Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

2. Tell me a little bit about the unique notion of security through obscurity, and why you use URLs instead of passwords.

Today's securities measurements are so extreme. Often is the case that security can be achieved through methods of simple privacy.

If people don't know what to look for, they don't know how to find it. It's the difference between buried treasure and a safety deposit box. People rob banks because they know there is money there. People find buried treasure only if they have a map.

We base it all on a unique URL, and you are the only one who knows its there. It's up to you to tell someone where it is. If that isn't secure enough for you there is a password. We will also be releasing a very interesting privacy and access method at the Web 2.0 expo.

3. There are a lot of unique tech integrations with the application. How do you decide where to go next? And how much of it comes your users?

We have a vision, inputs, outputs, access and screens. We do respond to social media and internet usage trends. But ultimately it comes back to what problems are people having with what's available and how do we provide them with a better solution?

Our user insight comes from a variety of sources. The most constructive and best comes from Twitter, which is our primary outreach channel. We use Get Satisfaction as our customer service tool. We respond to user issues and bugs, and we are very happy to here feedback. What happens is that a conversation starts in a channel and we will get an idea.

4. How do you balance simplicity with being a flexible robust tool with lots of integrations?

It's a constant debate here everyday. Sam, the CEO, and I have very heated debates, on whether something is user centric or tech centric. If we were only a tech lead company we would only appeal to a small market. Who is going to use it?

If you use 20% of what we build, that's great. If you use 100%, then you really understand. We are offering more life hacks than anything else that is available. This is really for people with work flow issues - but workflow isn't a very consumer-centric word, is it?

We provide people with publishing systems that are completely customizable. One of our power users is an F1 enthusiast blog, who started using us for podcasts and storing all their images. Now, they are using us for direct publishing. They can take a photo at a race track and get it out to subscribers.

You have to look at every feature, how is it going to be used by the general consumer or someone seeking workflow solutions? We prioritize feature develop based on that.

5. How do you see this appealing to a more mass audience?

I truly believe it is an empathy lead product. You won't understand it until you see it used by someone in your shoes. It's the same marketing challenge with Slingbox, you don't understand you need it until someone shows you what they do with it, and why.

My job is to build understanding, appeal and generate trial. The biggest challenge that we currently face is that users don't realize they need Drop.io. Once they find that "aha" moment, their sharing begins.

The first time someone sits down to publish 50 pictures of 3rd grade class on Flickr, you understand why Flickr doesn't work. Will everyone on Flickr see them? Are all of my friends even on Flickr? What about people that are already my friends that shouldn't have access to these photos? Flickr has done a good job to solve this problem, but guestpasses aren't understood by everyone.

It used to be that publicity had a cost. You had something and you wanted attention. Cost of getting attention is so low now, you want privacy. The expense is not in taking picture, now the real issue is me taking pictures and assuming the responsibility for your image and participation in my photo. Where is the new value? I own the picture and I now own your reputation. The new cost isn't publicity, it's privacy.

All these things come up. I need a solution to just put them up and share them with people I want to and not worry about user accounts. We solve cross network sharing issues. You can share it with anyone who wants to see it. It's dead simple sharing.

6. Right now there are no social features. Is this something you will be looking to add in the future?

We have nothing against social. We are trying to help you share, only share differently. Drop.io has zero identity and registration requirements and every drop has a unique URL. If you choose to share it, that's up to you. You can publish your assets wherever you wish or keep them shared with only whom you select.

What people really like about the service is you can set your drop to expire. When you take a bunch of pictures, they should go away after a while. It's the karaoke curve. Those pictures loose their value after 72 hours. You have 2 iconic pictures that live on forever and the rest just fall away.

Just get the Firefox plug-in. The next time you are on a call or in a meeting, drag the files you want to share over and a new drop is created. It's faster than e-mail. It's sharing at the speed of communication.

7. What have been the most interesting uses of Drop.io that you have seen or heard about?

It's been a real natural for real estate. They buy drops in bulk, and we give them 100s of codes. They start by putting all their paperwork in the drop, disclosure documents, heavy paperwork, and now they print cards with the drop address. Next goes up photos and video walk-throughs of the home they are selling. As they move to a contracted buyer, they put a password on the drop. The buyer then controls the drop and can share it with contractors and insurance agencies.

Bands have been using it to keep in touch with their fans. It's great for touring acts as they can send photos from the road, voice mails from their phones, and put some music tracks up there. Anything that is in your drop can be downloaded through iTunes. And the next time I hook up my iPod, it downloads into there.

8. Where do you see this evolving to in the next year? Five years?

I do think we are building the ultimate system for sharing - for both personal and for business. Whether it's in 1 year or 5 years, it doesn't matter. Our goal is to get people to rethink the way they people share and to give them tools to give way to do it most efficient and private manner.

Marta Strickland