GetGlue
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
GetGlue was a New York City social TV platform founded in 2008 by Alex Iskold. Users 'checked in' to the shows, movies and sports they consumed via a website and mobile apps, unlocking digital stickers and sharing viewing activity with other fans. It was an early social TV pioneer: it raised $24 million, built a user base of about 4.5 million generating over a billion social impressions per month, and pivoted from check-ins toward TV discovery. In November 2013 it was acquired by second-screen company i.TV, rebranded as tvtag in January 2014, and shut down on January 1, 2015.
02 / GetGlue FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
GetGlue never figured out how to monetize its social TV audience. Despite 4.5 million users and over a billion monthly social impressions, the company burned through $24 million in funding without a sustainable business model, shopped itself around after a $70 million Viggle acquisition deal fell through in 2013, and was sold to i.TV. The rebranded tvtag shut down on January 1, 2015 so the owner could refocus on other initiatives.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founding
Alex Iskold founded GetGlue in New York City as a social TV platform built on Foursquare-style check-ins for TV shows, movies and sports.
- Acquisition
After a $70 million acquisition deal with social TV competitor Viggle fell through, GetGlue was acquired by second-screen company i.TV in November 2013; founder and CEO Alex Iskold stepped down from day-to-day operations.
- Rebrand
i.TV retired the GetGlue brand in January 2014, relaunching it as tvtag with a new look and a focus on reacting to live TV moments.
- Shutdown
tvtag announced on December 19, 2014 that it would shut down its website and apps on January 1, 2015 to refocus on other initiatives.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In 2008 Alex Iskold founded GetGlue in New York City, building Foursquare-style check-ins for TV shows, movies and sports.
- 02
The company raised $24 million and grew to about 4.5 million users generating over a billion social impressions per month, but never built a working monetization model.
- 03
A $70 million acquisition deal with social TV competitor Viggle fell through in 2013 when Viggle failed to secure funding.
- 04
In November 2013 i.TV acquired GetGlue; founder Alex Iskold stepped down from day-to-day operations.
- 05
In January 2014 i.TV retired the GetGlue brand, relaunching it as tvtag focused on live TV moments.
- 06
On December 19, 2014 tvtag announced it would shut down on January 1, 2015 to refocus on other initiatives.
- 07
No loss amount beyond the reported funding is recorded.