Screenleap Aims to Make Conference Calls More Like Social Media

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Name: Screenleap

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Quick Pitch: Share your computer screen on the web with one click.

Genius Idea: No software is needed to use Screenleap. The site allows anyone to share screens via a handle page, a link or nine digit code. It incorporates a social aspect by allowing users to create personalized pages and the ability to broadcast publically to the entire web or select individuals.

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Computer screen sharing has become second nature for many businesses, but what about the average person?

Screenleap, a Palo Alto startup, wants to make screen sharing more social and common in everyday life beyond the office. The company offers services for businesses, but is putting a particular emphasis on how screen sharing could improve online social interactions.

Screenleap users can get their own personal domain name and choose to share their screen with select people or anyone on the Internet interested in viewing. The user handles cut out the need to share conference links or numbers, although Screenleap still offers that option as well. When a user wants to share his or her screen, viewers can see what the user is broadcasting from their URL in the form of http://www.screenleap.com/username.

In two weeks, Screenleap will add a friends list to make sharing easier for logged in users. Users will be able to send invites to join a screen share by email or text message.

“We want to make screen sharing as frictionless as possible,” said Tuyen Truong, founder and CEO of Screenleap. “We have made screen sharing super simple and without clunky software.”

Screenleap requires no software download, unlike many other teleconferencing platforms. In less than 20 seconds, a user can share a screen on Screenleap with anyone from his or her Screenleap handle. With a few clicks, users can share from a computer, smartphone or tablet.

Screen sharing can and should be as easy to use as email,” Truong said.

Professionals, companies and brands can find value in using the site to broadcast how-to seminars, Truong said.

“If you’re a videographer, other people might find value in what you’re doing online,” Truong said. “You can show other interested videographers how you edit or create things you’re doing.”

Screenleap founders Truong and Lawrence Gentilello were college roommates at Stanford and founders of the Stanford social network Steamtunnels, also know as the “Forgotten Social Network” in the late 1990s. Administrators at Standford shut the site down citing copyright infringement and privacy concerns.

Screenleap, which started in October 2011, has received $167,000 in seed funding from Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel and Start Fund. The service is free for consumer user. The premium version will cost more. Screenleap also plans to develop an API, so businesses can integrate screen sharing into their products. The startup also is considering advertising and allowing brand pages to promote their channels.

To get a Screenleap account, users have to refer five friends. But Mashable readers can bypass the referrals and claim their Screenleap handle by signing up for a free account here.

Image courtesy of iStock, alexsl


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The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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