Wishpot

Wishpot operated as a social shopping and e-commerce platform, founded in 2006 by Max Ciccotosto. Prior to his entrepreneurial venture with Wishpot, Ciccotosto spent seven years at Microsoft, where he focused on mobile and email technology and was granted four patents. He holds a degree in Telecommunication Engineering and a Master's in Electrical Engineering, a background that informed the company's technological approach.

The Seattle-based company provided an online service where users could create and share wishlists of items from various online and physical stores. This platform catered to consumers looking to collect and discover products, share gift ideas, or seek advice on potential purchases. The service allowed users to aggregate items through online collection tools or by uploading images of products found in brick-and-mortar retailers.

Wishpot's business model included a consumer-facing service for creating wishlists and an analytical component that provided insights into consumer behavior to retailers. A significant part of its revenue was generated through its Venpop technology, which offered retailers a turnkey solution for merchandising and marketing on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The company secured a total of $1.39 million in funding over three rounds, with a notable Series A round of $1 million in April 2008 led by Monster Venture Partners and H-FARM. Ultimately, Wishpot was acquired by Lockerz on September 6, 2012, with the Venpop technology being a key asset in the deal. The acquisition led to Ciccotosto and CTO Tom Lianza joining the Lockerz team to continue their work on social commerce technologies.

Keywords: social shopping, online wishlist, wedding registry, e-commerce platform, consumer analytics, social commerce, retail marketing, Venpop, Max Ciccotosto, Lockerz acquisition, gift registry, product discovery, consumer technology, Seattle startup, venture capital, H-FARM, Monster Venture Partners, social merchandising, online retail tools, shopping community