Social Media Portal interview with Feivi Arnstein from Slikk

Profiled - Feivi Arnstein, CEO at Slikk talks about search engines and social media

Social Media Portal (SMP): What's your role at Slikk?

Feivi Arnstein (FA): Feivi Arnstein, CEO at Slikk

SMP: Briefly, tell us about Slikk, what does the search engine do?

FA: Slikk.com is a new search engine which totally changes the way people search, find and share content on the web.

SMP: It?s certainly a different name, how did you choose it and what does it mean?

FA: Slikk is a derivative of ?slick?, which is another word for ?smooth?, ?sleek? or ?suave?.

SMP: There are plenty of search engines out there, what makes Slikk really different?

FA: There are two main parts to Slikk: Web Search and Web Sharing.

Web Search: Slikk introduces revolutionary new features such as SlikkBrowsing (the ability to open search results right on the search page) MultiView (the ability to search and browse multiple types of search results at the same time) and more. These features make it possible to find what one is looking for with unprecedented speed and ease.

Web Sharing: Slikk is fully integrated with its sister site MySlikk.com. MySlikk is a web collection and sharing platform which allows you to create collections of any type of content on the web, and to then browse those items/webpages right inside the collection webpage, like in Slikk. So for example, once you have found various search results to your liking in Slikk, you can just click a button, and a MySlikk webpage is automatically created which stored your open search results!

In addition, any search result can also easily be shared through Facebook or Twitter with just the click of a button.

SMP: What was the most challenging part of building on the brands presence in digital environments?

People have this ingrained conviction that Google IS search, and that no one can really compete. Our biggest challenge is to get people to try us out and see that it?s possible to have a faster and more productive search experience.

SMP: Who are your target audience and why?

FA: Our target audience is the regular every-day consumer. Anyone who uses and searches the web, really.

SMP: How did you initially attract users to your search engine, and how do you do it now?

FA: We initially looked for beta users on tech-oriented sites. We then got a lot of beta applicants simply through word-of-mouth. Going forward we will be using general PR and marketing strategies.

SMP: What are the low moments of what you have been doing so far?

FA: Not being a Silicon Valley insider made raising funds initially more difficult than it might otherwise have been. There is nothing as frustrating as being stuck during development of an incredible product because of a lack of funds. Nonetheless, Slikk and MySlikk?s revolutionary features enabled us to find several investors who are convinced of its potential and enabled us to finish development and more.

SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?

FA: Every once in a while our team gets together for a brainstorming session, and sometimes we come up with the coolest ideas we decide to implement. Features like SlikkBrowsing or MySlikk.com. It?s those times when we realize we just came up with something fantastic that are extremely gratifying.

SMP: What do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities?

FA: The challenges are getting the word out, getting people to accept that search can actually be a lot faster, and getting them to try Slikk.com. The opportunities are vast: global search revenues are tens of Billions of dollars, the vast majority of which is being divided among a handful of companies.

SMP: What are the next moves for Slikk in terms of social media?

FA: We?re planning on establishing a strong social presence, and will also be starting a series of social contests to introduce and involve the general public in Slikk and MySlikk.

SMP: What?s the next big step for social media and networks?

FA: That?s an easy one: MySlikk.com, definitely!

SMP: What?s going to be the most interesting aspect regarding social media / technology throughout 2012?

FA: The Facebook IPO and the subsequent direction taken by its stock will be interesting to see. Valuations of popular social networks are extremely high, and it?s possible that when push comes to shove, market forces may demand to see revenue which matches those valuations.

SMP: What are your top five predictions for social media throughout 2012?

FA replies with:

• Businesses and corporations are going to start cracking down on personal social media use during work hours.
• At the same time, they will start integrating more business-oriented social media tools.
• Social networks are going to have to come up with stronger monetization in order to keep their high valuations.
• Bigger crackdown on social media spam.
• A move towards more visually-oriented social networks like MySlikk or Pinterest.

SMP: What are your top five tips for people using social media?

FA replies with:

• Don?t spam!
• Be conscious of security and use strong passwords.
• If you know that you?ve been lax with no. 2, check your social accounts to make sure others haven?t hacked and used them for spamming.
• Be conscious of the various privacy settings in your networks.
• If you have relevant content, comments or feedback, don?t be afraid to share it!

SMP: What are you top five tips for people using search?

FA replies with:

• Take some time to try out the various search engines there are out there. Some of them have really innovative features that will surprise you. And of course, none so much as Slikk.com!
• Use quotes to search for exact sentence matches.
• When using Slikk.com, just click the ?open? button next to any search result to open and browse that result right within the search page.
• When using Slikk.com, click any of the ?MultiView? categories on the top right to search multiple types of results at the same time.
• Share! If you find something cool or useful with Slikk, just click the Facebook or Twitter buttons, or create a MySlikk collection.

SMP: Best way to contact you and Slikk?

FA: Info  [at]  slikk.com, Twitter or Facebook.



SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

FA: I didn?t! I don?t usually eat breakfast (which is the most important meal of the day, I know, Mom!), and I regularly get so busy at work that I don?t think of eating anything until the late afternoon!

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

FA: I don?t spend as much time with my kids as I feel I should. So upon returning from yet another trip today, I bought my kids a new board game and spent a couple of hours playing with them.

SMP: How many hours do you work a week?

FA: According to my wife, the question should probably be how many hours I don?t work a week! I do love what I?m doing so I?m extremely involved in it almost 24/7.

SMP: If you weren?t running Slikk what would you be doing?

FA: I would be involved in education and non-profits.

SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?

FA: This week, to the beautiful Galilee in the North of Israel.

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

FA: Catch up on my email and news.

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

FA: Teleportation or flight. I?d love to see all the beautiful places on Earth.

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