How could the founders of Songkick, the subject of the “You Be the VC 1.2” feature at the end of Chapter 1, have utilized library and Internet research to flesh out their business idea? What information would have been most helpful to them?

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YOU BE THE VC 1.2 Company: Songkick Web: www.songkick.com Twitter: Songkick Facebook: Songkick Business Idea: Create a single place for music lovers to track or keep up with their favorite bands, so they'll always know where and when the bands will be performing in their area. In addition, create an online platform for concert attendees to record memories of the concerts they've seen by sharing anecdotes, posting photos, and discussing the events with other people who were there. Pitch: Songkick's founders believe that an amazing concert can change a person's life. Too often, however, people miss seeing their favorite bands because they didn't realize the bands would be in their area. Concert goers try to avoid this problem by subscribing to venue mailing lists, checking band Web sites, and sifting through generic concert newsletters. This is a clumsy process and doesn't assure music fans that they won't miss a concert they'd like to see. Songkick offers a solution to this problem. Songkick indexes 132 different ticket vendors, venue Web sites, and local newspapers to create the most comprehensive database of upcoming concerts available. Its mission is to know about every concert that's happening in every location from an indie band playing at a local bar to Coldplay playing Madison Square Garden. Songkick then pushes this information to its users. Users can track the performers they like, and Songkick will send them a personalized concert alert when those performers announce a tour date in their area. If a user has lots of bands he or she wants to track, artists can be tracked in bulk via Songkick's iTunes application, Last.fm import, or by importing their Facebook likes. It doesn't stop here. Songkick's Web site is a destina- tion for music lovers, with lots of useful and fun infor- mation. Users can check out the popular artists that are on tour. Songkick develops a profile for each mem- ber, based on their musical tastes, and recommends local concerts that align with their preferences. A par- ticularly novel thing that Songkick has done, which took a full year to accomplish, is to assemble a list of over 1 million concerts stretching back to the 1960s, and set up a discussion forum for each concert. Now