The Secret Life of Forty
By day, we are Forty Agency, a dashing marketing firm with big-name clients, a killer portfolio, and rugged good looks; but at night we turn into Forty Media, a secret laboratory for our diabolical skunkworks projects.
We're always working to make the web a better place by solving problems, closing gaps, and meeting needs using the same skill and discipline that we apply to our client work. This site showcases some of our more notable projects. We're just getting warmed up.
Our Projects
Pink Tomorrow (Codename: "Fry Sauce")
- Status: Live
- Summary: Team communication and collaboration platform
- URL: http://www.pinktomorrow.com/
Our first major project, Pink Tomorrow, is a team site provider for Mary Kay Cosmetics sales directors. It allows them to post news, events, documents, photos, and other information in a fun and secure environment.
The software is relatively easy to customize and deploy to other verticals. We're evaluating other possible verticals to pursue.
Unnamed Business Directory (Codename: "Swayze")
- Status: In development
- Summary: Automated business ranking algorithm
We've developed a unique algorithm for automatically ranking businesses in any industry or location. With no specific data provided initially, and without relying on any user-generated content, the algorithm does a remarkably good job at putting the "best" companies at the top.
As a proof of concept, we're building a nationwide directory of web design firms. Once we've sorted out the quirks, we'll follow that up by deploying similar directories targeting a variety of other industries, and offering premium options through which businesses can customize and update their profile (though they can't buy their ranking).
Notesphere (Codename: "Norris")
- Status: Live
- Summary: Tag-based note-taking system
- URL: http://www.notesphere.com/
Notesphere is a simple, fast way to save and manage notes. It's great for students, authors, or anyone else who needs to organize a lot of information. The system can also be used over mobile devices with relative ease.
Fruitcast (Codename: "Kiwi")
- Status: Inactive
- Summary: World's first major podcast advertising platform.
In 2005, seeing (perhaps too early) the great potential inherent in the podcasting market, Forty created the first podcast advertising platform available to the general podcasting public. The application embedded audio advertising on the fly, allowing for detailed statistics, geographical targeting, and other fine-grained details. See SolutionWatch and TechCrunch for reviews.
While there are bragging rights in being first to market with a new technology, there's also a lot of waiting around for the market to catch up. Revenue came slowly, acquisition discussions with a certain Big Name Web Company didn't work out, and the cash eventually dried up. There were plans for Fruitcast 2.0 (an expanded offering of podcast-related services), but the investors opted to shutter it instead.
Unnamed City News Provider (Codename: "Judy")
- Status: Functional / proof of concept
- Summary: Aggregator of city-related web content
- Example URL: http://www.myaz.org/
MyAZ.org is a proof of concept of software we've developed that automatically pulls data from a variety of sources, cleans it up, and displays it in a clear and easy-to-consume way. The test site covers a few cities in Arizona. The next version of the application will include more user community features, and will be extended across other states and countries.
Unnamed Resource Directory App (Codename: "Bauer")
- Status: Functional / proof of concept
- Summary: Resource directory script
- Example URL: http://www.powstock.com/
This application provides a simple way to provide resource directories that provide a large number of links, but sort the most important ones toward the top. As a proof of concept, we developed a directory of cheap and free stock photography sites.
Your Elevator Pitch (Codename: "Yep")
- Status: Undergoing retooling
- Summary: Business pitch sharing site
- Placeholder URL: http://www.yourelevatorpitch.com/
Your Elevator Pitch was originally a site where individuals could post the "elevator pitch" (brief explanation) of their business and receive ratings and feedback from other users.
We're currently revising the concept to bring it up to date and considering other ways to extend the concept.
Intrigued? (We can see why you would be)
Whether you're an investor looking for the next big thing, or just a visionary looking for help with your own idea, shoot us an e-mail. Let's find out what we can accomplish together!