Lesson plan

Snapvine

Snapvine was a Seattle, Washington startup company that specialized in providing voice-over-IP features for the users of social networks. The company was founded in 2005 by Joe Heitzeberg, who was the CEO of the company. In 2006, the company raised $2 million from the venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and First Round Capital. Russell Siegelman, a partner in the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and former Microsoft executive, personally invested in the company and sat on its board of directors. In July 2006, the company had six employees, 20,000 users, and had recently moved its headquarters to Belltown, Seattle. In 2007, Snapvine raised $10 million from the venture capital firm Bridgescale Partners. In September 2007, the company had grown to 18 employees, and its product had five million downloads on Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Hi5. Celebrities 50 Cent, Enrique Iglesias, and Vanessa Hudgens used Snapvine on their Myspace pages. Its software widget was used in 200 social networks, and its voice player was invoked 22 million daily by users accessing their accounts. Snapvine monetized its product by selling banner ads, as well as voice ads users must hear as a prerequisite to making and sending their own recordings to other social media users. According to TechCrunch, the company's competitors in 2007 were SayNow, Jangl, and Jaxtr.…

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Article summary

Snapvine was a Seattle, Washington startup company that specialized in providing voice-over-IP features for the users of social networks. The company was founded in 2005 by Joe Heitzeberg, who was the CEO of the company. In 2006, the company raised $2 million from the venture capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and First Round Capital. Russell Siegelman, a partner in the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and former Microsoft executive, personally invested in the company and sat on its board of directors. In July 2006, the company had six employees, 20,000 users, and had recently moved its headquarters to Belltown, Seattle. In 2007, Snapvine raised $10 million from the venture capital firm Bridgescale Partners. In September 2007, the company had grown to 18 employees, and its product had five million downloads on Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Hi5. Celebrities 50 Cent, Enrique Iglesias, and Vanessa Hudgens used Snapvine on their Myspace pages. Its software widget was used in 200 social networks, and its voice player was invoked 22 million daily by users accessing their accounts. Snapvine monetized its product by selling banner ads, as well as voice ads users must hear as a prerequisite to making and sending their own recordings to other social media users. According to TechCrunch, the company's competitors in 2007 were SayNow, Jangl, and Jaxtr.…

Key claims

  1. date of foundation: 2005 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. employees: 18 employees — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. employees: 25 employees — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of foundation is "2005". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the employees is "18 employees". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the employees is "25 employees". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1203562608

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.