Announcing The Drama Review – Get Reviewed on The Drama 2.0 Show
I’m pleased to announce a new service: The Drama Review.
The Drama Review is a low-cost way for entrepreneurs to get an objective analysis of their startups without paying a Wharton MBA who couldn’t sell a newspaper subscription to save his life. As an added bonus, it gives startups the opportunity to get a thoughtful review posted on The Drama 2.0 Show.
Why Am I Doing This?
The Drama Review is borne out of the fact that I get a lot of emails from individuals asking me to provide feedback on their products (and future products). Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day and producing a fair and honest assessment takes time.
Time, of course, isn’t free and while I really enjoy providing feedback and advice to new companies, there’s a limit as to what I can “donate” and because of this, I’ve refused to “review” under-the-radar startups since I don’t have the “free” time to give them a fair shake.
It probably won’t shock anybody but the “big” tech blogs that most startups want a review from usually don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at the products they review. They’re looking to crank out content and many of their reviews make that evident.
What’s The Drama Review Process?
The Drama Review is simple:
- You tell me about your business (what it offers, who it’s targeted to, what the business model is, etc. etc.) via email or online chat.
- I ask questions.
- You show me your product (if it’s built, which it hopefully is).
- I ask more questions.
- I take notes and perform an analysis.
- I provide you with my review.
- I post the review on The Drama 2.0 Show if you permit me to do so.
Why Is It Effective?
- It’s real. A regurgitated press release or lazy review of your startup does you no good. I’m not a content factory; I take the time to look at your product and analyze it.
- It’s objective. I don’t live in Silicon Valley, I don’t make investments in other people’s startups and I don’t make a living by taking money from startups. I am and have been involved with lots of different types industries. In other words, provide a truly fresh set of eyes and offer a different perspective.
- I’m not going to bullshit you. I tell you what I like about your business and what I don’t like about it.
- It’s constructive. While I never hesitate to provide criticism when I think a business is doing something wrong, where appropriate I’ll provide pragmatic recommendations that I believe can result in tangible benefit.
- I’m not looking to be on the payroll. I’m doing this because I enjoy evaluating and helping new companies. I have no interest in long-term consulting gigs and frankly, you probably couldn’t pay me enough to get me interested in a long-term gig. Most consultants are looking for long-term relationships, which gives them an incentive to feed you bullshit and tell you what you want to hear so that they can extract more money from your bank account.
- You receive authentic publicity on The Drama 2.0 Show. If you permit me to post a review of your business on The Drama 2.0 Show (a decision you have to make before I provide you with my review), make no doubt about it – this is no Pay Per Post. I post the good with the bad but I believe a review that people know isn’t full of shit does a lot more for you than a fluffy, half-assed review from other blogs that I won’t mention by name.
How Much Does it Cost?
The total cost for The Drama Review is $350. Given the average amount of time a review takes, this is not only a substantial discount to my “real-world” consulting rate but is far less than you’d pay for an MBA huckster to “get to know you” for a few hours.
Contact Me
Interested? Shoot me an email. Due to time constraints, I will probably only do a few of these each month at most.
i’m up for it. as soon as my website’s ready (hopefully January) i’ll shoot you an email. your offer is very fair. i’m a bit scared by your cynicism though. but at least you’re always honnest.
will you accept us to review your article prior posting? i mean, what if there’s some misunderstanding from your end on a feature or one the business model? do you accept to correct your article if we find any false claim in it prior posting?
Chris: I take the time to ask questions when I am unclear on something and as I have done with the reviews of my sponsors, I provide for review the copy that discloses facts about your company (so as to prevent me from stating that you told me x when you really told me y).
I do not provide for review the copy that contains my opinions. Given that the time is taken to ensure that I don’t have the facts wrong, my opinions should be based on accurate information.
Of course, if you still feel that my opinions are off, you’re free to post comments publicly so as to refute them.
If you’re very concerned about the review, there’s no obligation for it to be posted. Just tell me before we begin and I won’t publish it.
While I do see The Drama Review as a way for startups to get some honest and thoughtful exposure on this blog, the primary goal is to provide a no-BS review that will hopefully be of some tangible benefit to you.
Frankly, I’ve always most appreciated the people around me who tell me when they think I’m wrong, when I can do something better and when I might want to consider things from a different perspective.
Finally, it’s true that I’m a cynic but I would also point out that I’m probably no more demanding or skeptical than the average consumer is when it comes to any new product or service.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ll make sure you get clear information beforehand.
Hi Drama, are you still doing this?
Shoot me an email if you are, I maybe interested.