Gizmoz and the Return of Eyal Gever

Today marks the launch of a Web service called Gizmoz, which is also a remarkable story of Internet-industry tenacity.

First, about Gizmoz: It's hard to figure whether it will take off like wildfire, or become just another little curiosity on the Web. Basically, it allows you to make a little Jib-Jab-style talking animation of yourself, and paste it anywhere, much the way you can paste up a YouTube video. In a few minutes, Gizmoz CEO Eyal Gever made one of me using a digital photo and a recording of me saying a few sentences by talking into his laptop's microphone.

Second, though, is the story of Gever and Gizmoz. I first met him nearly 10 years ago, soon after he'd started Gizmoz with a different concept -- software that allowed people to send little video clips or animations around the Web. One of his chief proponents was John Sculley, who'd recently been punted out of Apple's CEO job.

When Gever set up the meeting at Jamie's General Bean -- my alternative office in Centreville, Va. -- I couldn't believe it. Nobody sticks around that long, with the same company, failing to break out. He showed up looking pretty much the same -- long dark hair, jeans, funky button-down shirt and black boots. In early-2001, he tells me, he was close to selling Gizmoz to either AOL, Vivendi or Bertelsmann. But the dot-com bubble burst and all the companies backed away.

In 2002, he bought the company back from investors and kept a core team to work on the idea of these animation widgets. They built it on Flash instead of Gizmoz's old proprietary software, so the widgets will run on just about any computer. The rise of sites such a MySpace and YouTube created places where such animations might be posted. After four years of work, Gever showed Gizmoz to potential investors. Today, Gizmoz i announcing $6.3 million in funding from Benchmark Capital.

The basic Gizmoz gizmos are free. The company will make money, Gever says, by selling unique, upgraded features. It will also have a couple other announcements in coming months that will reveal other ways Gizmoz will make money, Gever promises.