Cudo founder Billy Tucker to launch new start-up 57 Signals

Cudo’s outgoing chief executive Billy Tucker is in the “very early stages” of building his new start-up 57 signals, after announcing his decision to leave the daily deals site, which he founded.

Tucker insists it was his decision to leave Cudo in its second year of trading, saying it “feels like the right time”. Cudo is a joint venture between Microsoft and Nine Entertainment Co.

After launching in September last year, Cudo quickly became of one Australia’s fastest-growing daily deals sites, claiming to have sold more than one million vouchers since its launch.

Tucker will be replaced by Mike Sneesby, former head of corporate strategy and business development at Ninemsn. Tucker will finish up at Cudo in early February to focus on 57 Signals.

The start-up, which allows companies to “take their data assets and use them for good”, is still in the very early stages, Tucker says.

“Every business, offline or on, generously receives up to 57 signals from a prospective client at the point they touch your business,” he says.

“Those signals are there to be read and understood, allowing your offering to be optimised in real time – maximising the likelihood of purchase.”

“[With the help of 57 Signals, businesses can] find and adjust to just five signals for short-term gain [and] build a strategy to address all 57.”

“The time of day [is an example of a signal], allowing businesses to promote offers based on the time of day [that consumers are most active]”.

Tucker says finding and exploiting these signals has contributed greatly to the success of Cudo, which is why he’s keen to take the concept further.

“Over the coming months, I will be talking to retailers across multiple industries about finding this kind of value from their existing data.”

Tucker points out that 57 Signals is more of a consulting venture than a technology-led venture, but expects most of the action to start happening in February once he has left Cudo.

“It is more of a methodology than a set of tools… It’s structured as an ongoing venture [with the client], likely to be an arrangement between three and six months,” he says.

“The interest I’ve had to date has been around the CEO level, so the likelihood is that these discussions will take place at a senior level.”

Tucker says he is “very much focused on Australia”, claiming there is much to be done to get local businesses up to scratch with regard to eCommerce strategies.

“Many other countries are thinking more deeply and more advanced than is true in Australia. It’s time Australia caught up,” he says.

This article first appeared on StartupSmart.