Vator.tv Frequently Asked Questions
- How can Vator.tv help me?
- How do I start using Vator.tv?
- Should I make a company profile or a service provider profile?
- What makes a compelling video pitch in your company profile?
- What makes a compelling video pitch in your service provider profile?
- Can I add as many videos and rich-media documents as I want?
- Does my video pitch have to be in the context of pitching a VC or investor?
Or can it be a demonstration of the product, or a pitch for employees and service providers I need? - How can I improve my profile?
- Can I create more than one company profile?
- How do companies get featured?
- How do I and why should I invite someone to follow my company?
- What is the difference between being connected and having followers?
- Can I remove a person as a follower or as a connection?
- How can I keep a company profile private?
- How do I change my personal information?
- How can I change my email address and/or password?
- Can I delete a comment that I have written on a company profile or a news post?
- Why and how do I join a competition?
- Why should I interact with the community?
- How do I find partners/employees?
- How do I market my customers?
- How can I become a Vator contributor in the newsroom?
- Why the name Vator.tv and who is behind this company?
Vator.tv is a place to discover and follow startups and where others can follow yours!
As a registered user you can:
- Follow: Keep tabs on startups easily from a single dashboard.
- Connect: Message potential employers, employees, partners, investors and/or other entrepreneurs.
- Be the VC: Determine which companies should be separated from the pack through your votes, ratings and comments.
As an owner of a startup company you can:
- Separate from the pack: Build a following and stay in front of them through ongoing updates to your company profile.
- Be in the news: Let us know who you are so we can feature you in our newsroom. Do you have news to share? You can also break your own news.
- Find: List your partner or employee needs.
- Compete: Become one of the dozens of companies that have already won recognition, prizes and access to top corporate buyers, VCs, and media organizations by participating in a competition.
- Present: Showcase your company in video, PPT, PDF, images or just text.
How do I start using Vator.tv?
- First register.
- Confirm your registration from the email sent to your email address.
- If you want to create a company profile for your company, just click "Startup company" and follow the steps. You do not need a video, but only company profiles with videos are featured. Click here to see how Peter Thiel (founder of Paypal and FoundersFund) recommends how to construct your video pitch.
- If you want to create a profile for your angel group/VC or a service you’d like to offer startups, create those profiles.
- Invite people to follow your company, angel group/VC or service by clicking "Invite followers".
Should I make a company profile or a service provider profile?
If you have a company, such as a new web 2.0 company that is seeking to be listed in our growing directory of companies, or if you’re seeking employees, partners or funding, you should create a company profile. If you are providing a service to help startups build their companies, you should use the "service provider" section. Service providers are typically attorneys, accountants, web developers, etc.
What makes a compelling video pitch in your company profile?
Note: These are just suggestions. Be creative, but professional!
- No more than 3 minutes.
- Be original.
- Demonstrate your value proposition.
- Make it entertaining, but professional.
- Explain the market size/opportunity.
- Tell us why you are better than your rivals? (And don't say you don't have any!)
- How are you going to make money?
- What was the original need that sparked the idea?
- What if it fails?
- What milestones have you achieved since you started?
Click here to see Beatboxing founders from Buzzd. Now that’s original!
What makes a compelling video pitch in your service provider profile?
Note: These are just suggestions. Be creative!
- No more than 3 minutes.
- Be original.
- Demonstrate your value proposition.
- Make it fun and entertaining.
- Avoid interview style presentations (boring!).
- Why are you better than your rivals? (And don't say you don't have any!)
- Share your background and experience, i.e. past companies.
- Talk about your fee structure.
Can I add as many videos and rich-media documents as I want?
Yes. We encourage people to create and upload as many videos as they want to better convey their story. Your company profile is a resource for people who look to Vator.tv as a directory of dynamic company profiles. You should keep it up to date with the most recent videos about your company. You should also provide PPT, PDFs, or anything that you feel best conveys your story.
Your videos must simply convey your story. In fact, many CEOs/founders or their publicists or marketing directors post demo videos. Some post videos pitching about the types of employees or services they need. That said, we encourage founders/CEOs to create a traditional "video pitch" for their company profiles because it is a way for others to hear their story in their own words. Moreover, many people look to Vator to learn how to pitch.
The more information you have on your profile, the more comprehensive it is. Additionally, you can make your profile rich with information by making visible Google News/blog feeds as well as traffic data from Compete and Alexa.
Can I create more than one company profile?
You can create new company profiles for completely different companies. If you have additional information/updates about your company, you should post that update to your company profile.
How do companies get featured?
- Only company profiles with videos get featured on the homepage and newsletter. Company profiles with videos are more likely to get written up in the newsroom as well. Vator.tv also frequently features the companies that have a large follower base. Our rationale is, if you have a lot of followers interested in your company, we think the rest of our community will be interested in your company too. Therefore the more followers you can gain for your company, the more likely it is that the Vator newsroom will cover you. High ratings and a lot of comments on your profile will also increase the chances of being covered.
