Startup Aims to Change the Face of Small Business Websites

Small Business Spotlight: RebelMouse

Who: Paul Berry

What: An online service that allows individuals and companies to organize their online presence

When: 2012

Where: New York, NY

How: Founder Paul Berry knows the online space: He was the chief technology officer of the Huffington Post from its launch until one year after the company was acquired.

“Our overall concept is that more and more, all of the power is going to social media,” says Berry. But he said increasingly, engaged individuals were spread too thin between all of their online accounts, and weren’t able to organize them easily.

With RebelMouse, individuals and companies can take their social media accounts “and put all the efforts onto one page, and then control that content,” says Berry. So, he says, if you love a tweet you’ve received, you can display it more prominently on your RebelMouse page, so it doesn’t disappear within seconds from view.

So far, Berry says 300,000 sites have signed up on RebelMouse. The company has raised $3.1 million in funding from investors including Jonah Peretti, the founder of BuzzFeed.

Biggest challenge:  Berry says his biggest challenge is getting people to understand that social media can drive the full website. “But as soon as they see RebelMouse, they fall in love, and they don’t need to struggle with designers and developers,” says Berry.

One moment in time: Berry is proudest of how many different types of businesses have used RebelMouse to power their websites. “Small businesses are in love with their websites like they never were before!” he says.

Most influential book: Clayton M. Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” “It shows how it’s so important to find opportunities during times of change,” says Berry.