Storeboard’s 2018 investor deck presents a hybrid platform combining elements of a business directory, social network, and e-commerce marketplace. The company argues that individual business websites are 'islands' that are difficult to update and market. Their solution is a standardized profile that aggregates products, services, reviews, and social links into a searchable network. The deck highlights early traction with 16 licensing deals closed in 2014 and a diversified revenue model spanning licensing, premium packages, and targeted advertising. While the deck provides a clear product visi…
Key takeaways
- The platform positions itself as a solution to the 'island' problem of standalone business websites, offering a free, standardized profile for easier navigation (Slide 2).
- Storeboard utilizes a freemium model, offering basic visibility and chat for free while charging for marketing, vendor, and e-commerce solutions (Slide 3).
- The company demonstrated early B2B traction by closing 16 licensing deals in 2014 with organizations like COAL and Rock Products (Slide 5).
- Product applications extend beyond individual businesses to shopping centers and malls, allowing for real-time push notifications to nearby consumers (Slide 6).
- The market opportunity is defined by 150 million businesses worldwide, with 23 million located in the U.S. (Slide 7).
- Valuation potential is benchmarked against 2018 figures for Facebook ($500B), LinkedIn ($26B), and Yelp ($3.63B) (Slide 7).
- Revenue streams are highly diversified, including licensing, premium packages, social media services, product sales, and targeted advertising (Slide 8).
- The deck lacks a specific 'Ask' slide or a detailed breakdown of the management team in the provided selection.
Deck Overview and Strategy
The Storeboard investor presentation from February 2018 is a product-centric deck that attempts to bridge the gap between local business directories and social media platforms. The core thesis is that the traditional small business website is an inefficient 'island' that costs too much to maintain and fails to capture community traffic. Storeboard proposes a centralized network where every business has a uniform, feature-rich profile that is easier for consumers to navigate and cheaper for owners to manage.
Slide 1: Title Slide
The cover slide introduces the company name, Storeboard.com, and the tagline 'Innovating Search For Businesses, Products, and Services.' It is dated February 2018. The branding is clean, though the tagline is somewhat generic, focusing on the utility of search rather than the social or community aspects emphasized later in the deck.
Slide 2: The Value Proposition of the Standard Profile
This slide uses a comparison table to contrast a traditional 'Website' with the 'Storeboard Standard Profile.' It identifies six key advantages: navigation, sharing, cost, marketing, interaction, and updates. The deck claims that while websites are 'Time Consuming' and 'Stand Alone Like an Island,' the Storeboard profile is 'Easy,' 'Free,' and 'Part of a Broader Community.' This is a classic 'Old Way vs. New Way' slide intended to establish the necessity of the platform.
Slide 3: Product Features and Freemium Model
Slide 3 provides a visual mockup of a profile for 'Metro Shelving Products.' It lists the components of a 'Complete Profile,' which include descriptions, products, images, videos, blogs, promotions, services, events, PDFs, menus, social links, and 'raves' (reviews). The slide also introduces the business model, categorizing features into 'Freemium' (visibility, reviews, chat, conferencing) and 'Premium' (marketing, vendor, and e-commerce solutions). This slide effectively shows the depth of the product but lacks a clear UI/UX hierarchy.
Slide 4: Customer Feedback and Social Proof
This slide focuses on 'raves' or customer reviews. It features a screenshot of 'Bubbas Handyman Service' in Richmond, VA. A large arrow points to the metric '44 customer reviews or raves.' The dates on the reviews shown are from late 2012 and 2014, which, for a 2018 deck, might suggest a lag in recent data or a reliance on older case studies to prove the concept of social interaction.
Slide 5: B2B Applications and Licensing Traction
Storeboard moves beyond the individual business to show how its technology can be packaged for larger entities. It highlights three applications: Shopping Centers, Directories, and Advertisers. Crucially, this slide provides a hard metric: '16 licensing deals closed in 2014.' It lists logos for COAL, Rock Products, and Lobos Services as partners. This is the strongest evidence of product-market fit in the deck, though again, the data is four years old at the time of the presentation.
Slide 6: Shopping Center and Mall Application
This slide elaborates on the mall-specific use case. It features a directory map and a list of stores (e.g., Grand Central Terminal). The key features highlighted are the ability for consumers to 'View Products on Store Shelves' and for shops to use 'Push Button Notifications' to reach nearby customers. This positions Storeboard as a 'hyper-local' marketing tool, moving it closer to the functionality of apps like Foursquare or Yelp.
