Reevoo

We have written about Reevoo (CN Coverage) several times in the past year. Today is an exciting day for the company as they move out of Beta and additionally launch a brand new Web design.

Richard Anson, CEO, sent over the following additional updates about the new Web site:

• aggregated content and articles on specific products
• an algorithm to rank the best products
• a summary of a products strengths and weaknesses
• a new homepage that we hope will clearly get across the message about the authenticity of our reviews

Reevoo is a UK based company that provides "trusted reviews." Reevoo already boasts over 90 million reviews! They receive customer lists from some of the largest retailers and then contact the customers for the review. This assures you that when you read a review on Reevoo, it comes from someone who actually owns the product. This is different than say Amazon who lets anyone review a product and could be affected by the company trying to keep a product's rating high.

In addition, the new Web site will help push customers back to the same retailers. Check the Reevoo FAQ for more info about how they collect reviews. I look forward to Reevoo invading the U.S. and other countries as this is (so far) the best review model out there.

Congrats to the Reevoo team for moving out of Beta. I am sure there will be a celebration in London tonight!

Day #3 in the CenterNetworks Startup Tips Month comes from Richard Anson of Reevoo.

Richard's Tips

1. Write a business plan, whether or not you are seeking investment.
2. Get as much feedback from people as possible - ideas are cheap, its the execution thats tough, so dont be too concerned about others stealing your idea.
3. Develop a team of advisors/NEDs to provide objective, critical and constructive feedback and support.
4. When you raise money, ensure it is smart money - ie your investors can add value and support to the business over and above their investment of cash.
5. Surround yourself by positive can do people - both inside and outside the business.
6. Finally, dont expect things to be easy, enjoy the highs (they will be huge) and persevere through the lows (you will have them).

Richard Anson is CEO and co-founder of Reevoo which is rapidly becoming Europe's largest provider of impartial, genuine customer reviews to leading retailers including Dixons, Currys, Jessops, Orange, Comet, and Woolworths. Richard is passionate about the power of real-world reviews. Prior to founding Reevoo, Richard was a senior strategy consultant at KPMG covering the technology space, was previously interim Head of Group Planning at Orange, covering 22 countries, and was on the small deals team managing investments up to £5 million at 3i. He has a PhD and MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.

Reevoo, a reviews site that is based on the "trusted review", has received $5 million in funding. We reviewed the site this summer and thought it was a brilliant way to handle reviews to reduce Fraudulent reviews.

Richard Anson, Reevoo CEO, commented; "We are delighted to have the Eden team backing us. They have an outstanding track record. Their investment will allow us to enhance our service for existing retail clients, move in to new sectors and develop Reevoo.com into the definitive place for people to choose what to buy. Fake reviews are unfortunately a growing phenomenon, and we founded Reevoo to help retailers, manufacturers and consumers combat this. There is a plethora of sites out there today where it is just too easy for book reviews to be written by the author, hotel reviews by the proprietor or product reviews by the manufacturer. Ultimately consumers will lose trust in these sites and we’ve built Reevoo to help people choose what to buy based on real, genuine, confirmed reviews."

Reviewed on August 23, 2006