Mark Bouris became a household name after his stint on Australia’s Shark Tank. He’s an entrepreneur, one with an extensive CV in finance, having founded non-bank mortgage lender Wizard Home Loans, but he’s also now a main investor in a new social media platform for business owners. It’s called Boa.
Boa, the press release says, is a new social media platform designed specifically for business owners and entrepreneurs, with the aim of “democratising the ability to leverage a powerful network and enable people to tap into the power of the collective”.
If we translate that into non-marketing fluff, the pitch seems to be that Boa aims to level the playing field for businesses and entrepreneurs – giving everyone access to the same advice.
We’re not sure how Boa is going to achieve this objective, whether it’ll just end up being a bubble of entrepreneurs one-upping each other with their hustle-and-never-sleep mentality or just like LinkedIn where it’s an echo chamber of back-patting from people you work with, or used to work with. But Boa reckons its platform brings together the best aspects of Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn to “form a powerful media and networking platform for business owners”. Its CEO Daniel Hakim reckons it’s about community.
“We wanted to create a community where business owners can engage with each other, share knowledge, and network in a meaningful way,” Hakim said.
“Businesses need support more than ever with increasingly difficult economic and social times. The existing major platforms are too broad and noisy to be truly effective resources for business owners, so they are used primarily as marketing and recruitment tools. Business owners need a place to discuss the things that matter to them with those who understand them.”
He’s right, the existing platforms are SO noisy, but is Boa just adding to the noise?
Back to the press release for a sec and Boa said its app allows members to follow specific community threads, such as startups or capital raising, “ensuring they are exposed to conversations, members, and communities tailored to their needs”.
Similar to Reddit, the Boa app has topic based sub-communities, but it also has a news section, search functionality, and meeting request features.
It has been trialled with 1,000 users, with 3,000 on a waitlist, but now Boa is being unleashed to all.
Access to Boa is free, but you need an ABN/to prove you’re a company director. Premium Boa access will cost users $45 per month, which as we all know by now means your posts will be boosted, but verified users (paying ones) will also have the ability to create communities and events. Wild.