Slide 7: Market Opportunity and Valuation Benchmarks
To justify the investment, Storeboard points to the global market of 150 million businesses (23 million in the U.S.). It then lists the valuations of major social platforms as of January 30, 2018: Facebook at $500B, LinkedIn at $26B, and Yelp at $3.63B. The implication is that Storeboard, by combining elements of all three, has a high valuation ceiling. However, the deck does not provide a current valuation for Storeboard itself or a specific financial projection.
Slide 8: Revenue Sources
The final slide in this selection detail six revenue streams. These include Licensing Services, Premium Packages, Social Media Services, Product Sales (a marketplace similar to Amazon), Targeted Advertising (PPC/Impressions), and Affiliate Sales/Joint Ventures. The mention of partners like Regus, Staples, Chase Bank, and UPS under affiliate sales suggests a strategy of targeting the small business back-office spend, though it is unclear if these are active partnerships or intended targets.
What Works in This Deck
Clear Problem/Solution Fit: The comparison table on Slide 2 clearly articulates why a small business owner might prefer a platform profile over a standalone website. It hits on the pain points of cost and technical difficulty.
Diversified Revenue Model: Slide 8 shows a sophisticated understanding of how to monetize a platform. By not relying solely on advertising, Storeboard demonstrates multiple paths to sustainability, including B2B licensing and e-commerce.
Specific Use Cases: The inclusion of the mall application (Slide 6) and the handyman case study (Slide 4) helps investors visualize exactly how the product functions in the real world.
What Is Missing from This Deck
Recent Traction Data: The most specific traction metric provided is from 2014 (16 licensing deals). In a 2018 deck, the four-year gap is a significant red flag. Investors would want to see 2016 and 2017 growth metrics, active user counts, and current revenue.
The Team Slide: The provided slides do not include a team slide. For a platform attempting to compete in a crowded space against giants like Yelp, the pedigree and technical capability of the founders are critical factors that are omitted here.
The Ask: There is no mention of how much capital the company is seeking, the valuation of the current round, or the specific milestones they intend to reach with the funding.
Financials and Unit Economics: While revenue sources are listed, there are no historical financials or projections. There is also no mention of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or Lifetime Value (LTV), which are essential for platform businesses.
Founder Takeaways
Update Your Traction: If you are pitching in 2024, do not use 2020 metrics as your primary proof of growth. It suggests the business has plateaued or that you are reusing an old deck without new successes to report.
Avoid 'Valuation by Association': Listing the market caps of Facebook and LinkedIn does not make your startup worth billions. It is better to show your own growth rate and how your specific unit economics will scale to a large market.
Focus on the 'Why Now': Storeboard's argument about websites being 'islands' was strong in 2018, but in the current era of Linktree, Shopify, and Instagram Shops, the competitive landscape has shifted. Founders must explain why their specific aggregation model is superior to the current ecosystem of easy-to-use social commerce tools.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Storeboard's primary value proposition for small businesses?
- Storeboard argues that traditional websites are 'time consuming' for customers to navigate and 'difficult' for owners to update. Their 'Standard Profile' offers a free, easy-to-update alternative that integrates social sharing, customer reviews ('raves'), and e-commerce tools within a larger, searchable community, effectively reducing the marketing isolation of a standalone site.
- How does Storeboard plan to generate revenue?
- The company outlines six distinct revenue sources: licensing their technology to directories and shopping centers, selling premium feature packages to businesses, offering social media management services, taking a cut of product sales via a marketplace, selling targeted PPC or impression-based advertising, and engaging in affiliate sales with partners like UPS and Staples.
- What evidence of traction does the deck provide?
- The deck cites that Storeboard closed 16 licensing deals in 2014. It also showcases a specific use case for a handyman service in Richmond, VA, which had accumulated 44 customer reviews or 'raves' on the platform by late 2014, suggesting active user engagement during that period.
- How does the platform cater to shopping centers and malls?
- Storeboard developed a specific application for malls that allows consumers to search for products and view store shelves digitally. A key feature is the 'Push Button Notification,' which enables mall shops to send promotional specials directly to the smartphones of consumers located in or near the physical mall.
- What are the main competitive benchmarks used in the deck?
- Storeboard compares its 'Standard Profile' advantages directly against traditional websites. For valuation potential, it points to the market caps of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp as of January 30, 2018, suggesting that Storeboard occupies a similar social/business intersection with significant upside.
