or pictures, but creators have said that video and audio capacity is coming. It has a reputation for being the artsier, hipster version of Facebook and has been called a “Twitter-Tumblr hybrid.” Ello designers say that the website was created “to display large images beautifully.” Unlike other social-media websites, Ello tolerates users posting pornographic images, but asks that users flag their posts to warn those who do not wish to view it.
In the last month, Ello saw its user popularity soar. The spike in popularity was mostly credited to the rift between Facebook and the drag queen community. In September, Facebook disallowed drag queens to hold accounts in which they did not use their legal names. As a result, drag queens, much of the LGTBQ community and their supporters started flooding Ello, which allows users to create a profile under whichever name they want. “We embrace the LGTBQ community … including their adult-oriented content needs,” CEO Paul Budnitz said.
The network is invite-only and at its peak in September, Ello was receiving 40,000 user requests per hour. The website’s booming success has caused the creators to slow the number of new users. Creators of the website say that this is partly to keep up with the overwhelming activity the site has seen, but also to echo the idea that Ello is not meant for everyone.
“We don’t want every person in the world to be on it, so we don’t have to design for the lowest common denominator,” one of its co-founders, Lucian Föhr, said. Currently, those hoping to gain access to the website can only do so if they are invited by an existing user. These invites were in such high demand that they were being auctioned on eBay for a whopping $500. The website has picked up national attention as Budnitz has been interviewed by several prominent business magazines such as Forbes, Fortune, and Bloomberg.
While Ello has triumphed with its users, business elites have questioned Ello’s ability to remain a for-profit company. The question is how Ello will make any money without advertisements. Ello plans to be a “freemium” social network, which means that users will be able to add on features for a small fee of one to two dollars. Ello users can personalize their homepage through these features, like buying an app on an iPhone. Just last week, Ello legally filed as a public benefit corporation (PBC). As Budnitz puts it, the moves to become a PBC lets Ello “embed a cause in our charter that the company has to consider on par with making money.” That means there will never be any ads, nor can a future buyer ever change their mantra. Along with their promise to be ad-free, the website also states in their mission their view against data mining.
“Every post you share, every friend you make and every link you follow is tracked, recorded and converted into data. Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold … we believe there is a better way. We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to coerce and manipulate – but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life,” says their manifesto.
So what does Ello mean for Vermont? Ello began with $435,000 from FreshTracks Capital, an investment company out of Shelburne, Vt., that works with New England businesses and has since raised $5.5 million for Ello. Budnitz said that they will continue to accept from investors, but only those who share his philosophy. Budnitz is already a well-known name to entrepreneurs in Vermont. He currently runs Budnitz Bicycles and Kidrobot out of his Maple Street, Burlington office.
“Paul is the perfect type of person that we love to see found Vermont companies,” commented Lee Bouyea, the managing director of FreshTracks Capital. “We invested in Paul and his team because we believe in their ability to grow a successful company without the billboardization of this media platform.”
Why not try Vermont’s own social networking site? User requests are currently so backed up right now that requests usually have to wait six to eight weeks to be accepted, which is plenty of time to change your mind. For a quicker alternative, Ello invite prices on eBay are now selling for only five bucks.
Ello, the “Anti-Facebook,” Soars Out of Burlington
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