Start-up Society #86: The Social Media Issue

Keeping the American Dream Alive

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Start-up Society

5 min readMar 14, 2022

Welcome to the 86th edition of Start-up Society! This blog highlights some of the most exciting start-ups in the country striving to keep the American Dream alive.

Make sure you check out the previous issue, if you have not already, here.

This week we are highlighting two companies that are shaping and empowering the social media space as we know it. Social media was introduced as a tool for people to connect with friends and family from all over the world. With its emergence, however, social media has grown from just providing connectivity to innovating new business models, creating brands for people from all walks of life, and influencing individuals and even Fortune 500 companies.

According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of U.S. adults who use at least one social media site has jumped from 5% in 2005 to 72% in 2021. Let’s explore two innovative social media start-ups that have contributed to this substantial growth!

Songclip

HQ: San Francisco, California

Founded: 2016

Employees: 32 (on LinkedIn)

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Songclip is a SaaS solution that streamlines music integration into social platforms, mobile applications, and virtual marketplaces in a legal and cost-effective manner.
Using its patented technology, Cliipcast, it can consume and curate music content into 5–30 second clips. This allows for deeper end-user engagement, more creative ways for users to express themselves, and more revenue-generating opportunities in the e-commerce space.

Songclip’s notable partners include Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group. The company also has deals with all major music publishers and rights organizations, such as Disney, Concord, Kobalt, and over 6,500 independents.

MEET THE TEAM

Andy Blacker, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Prior to co-founding the company, Andy was the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at ToneMedia, a mobile music property, which was successfully acquired in 2014 by Bandsintown Group.
Earlier in his career, Andy was a Senior Vice President at Screenvision Cinema Advertising Networks, Vice President of Marketing and Business Strategy at Discovery Communications, and a Network Strategy and Marketing Director at AOL Networks.
Andy earned his BA in English and Small Business from Cornell University.

John vanSuchtelen, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

Prior to co-founding Songclip, John was the co-founder and CEO of LiveCanary, a SaaS platform.
He was also the General Manager of Looney Tunes Dash! & 2nd Party Publishing at Zynga, with over 120 million players worldwide, Vice President of Product, Marketing and Addicting Games at Nickelodeon, and Product Strategy and eCommerce Director at AOL.
John holds several publications and patents on audio and visual communications.

THE START-UP SOCIETY ASSESSMENT

Music is such a powerful element in the social media world. Whether it’s for advertising or simply user expression, music makes an experience as unique as it can be. This is why a platform like Songclip is so pivotal for social media since it alleviates predicaments such as legal issues, music expenses, and a lack of an overall API that can integrate music in almost any digital platform.
Another added benefit that Songclip brings to the table is increased monetization opportunities for artists and labels. Just like in TikTok, artists can be discovered and promoted via libraries and specific applications that Songclip integrates with.
Songclip essentially allows all counterparties to benefit and express themselves to the best of their ability through music.

GO DEEPER

Songclip raises $11M to bring more licensed music to social media

Warner Music Group Partners with Songclip™ to Power “Music As A Feature”

Songclip co-CEO Andy Blacker on the creator economy and a ‘$5 billion marketplace for music in apps’

Aspire

HQ: San Francisco, California

Founded: 2013

Employees: 339 (on LinkedIn)

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Aspire is an influencer marketing platform that allows e-commerce brands to build and maintain a community of influencers, brand ambassadors, customers, and more.
Aspire offers an influencer discovery service that provides a network of over six million social media influencers who can be searched by keyword, location, engagement metrics, audience demographics, industry, aesthetic & more.

Both brands and influencers can use Aspire’s marketplace to promote their campaigns and show inbound or outbound interest, commission-free.
Aspire also has a social listening feature that allows brands to uncover influencers who already engage with the brand.
The company also offers Shopify integration services, influencer profile analytics, and benchmark pricing recommendations for its users.
Aspire’s enterprise customers include Glossier, Coola, Bombas, Newell, Ruggable, and more.

MEET THE TEAM

Shuhan Bao, Co-Founder

Prior to co-founding Aspire, Shuhan was a Mobile Developer at Pocket Gems. He was also a Senior Physical Design Engineer at NVIDIA and an Engineering Intern at Qualcomm.
Shuhan earned his BS in Electrical Engineering and Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his MS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Suhaas Prasad, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Prior to co-founding Aspire, Suhaas was the Software Developer Lead at Pocket Gems. He was also a Software Developer at Flixster, Amazon, and Salesforce.
Suhaas earned his BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley and his MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

THE START-UP SOCIETY ASSESSMENT

Aspire should be set for a high-growth phase in the coming years due to the rise in influencer marketing. Not only are companies heavily focused on digital and social media marketing, but individuals themselves are also now pursuing social media as a career path, further allowing for the expansion of Aspire’s marketplace.
Aspire is in a very unique position to assist both micro-influencers and small companies. Since both counterparties are seeking as much visibility as possible, Aspire can construct a small influencer and company communication channel to offer a mutually beneficial experience.