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1.<br />
Checkthis<br />
Founded by Frédéric della Faille of web<br />
agency Bureau 347, Checkthis is a micropublishing<br />
platform that allows anyone to<br />
instantly publish and share webpages, its<br />
strength lies in its open-to-all policy and its<br />
superb minimalism: no set-up or registration<br />
is required and the interface couldn’t<br />
be any simpler. <strong>The</strong> platform can be used<br />
for anything from selling items and writing<br />
open letters to sending out event invitations<br />
and posting job adverts. Having just won<br />
Seedcamp in London, at the time of going<br />
to press the team w<strong>as</strong> currently making its<br />
c<strong>as</strong>e for world-domination in San Francisco,<br />
pitching to the likes of Apple, Microsoft and<br />
Four Square. Why is it number one? Because<br />
everything from its purpose, its technology,<br />
its name and its design spells success.<br />
checkthis.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> start-up special<br />
buSiNeSS To coNSuMer<br />
2.<br />
Kicktable<br />
Imagine you’re a f<strong>as</strong>hion photographer and<br />
your girlfriend cooks a mean truffl e risotto.<br />
You like what you do, right? And chances are<br />
people might be willing to pay a little to spend<br />
an evening in your studio, learning the tools<br />
of the trade. Well, Kicktable allows you to do<br />
just that. Billed <strong>as</strong> a community marketplace<br />
for unique experiences hosted by p<strong>as</strong>sionate<br />
people, ‘hosts’ can upload all types of experiences<br />
(recent ones have included a presentation<br />
by a duo of former bankers turned<br />
hot-dog makers, or a beer-t<strong>as</strong>ting session followed<br />
by a brewing workshop), in the belief<br />
that experience-seekers will take them up on<br />
their offer. B<strong>as</strong>ed on what you experience and<br />
not what you own, Kicktable puts p<strong>as</strong>sion at<br />
the center of its platform, allowing its users<br />
to make their urban lives that much more<br />
enriching. Experiences are the future people,<br />
and Kicktable is too, trust us.<br />
kicktable.com<br />
3.<br />
Twusic<br />
75<br />
Allowing users to build their own radio<br />
station at the click of a tweet, Twusic aggregates<br />
your #nowplaying h<strong>as</strong>h tag into a custom-made<br />
playlist, enabling your followers to<br />
listen to what you’re listening to and discover<br />
new music along the way. Its strength lies in<br />
its simplicity, meaning users do not need to<br />
register on multiple platforms, have their listening<br />
times limited nor put up with different<br />
restrictions per country. Although we would<br />
have probably opted for a different name and<br />
put more attention to detail in the interface’s<br />
design, the technology behind the platform<br />
(Twusic’s algorithm converts a mind-boggling<br />
2.5 million #nowplaying Tweets a day into<br />
music videos and additional information such<br />
<strong>as</strong> artist biography and tour dates), there’s no<br />
doubt in our minds that this is a winner.<br />
twusic.com
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