Favoree is like IMDB, but for Youtube

By Francesco Morelli

Have you ever written a review or simply rated a movie online? Favoree, a Paris-based and recently launched start-up, lets you do that with YouTube videos. There is an enormous amount of content on YouTube. According to Statista, as of last year, roughly 500 hours of content were uploaded to the site every minute. Then, Medium reports that between 25.000 and 30.000 channels have at least 1 million subscribers. With such variety, sometimes users can find themselves lost through content they are not particularly fond of. In this installment of start-up-of-the-day, Favoree’s CEO, Pierre Donnay, explains how he is going to change that.

Why did you decide to start Favoree? When did the idea first come to you, and how did you develop it?

“I was always frustrated to discover a new qualitative Youtube channel that existed for a long time without knowing it. In addition, the options to actively search for new interesting channels on Youtube or Google are really limited. I found out my friends shared the same pain. It was a shame because Youtube is full of outstanding content and passionate creators. So I tried to imagine a platform where you can easily find the channel of your dreams in seconds. I searched online, and nothing really existed so I just started building it.”

How does Favoree work from a user’s standpoint? How does the rating system function?

“For now, there are two big pillars for Favoree: first, you can discover new channels and videos thanks to the filters system I built. You can, for instance, search by topics, average video duration, rating, type of videos, mood, etc… it enables you to find new cool channels you have never heard of. Secondly, you can give your opinion on a channel like IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes. Users can assign a rating between 1 and 5 stars and give a review of a channel they like (or dislike!). It is also possible to contribute to the qualification of the channel by saying if it is fun, instructional, serious, relaxing… All this information will help other users find precisely what they search for!”

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Assuming you watch a fair amount of YouTube content yourself, did you find it hard to find new content you liked?

“Yes, I think I’m one of the first subscribers to the Youtube Premium Family Plan in the world. I’m a huge fan of long, in-depth videos on economics or history. It is tough to find new content on topics you are not used to watching. I don’t blame Youtube, it is really complicated for such a big platform to deliver the perfect content you want: they have so many different users and categories of content”.

What pushed you to create the service?

“Since the platform of my dreams didn’t exist, I just created it. I wanted to have my first startup experience as a founder so I thought my idea was interesting enough to go for it! I also realized that Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, and other platforms already existed for movies or series but not for Youtube channels. For now, on Youtube, you can’t give your opinion on a channel but just on videos (where there are the like/dislike buttons and the comment section), I wanted to change that”.

Is it just you, or do you have other people contributing to the platform?

“For now, it is just me building the product. But of course, a lot of people helped me, and there are also users that give me feedback every day which is really key to improving my website and understand what people really need and want. And I plan to welcome people very soon to work full-time on Favoree!”

Do you have a background in coding?

“Yes, I’m a data analyst so I had a lot of experience in Python and SQL, but I knew nothing about Javascript, nor web development, so I had to learn everything while building Favoree, and some developers helped me from time to time.”

How is it marketable and appealing to potential investors?

“I think it can solve a widely shared pain: finding the most qualitative content on Youtube and exploring one of the biggest platforms in the world differently. And there are already really successful websites similar to Favoree for paid streaming content like Netflix or Prime Video. In addition, I’m building a really interesting database of Youtube content.”

How will Favoree evolve?

“More content, more social features, new filters, and new languages coming soon! And I have a lot of innovative ideas to help people find new channels and videos and give their opinion.”

What are your expectations for the future?

“To make Favoree the best place to help people find the content they love on the Internet.”

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