Sharing knowledge through networking

Imagine a space on the Web where you can create a knowledge base of your own and access it for years down the line. That was the thought that led Titash Neogi to create Bibkosh — a networking site where users can store knowledge as their personal “knowledge vault” on the Internet, share it with friends and even put it on display through their “knowledge profiles”. Positioned along side the general social networking websites, Bibkosh will urge users to keep their data or knowledge, as Neogi calls it, safe in an online library, from where it can be retrieved anytime.

Neogi, who raised $50,000 from friends and family to launch the website, is hoping to raise $100,000 to $150,000 for the next cycle of development through Angel funding. “This will be used to make Bibkosh.com a global platform and add more features,” he says.

Bibkosh, explains Neogi, will have two revenue models that will help it to break-even by 2012. “Advertisements, as used by websites like Facebook, when the advertiser pays the developer (Bibkosh) every time the user clicks on the advertisement or provides the advertiser with some information.” Another model Bibkosh intends to implement is by providing premium applications on the site. “Applications provided by niche networking sites have a larger appeal. These applications can fall in the category of virtual goods, a market that is already worth millions of dollars.”

It is not easy to be a product start-up in India. Bibkosh, which is owned by Neogi’s company Sievelogic and employs seven people in Pune, struggled to solve operational problems such as frequent power cuts and internet breakdowns. “The core team of Bibkosh had to constantly juggle work with these mundane chores. Plus, it was difficult to find good talent who were willing to work in challenging conditions,” he says.

Bibkosh, which joins the list of other Indian networking sites like BigAdda, BharatStudent, ApnaCircle and ibibo, has a tough road ahead. Hareesh Tibrewala, social media strategist and joint CEO at SocialWavelength.com says, “Except BharatStudent, no Indian networking site has been able to achieve any significant share of the domestic internet audience. If Bibkosh is able to fine-tune itself to Indian tastes, it stands a chance.”

Neogi’s blue-print for his site includes finding the right audience — whether in India or abroad. Neogi has also developed a Bibkosh Facebook application that analyses what kind of data Facebook users generate and would create a unique “knowledge zodiac” for them. “We will allow users to compare their “knowledge zodiac” with those of their friends to see with whom they are most compatible on the basis of interests,” says Neogi.