It’s still too early to say what the future holds for Turntable.fm, but it certainly seems to be accumulating the markers of success very quickly. Copycats? Check. Partnerships with industry its trying to disrupt? Check. Celebrity endorsements? Check, check, check! And now it looks like Turntable’s picked-up another: a satellite start-up hoping to cash in on Turntable’s go-go juice.
Late last night, Josh Luber sent out an email to folks who had signed-up the ShopTurntable.fm’s splash page we told you about awhile back announcing that the store had opened. In a little box at the top, it says, “This site is not affiliated with Turntable.fm.” Although Turntable.fm lookalike Rolling.fm shares similar attributes, we’re not sure yet whether the shop has or needs permission to use the exact avatars. (Some people can get pretty litigious about these types of things). But the shop has received a retweet from the Turntable crew, so it looks like Mr. Luber may be in the clear.
So who is this entrepreneurial fellow?
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr. Luber is both co-founder of the online store and a Sr. Consultant for Strategy Change Internal Practice at IBM Global Business Services in New York. Hmm, wonder if they know about his little hobby. . . Mr. Luber is also the co-founder of The New York Turntable.fm Meetup Group. On his Meetup profile, Mr. Luber, who goes by the DJ name DJL, says he likes to listen to techno/dance music. At least as of the writing of the profile, he’d said he had accumulated 1,600 points, adding, “But I’m a SuperUser!,” which explains the line of “When I Grow Up I Want to be a SuperUser” t-shirts.
This isn’t his first rodeo. Via LinkedIn, it looks like Mr. Luber, who has both an MBA and a JD, co-founded two other start-ups.
Right now, the store is just selling t-shirts, but apparently they see enough potential down the line to hire an intern at least. Next to the newsletter sign-up, it says, “We were just gonna tweet, but in exchange for your email we’ll make our intern write about new products and specials and hand deliver to your inbox. But not too often. #moreworkforinterns.” #factsoflife
