A Chat With the Bluepulse Dude

Ben Keighran seems more like a guy you'd meet over a Toohey's on Bondi Beach than CEO of a cool new tech company. But Keighran, the CEO of Blupulse, is across from me with his tousled blond hair, wearing a jacket over a white golf shirt with both collars turned up, showing me his "mobile social network platform."

It's basically a cross between MySpace and Meebo , but built for the small screens and uneven connectivity of mobile phones. Keighran started the company in Sydney -- he says he's been working the platform since 2002, at first as a side project while in college -- and moved it to Silicon Valley in December. Actually, he moved it into the space where YouTube started. Take my word for it -- it's not exactly a luxury office suite. Bluepulse has since gotten a $6 million investment from the firm that originally funded MySpace.

The app itself seems unremarkable -- it's the usual stuff of social networking: friends lists, IMs, photos, updates. The trick seems to be that the platform works across the Web, so Bluepulse, Keighran says, "doesn't need any handset or carrier relationships." Which is huge, considering what a pain in the a** it can be to cut deals with carriers.

Bluepulse is planning some big announcements this fall, Keighran promises. Keep an eye out, mate.

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