Path, the social startup led by former Facebook executive Dave Morin, sounds both cool and a little mystifying. But as the service adds new features, like todaya4a4s addition of a4Aemotionsa4, the companya4a4s vision is becoming a little clearer.
San Francisco-based Path says that it wants to build a4AThe Personal Network,a4 namely a way to share content with your closest connections, rather than the casual friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers you might be connected with on Facebook. Path started out by allowing photo-sharing on your iPhone, prompting comparisons to popular photo apps Instagram and Picplz, and it has since added video-sharing too.
With emotions, Path is offering a slightly more nuanced take on the a4Alikea4 button popularized by Facebook (which is also used by Instagram and Picplz). These buttons allow you to comment on an item without having to think up a clever or heartfelt statement and without be limited by the single option of a4Alikinga4. What, for example, if someone posts something thata4a4s kind of sad Now you can show how a photo makes you feel, whether ita4a4s happy, sad, surprised, amused, or if youa4a4re just filled with love.
Path says, a4AStay tuned a4a4 this is just the first in a series of features that will allow users to react to their friendsa4a4 moments.a4
The company was co-founded by Morin, Napster creator Shawn Fanning, and Dustin Mierau. It has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Index Ventures, First Round Capital, Founders Fund, Betaworks, and a long list of all-star angel investors: Ron Conway, Kevin Rose, Ashton Kutcher, Keith Rabois, Dustin Moskovitz, Marc Benioff, Gary Vaynerchuk, Steve Anderson, Tim Draper, Joi Ito, Fadi Ghandour, Matt Cohler, Sam Lessin, Bill Randuchel, Karl Jacob, Paul Buchheit, Ruchi Sanghvi, John Couch, Michael Parekh, Claudio Chiuchiarelli, Maurice Werdegar, Don Dodge, and Chris Kelly.
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Companies: Path
People: Dave Morin, Dustin Mierau, Shawn Fanning
Companies: Path
People: Dave Morin, Dustin Mierau, Shawn Fanning
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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