- Your Vator profile can be used to break news in the Vator newsroom. No longer do you need to contact an editor to be on the front page of a newsroom. Just post a comment and it will appear alongside your company profile in our newsroom. It's a great way to leverage your company profile.
- If you have any breaking news or items you'd like to share before it's announced, just contact newsroom@vator.tv and let us know what your story is. We honor embargoes.
How do I and why should I invite someone to follow my company?
How?
Go to your company profile and hit "Invite followers" button on the very top, next to "edit company data" link. Then select from the different options for inviting people to follow your company.
Why?
- Your followers can also have "admin/edit" status, so they can update the company profile when and if you don’t have time.
- Followers can easily keep tabs on your company from their my vator dashboard.
- Having a large base of followers is a reflection of how popular you are with the community or how much interest you’ve sparked among the community.
- Having a large base of followers can get you featured in the newsroom or in the Vator newsletter.
What is the difference between being connected and having followers?
Followers are people keeping track of companies
Within Vator, only companies can have followers. Followers are people who want to know about the progress your company is making.
Connections are between people
Connections are people you are linked to personally.
Can I remove a person as a follower or as a connection?
You can remove people from following your company by editing your company profile. Once in your company profile edit mode, go to your company "followers" section, where you can add or delete people.
You can disconnect with people by editing your personal profile page. Once in your personal profile edit mode, go to your "connections" section on your profile page, where you can add or delete people.
How can I keep a company profile private?
You can choose to show your company profile with the entire Vator.tv community or you can choose to keep your company profile private by setting it to private. Go to your company profile page and hit "Profile settings", which is next to "Edit company data." You can then invite people to follow your company while it’s in private mode.
How do I change my personal information?
You can change your name, age, and/or add to your personal information by going to "user profile" in you’re my vator dashboard. Hit "Edit your profile" tab at the top of profile page.
How can I change my email address and/or password?
Your e-mail address is found under "account settings" at the top right-hand corner of the page, or the left-hand navigation bar in your my vator dashboard.
Can I delete a comment that I have written on a company profile or a news post?
You can delete the comments you made.
Why and how do I join a competition?
Vator runs competitions all year long. Companies such as Zivity, Moli, ThumbPlay and Delight Design are past winners of the ongoing AlwaysOn/Vator competitions. The prizes are substantial, ranging from access to corporate buyer and venture capitalists and opportunities to present in front of hundreds at the AlwaysOn conferences.
To join a competition, just go to the specific competition and hit "participate".
Why should I interact with the community?
Our community wants to interact with your company. Be prepared to receive comments from the community from questions about your product or just reviews. Be open to them and dialogue with the community. Feedback is always good.
How do I find partners/employees?
Place your partner or employer needs in your company profile. Many job seekers and business development executives are on Vator cruising the profiles looking for the perfect job or perfect partner. Be specific about your needs.
Create company profiles for your customers so they can get exposure to the Vator community. If you’re a PR firm, create company profiles for all your clients. If they’re already on Vator, be connected and get admin/owner rights so you can keep the profile up to date. If you’re an investor, encourage your CEOs to be listed in Vator’s growing directory of company profiles.
How can I become a Vator contributor in the newsroom?
To become a contributor, go to the newsroom and hit "Become a contributor". You will automatically have publishing rights and your own channel. Go to the newsroom to learn more. If you’ve not registered to Vator, go to the newsroom and hit "Learn more".
Why the name Vator.tv and who is behind this company?
We know some are asking: Why the name Vator.tv? The name came from "elevator", as in "elevator pitch", which is used to describe a brief overview of a startup company delivered in the time span of an elevator ride.
Vator.tv is located in San Francisco, CA. It was launched in June 2007 and is funded by angel investors, including Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Richard Rosenblatt, former Chairman of MySpace, Paul Buchheit and Georges Harik, former Google executive who helped build Google's AdSense technology.
Bambi Francisco is Vator.tv co-founder and CEO. She was a syndicated columnist and correspondent covering internet and emerging technology trends an investments across the public and private sectors for Dow Jones MarketWatch. Vator.tv is an extension of Bambi's passion to give investors an edge by exposing opportunities at the earliest stages. This is a focus she's had throughout her career. In 1995, Bambi created, launched and produced three shows for CNNfn, one of which was "Capital Ideas," a show on innovation focusing on IPOs and deals.
Cyril Brignone is Vator.tv co-founder and CTO. He was a Senior Scientist and Project Manager at Hewlett Packard Laboratories. He led an international team developing new location based services and he managed the HP RFID research. Cyril has 9 granted patents and 18 in process. Vator.tv is an extension of Cyril’s passion to enable innovation and help innovators to make their ideas real.
