TechCrunch Startup News - Custom feed builder Graze is building a business on Bluesky, and investors are paying attention
Graze is a startup that allows users to create custom feeds on BlueSky, a decentralized social network. It offers tools for building, customizing, and managing feeds, and is exploring monetization through advertising, sponsored posts, and subscriptions. Graze's growth has been rapid, driven by BlueSky's increasing popularity, which added 23 million users in the past year. The platform allows users to create their own algorithms and moderation controls, offering a democratized social media experience. Graze has tested sponsored posts and plans to introduce private feeds with subscription options, aiming for a 30-70 revenue split with creators. The startup respects privacy guidelines by not targeting ads based on personal data, instead focusing on feed-specific interests.
Key Points:
- Graze enables custom feed creation on BlueSky, allowing users to build personalized algorithms and moderation controls.
- The platform is exploring monetization through ads, sponsored posts, and subscriptions, with a 30-70 revenue split for creators.
- Graze's growth is fueled by BlueSky's popularity, which gained 23 million users in a year.
- Ads on Graze are not targeted using personal data, adhering to privacy guidelines, and are identified by hashtags.
- Graze plans to launch a creator marketplace to connect brands with relevant feeds.
Details:
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2. 🚀 Graze's Explosive Growth and Innovative Approach
- Graze is allowing feed creators to monetize through advertising, sponsored posts, and subscriptions, providing a clear monetization pathway for BlueSky.
- Graze is closing an oversubscribed pre-seed round of funding, reflecting strong investor confidence and interest.
- The platform has achieved rapid growth, transitioning from no traffic to hundreds of thousands of unique users daily, with tens of millions of content impressions, primarily through word-of-mouth marketing.
- Graze's innovative approach to monetization and user engagement positions it as a valuable asset in the evolving social media landscape.
3. 🔍 Graze's Founders and Their Journey
3.1. Founders' Historical Context and Expertise
3.2. Current Endeavors with BlueSky
4. 🔧 Building Custom Feeds with Graze
4.1. Graze Features and User Experience
4.2. BlueSky's Growth and Platform Comparison
5. 💸 Monetizing BlueSky Feeds with Graze
5.1. Customization Capabilities of Graze
5.2. Monetization Strategies with Graze
6. 📈 Ads, Subscriptions, and Revenue Sharing
- The startup has tested sponsored posts by using hashtags to flag ads, as there's no differentiation method within the product.
- Advertisers propose sponsored posts with a specific number of impressions, but feed operators must consent, maintaining 100% editorial control.
- Graze sets an initial CPM rate guidance of $1 to $3, which is a quarter of the cost on other social networks, with comparable click-through rates and engagement.
- Ads respect existing privacy guidelines by targeting based on feed topics rather than personal data, e.g., a cat food brand targeting a cat-focused feed.
- New tools will allow for private feeds and subscription payments, with a 30-70 revenue split favoring creators, similar to the App Store model.
- Graze will facilitate a creator marketplace to align brands and feeds, launching next week.
7. 👥 The Graze Team
- Graze is a Portland-based company with a team of three members, indicating a small, agile team structure that can quickly adapt and make decisions.
- Front-end developer Andrew Lozowski is a team member located in San Jose, highlighting remote collaboration capabilities within the team.
- The roles and specific contributions of the other two team members are not detailed, but understanding these could provide insights into the team's dynamics and operational focus.
- Further information about the team's overall mission, goals, and how they leverage their small size for strategic advantage would enhance understanding.
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