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Pinspire

A virtual pinboard that enabled users to organize and share visual web content.

Categories

Web, Content, Pinboard, Virtualization,

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Reasons for Shutdown

Lies and Manipulation

Astro-turfing, dummy accounts and falsified giveaways.

Tech blogger Mike Butcher reported that Pinspire staff has allegedly been caught deleting, hiding, and removing pins, re-pins, comments, and likes which all rank a user for giveaways through Pinspire.
Butcher says they have discovered evidence of people with Pinspire email addresses astro-turfing other blogs, “asking for coverage in return for cash payments and gifts of iPads.”
Butcher agreed that most interest in the company was from the company itself, noting that “a search for 'Pinspire' on Twitter reveals that the vast majority of mentions for the site were by Pinspire-run Twitter accounts.”
The company had done some backpedaling, by restoring the hidden content and pointing to automation rules, but much of the site was populated by dummy accounts, and there were allegations that consumers that won the giveaways are not actually alerted.

Strong Competition

Pinterest was growing faster than Pinspire.

Pinspire's US role model, Pinterest, was simply growing too fast for the German clone to have a chance to gain global relevance.

Poor Business Model

Pinspire was an imitation of Pinterest.

Combined with Samwer's aversion to social models, this made Pinspire unattractive.
The German users probably do not miss the clone - in view of the quite brazen imitation it rained public criticism and malice.

Direct Competitors and Similar Companies

Note: Direct competitors are defined by similarity score of more than 40%, while similar companies are defined by similarity score of less than 40%

