by Yori Nelken on October 5, 2010
We recently announced that MerchantCircle acquired TimeBridge. There aren’t many days when there is such a clear mark in the road. Today is such a day.
A few years ago I founded TimeBridge while an entrepreneur in residence at Mayfield, a venture capital firm, determined to help make the lives of busy professionals better by streamlining their scheduling process. At that time, the world was almost completely on Microsoft Outlook. Google Calendar hadn’t been launched. Macs still ran on PowerPC processors– no Windows software ran on them. There were no iPhones nor Androids. Seems like decades ago right?
Well, the landscape changed a lot since then and we changed with it. We chucked our investment in the product we launched at Web 2.0— a thick Outlook client. We redesigned it to rely less on Outlook (which is tricky) and capitalize on an increasingly complex calendaring environment and a more web oriented world. So we hunkered down and built a new version of our application that tapped into Google Calendar and the increasing use of Macs in the workplace. That confluence was a natural extension of our service— and one that held great promise for growth. We built a product, technology and a business that I’m very proud of, but as with many things in life we found need to evolve further. Enter MerchantCircle.
Ben Smith, founder and CEO of MerchantCircle, and I have been friends for many years and I’ve long admired the incredible network he has built for small business owners and the tools that have helped enable those merchants to spread their message. One of the key components that MerchantCircle had not made available to its network yet was scheduling. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of running any business, organizing your customer’s appointments or even better, providing your customers an online mechanism for them to schedule themselves. And that’s the vision for our unification, to build that interface that both merchant and consumer can use to book their hair appointments, tire service or house cleanings, all through your MerchantCircle listing.
We have a new opportunity to take what we’ve built as a calendar assistance to professionals, to a broader audience and extend our platform in brand new ways. The MerchantCircle team has taken on a bold vision to power local merchants’ business— acquiring TimeBridge is part of that. I’m excited to be part of the MerchantCircle team and know that together my vision for TimeBridge will now come to fruition but with an exciting added twist helping to power an even greater community.
To that end, I have decided to stay aboard with MerchantCircle assuming the role of Chief Technology Officer. This will allow me to keep TimeBridge running smoothly for the 600,000 plus existing users as well as engineer the integration with MerchantCircle.
FAQs
With that we know you all have had a few questions. We’re posting answers here and will update as needed.
What is going to happen to my TimeBridge service?
Your TimeBridge service will stay the same. You can keep using it just as you do today. If we do make any changes, we will definitely keep you informed.
What does MerchantCircle do?
MerchantCircle is largest online network of local business owners. They have brought over 1.3 million businesses online to help them build better relationships with their customers. We think it’s really cool that they are a champion for the little guy competing against the large, big-box stores. They have been very successful at building a large community and revenue base. We’re excited to help keep that momentum going.
Why did MerchantCirlce buy TimeBridge?
MerchantCircle is looking to add new services for their customers. We’ll be building something brand new using our technology and team. We have become experts on how to bring people together and we’ll be applying that to help consumers find time with local merchants.
Stay tuned…
You can check back here for updates or keep an eye on your email. We’ll send out news as it happens.
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by John Stormer on June 24, 2010
So we’ve been tracking progress on our 45-minute meeting movement. The results are dramatic. Get the full scoop here. The title quote is a reference to the 37Signals philosophy to get you oriented toward making a real difference. That’s what gets us going here at TimeBridge!
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by John Stormer on June 18, 2010
What do TimeBridge, Evernote and Remember the Milk all having common–besides being three of the Internet’s most popular application providers of course? Well as of today we all, along with other terrific productivity applications, will be available through AppSumo’s comprehensive new Productivity Bundle.
We are always looking for creative partnerships to expose more people to the power of TimeBridge to improve meetings from scheduling to post meeting wrap-up, and now through AppSumo you can get TimeBridge Plus services and try out some terrific new apps all for one very low price. For a limited time you can go now and sign up for the AppSumo Productivity Bundle and get 1 year of Plus service with us + 5 other awesome web apps for only $55! Try it and embrace the productivity.
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by Yori Nelken on June 2, 2010
If you ever encounter a problem or question while using TimeBridge, we want to know about it right away and guide you through. This is why we monitor Twitter, blog posts and keep an eye on our own servers to make sure everything is running A-OK.
This is also why TimeBridge Plus now offers “Live Support” – a chat feature that connects users with a virtual help-desk to trouble-shoot and walk-through any issues you might be experiencing. The Live Support option is found in the upper right-hand corner of your browser screen within your TimeBridge page. Upon clicking the Live Support option, a window will pop up, initiating the chat session. From there just ask questions and we’ll work to resolve your issue quickly.
Further emphasizing our commitment to customer care we’ve also just promoted our own Tomer Ben-Dor to Vice President of Customer Service and Quality Assurance. And why do we do all of this when so many offer you just “sink of swim” frequently asked questions and static support? We do it because its important, and a critical part of making your meetings better.
So feel free to send us your questions, we’re listening – live!
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by Yori Nelken on May 19, 2010
With our Google Gadget, Google Calendar connector and launch-day presence in the Google Apps Marketplace, we know it’s pretty obvious that we’re big Google fans here at TimeBridge. Today we’re in the Developer Sandbox at Google I/O and with it we’ve announced the upcoming availability of – count ‘em – two Google Wave Gadgets, the TimeBridge Conferencing Gadget and the TimeBridge Scheduling Gadget. This Gadget combo brings TimeBridge’s popular meeting tools right into Google Wave, and is the first-ever opportunity for users to socialize their availability right into the Wave and more effectively collaborate within their Wave workspace.
With the Scheduling Gadget for Google Wave, teams can:
- Share availability from each participant’s Google Calendar, Apple iCal, or Outlook calendar, within Wave,
- View the details of personal calendars in Wave,
- Propose up to five meeting times,
- Vote and see each Wave participants’ responses in real-time,
- Confirm a meeting time and notify attendees within the Wave.
Not to be outdone, the TimeBridge Conferencing Gadget lets teams jump on free dedicated conference lines and Web conference URLs for immediate discussion around projects. We’ve got great conferencing offerings and the gadget seamlessly drives teams from independent and asynchronous tasks to the the more collaborative stages of team projects which is so natural to the Google Wave environment.
We’re very excited about being included in Google’s Developer Sandbox! The Conferencing Gadget is ready to go so check it out now in the Gadget Gallery in Wave. And Wave is now completely open as Google announced today. Our Scheduling Gadget has yet to be released into the wild. If you’re interested in participating in the private beta to that let us know in the comments below.
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