Ex- Yahoo CFO sees raftr as social network alternative

Decker says site offers platform, topics where users can post, argue, engage

Start- up raftr SAN FRANCISCO wants to change the conversation online.

In a landscape of Twitter, with its lashing commentary, and Facebook, with vanity posts and family pics, the Silicon Valley company says it’s creating a communications platform that is less about breaking news and more about substantive conversations.

“We want to create a series of water- cooler moments,” says Sue Decker, the former Yahoo chief financial officer who is CEO and co- founder of raftr, which launches Wednesday. “Instagram is about the ideal photo. Facebook is the highlight reel. And Snapchat is a series of images. We offer a long- running discussion on specific topics.”

Success may be a tall order given an ocean of online forums. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat headline an intensely competitive space. The recent setback of social publishing platform Medium, which laid off 50 employees and shut down offices in New York and Washington, D. C., because of lackluster ad sales, offers a cautionary tale. But an analyst briefed on raftr sees it as an alternative to Twitter.

Raftr is “Twitteresque, but with more depth and direct personal relations,” says Mark Mahaney, managing director of RBC Capital Markets. “It’s not anonymous and not such a back- end cesspool that Twitter can be.”

Facebook and Twitter have evolved into forums for a mishmash of disparate content and glorified echo chambers of likeminded opinions, Decker says. Raftr is the alternative: a curated and story- centric platform to bring together people to engage in ongoing discussions, she says.

“What people are craving is a safe place to engage in conversations about things they care about, with curated content, to advance better conversations about the stories we all follow together,” says Decker, who left Yahoo in 2009 and counts that company’s co- founder, Jerry Yang, among raftr’s investors. The 12- person company, based in San Francisco, has raised $ 2 million.

An editorial team produces weekly “blogcasts,” or provocative talking points with commentary and links to articles on news events, TV shows and sports teams to create a narrative story arc. A digital bot for football, appropriately called “footbotter,” is available to answer questions on specific topics. ( It accurately predicted the Atlanta Falcons would beat the Green Bay Packers to reach Super Bowl LI.)

Raftr is “Twitteresque, but with more depth and direct personal relations. It’s not anonymous and not such a back- end cesspool that Twitter can be.” Mark Mahaney, managing director of RBC Capital Markets

RAFTR, FOR USA TODAY CEO Sue Decker is former chief financial officer at Yahoo.