No.	Name	Similarity score	Description	Industry	Categories	Location	Ownership status	Entity type	Stage of development	Transactional model type	Defensibility moats	Last financing round	Total raised	Post-money valuation	Last financing date	No. of funding round(s)	No. of investors	Investors	Total revenue	Market capitalization	No. of investments	No. of acquisitions	No. of board seats taken	Competition	Management	No. of employees	Company reputation	Contact info	Operational status	Operational duration	Shutdown date	Founded date	Legal name	Former legal name(s)	Ticker
1.	Thoof	38.1%	A social news ranking site.	Internet	News, Content, Social	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2006	-	-	-
2.	Quixey	27.7%	A mobile technology company that provided better access and engagement with apps.	Internet	Mobile Applications, Web, Search Engine	United States	-	-	-	-	-	Late Stage	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	250-500	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2009	-	-	-
3.	QuestHall	25.3%	Social questions and answers	Internet	Social Media, Social, Content, Websites	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
4.	Saaspire	20.0%	Offered SaaS-based relevancy platform that enabled its users to develop web applications.	Internet	Advertising, Content, SaaS, Web Applications	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2010	-	-	-
5.	Irrive	20.0%	An online scrapbook maker.	Internet	Content, Social Media, Web Browsers	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	51-100	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
6.	ContentMart	16.6%	An online marketplace that connected writers with clients in need of top-notch quality content.	Internet	Content, Content Creators, Professional Services, E-Commerce	India	-	-	-	-	-	Private Equity	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2015	-	-	-
7.	Go.com	15.7%	A portal for Disney content	Internet	Online Portals, Websites, Content, Search Engine	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	1999	-	-	-
8.	Bold	15.4%	A publishing and editing platform for enterprise.	Internet	Content, Publishing, Enterprise Software	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2015	-	-	-
9.	RawSugar	14.8%	A social tagging site.	Internet	Content, Content Discovery	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2005	-	-	-
10.	Belazee	13.9%	A conversational commerce company that got you anything so long as it’s legal.	Internet	Delivery, E-Commerce, Virtualization	Singapore	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2015	-	-	-
11.	Appsurfer	13.6%	An app which allowed users to instantly access any app from the Android world without the need to download or install it.	Internet	Advertising, Mobile, Virtualization	India	-	-	-	-	-	Seed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
12.	Dot & Bo	13.1%	An online furniture retailer.	Internet	E-Commerce, Retail, Content	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	51-100	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
13.	Unlockd	12.4%	A mobile platform that rewards consumers when they unlock their digital device and view targeted ads, content or offers.	Internet	Advertising, Applications, Content, Mobile	United Kingdom	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50-100	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2014	-	-	-
14.	Fontdeck	12.0%	A service that allowed designers and content producers to choose typefaces from the font foundries in the world.	Internet	Content, Web Design, Social Media	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2009	-	-	-
15.	Chicisimo	11.8%	A virtual closet app.	Internet	Virtualization, Fashion, Applications, Mobile Applications, Lifestyle, E-Commerce, Big Data	Spain	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2010	-	-	-
16.	Blah Diary	10.4%	Aggregated interesting content to evolve into a content discovery platform.	Internet	Content, Publishing, Marketing	India	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
17.	iProf Learning Solutions	10.1%	An mLearning Superstore that served education contents.	Internet	EdTech, E-Learning, M-learning, Content, Education	India	-	-	-	-	-	Early Stage	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	250-500	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2009	-	-	-
18.	Matchmine	9.7%	A personalized content recommendations service.	Internet	Advertising, Digital Media, Content, News	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2007	-	-	-
19.	ExploreVR	9.4%	An online service specializing in connecting Virtual Reality (VR) Businesses with potential customers.	Internet	Web Applications, VR, Virtualization	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2017	-	-	-
20.	Nouncer	8.8%	An online hub for real-time newswires.	Internet	Social, Blog, Content	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2006	-	-	-
21.	Mode Media	8.0%	A digital lifestyle media company.	Internet	Digital Media, Content, Lifestyle, Fashion	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	250-500	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2003	-	-	-
22.	Murmur App	7.4%	An online fan merchandise and customization platform.	Internet	Content, Blog	India	-	-	-	-	-	Seed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2011	-	-	-
23.	HeyKuya	7.2%	A text-based personal concierge service.	Internet	Virtualization, Service Industry, Consumer Services	Philippines	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2015	-	-	-
24.	Flud	7.1%	A social news reader application designed to display RSS feeds for teams and businesses.	Internet	Enterprise Software, Mobile, News, Content, Social Media	United States	-	-	-	-	-	Early Stage	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2010	-	-	-
25.	BricaBox	7.0%	Social content platform that allowed users to create their own social content sites.	Internet	Content, Social Media, Websites	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2006	-	-	-
26.	Texture	6.9%	An online media company that provided digital publishing services.	Internet	Publishing, Content, Digital Entertainment, Digital Media, News	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2009	-	-	-
27.	Tailrank	6.9%	A site that provided a feed of content on the World Wide Web that's being discussed across the blogosphere.	Internet	News, Content, Publishing	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2005	-	-	-
28.	TenMarks Education	6.7%	A web-based learning environment that simplified assignments, automates grading, and offers videos and interactive lessons.	Internet	E-Learning, EdTech, Education, Web	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2009	-	-	-
29.	Spotplex	6.5%	An online content aggregation service that provided range of popular news articles.	Internet	News, Content, Online Portals	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2007	-	-	-
30.	Wabona	6.4%	An online subscription video streaming service.	Internet	Video Streaming, Subscription, Digital Media, Content	South Africa	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2012	-	-	-
31.	Maven Networks	6.3%	an online video platform that provided end-to-end video syndication, content management and advertising solutions.	Internet	Online Portals, Video, Content	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50-100	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2002	-	-	-
32.	Digg	6.0%	A website that enabled its users to find, read, and share the most interesting and talked-about stories on the Internet.	Internet	Digital Media, Social Media, Content, Media & Entertainment	United States	-	-	-	-	-	M&A	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	50-100	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2004	-	-	-
33.	StumbleUpon	5.3%	A discovery engine that found and recommended personalized web content to its users.	Internet	Content, Search Engine, Personalization	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	100-250	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2001	-	-	-
34.	Civil	4.5%	A community-owned journalism network based on transparency and trust.	Internet	Publishing, Content, News, Blockchain	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10-50	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2017	-	-	-
35.	Skribit	4.3%	A tool that provided bloggers and readers with a unique form of interaction.	Internet	Blog, Content, Service Industry	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2007	-	-	-
36.	GO.com	4.1%	A web portal used as a hub for Disney-related sites.	Internet	Online Portals, Content, News, Digital Entertainment	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	1999	-	-	-
37.	Pretty Young Professional	3.8%	A media company and career resource for young professional women.	Internet	Publishing, Professional Services, Websites, Career, Digital Media, Copywriting, Content	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1-10	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2010	-	-	-
38.	Boompa.com	3.7%	A web startup focused on car fanatics.	Internet	Social Networking, Content, Websites	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Inactive	-	-	2006	-	-	-