Suleman Ali

Xipto is this week's Startup of the Week.  Check it out here:  xipto.com.  Xipto figured out that there's only one place humans aren't being served ads: while waiting for your friend to pick up your phone call.  And they've decided to fix this hair on fire problem, enabling you to force your friends to listen to ads before getting to talk to you.  Oh, and if you're exteremely popular, you might just be able to make a living off getting people to call you.

Here's what makes Xipto fabulous:

• The name.  When you hear someone utter "Xipto" for the first time, you know exactly what the website does.  What's more, you immediatley know how to spell it.  And you thought YouTube was a good name.
• It's got the best revenue model in the whole wide world: advertising.  Oh, and the advertising is targetted, brand advertising that drives offline behavior.
• It's viral.  As soon as you figure out what's happening when you hear this ad, you're going to commend your friend and ask them how you can do it too!
• Best of all, it's dependent on cooperation from Mobile Operators to function.  Because Mobile Operators have historically been nimble and cooperative, this is a sustainable competitive advantage and a barrier to entry for competitors.
• Enterprise!  I hope their strategy is to penetrate the enterprise quickly after they've achieved critical mass in the consumer space.  I'd love to hear targetted ads when I'm calling Verizon.

 Next on the product roadmap?  Talking urinal ads.

If you have a startup that you think should be our Startup of the Week, email us!