With hooligans grabbing the spotlight more often than not, warm and cozy aren’t terms that are usually associated with fans of European soccer/football. A new Swiss venture called Sleep-In could change that. Set up in advance of the 2008 European Football Championship that will take place in Switzerland and Austria this June, Sleep-In enables area residents from both countries to offer their homes to visiting soccer fans. Visitors can list the type of accommodations they’re looking for, and local hosts choose their temporary housemates based on the write-ups that guests submit.

Besides access to accommodation that is low cost and in some cases free, the site’s overriding benefit, its organizers say, is the chance it affords both parties to meet new people. To make sure everyone is satisfied with the arrangements they negotiate, Sleep In exhorts its users to be truthful in the descriptions they place in their ads.

We covered a comparable website last year, which facilitated bed-sharing at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and, like Sleep-In, didn’t feature advertising. However, revenues from ads could fuel similar sites for other events. The concept’s chief advantage is that it’s relatively easy to launch. A few days spent piecing together a website, sending out press releases and garnering blog posts might be all that’s required to generate some handy extra cash.

Website: www.sleep-in.ch
Contact: www.sleep-in.ch/kontakt.php

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

We've always said everything can be upgraded (or premiumized, in our sister site trendwatching.com’s current lingo) and the recruiting industry is no exception. To wit: TheLadders, a job site created exclusively for high earners looking for jobs paying USD 100,000 or more.

TheLadders lists more than 35,000 new jobs each month—all of them with annual salaries of USD 100K or higher—including many C-level, vice president, director and manager positions. Seven functional areas are served by specialized search engines, creating "ladder" listings specific to sales, marketing, finance, human resources, law, technology and operations; an eighth list, meanwhile, captures all other fields. But just as the site focuses on high-end jobs, so, too, does it cater to high-end earners. Reasoning that free access makes it too easy for less-qualified candidates to flood recruiters with a deluge of poor-quality applications, TheLadders grants full access to its listings only to premium members, who must pay USD 30 a month for the privilege. Such members can access the full set of listed jobs as well as connect with corporate and executive recruiters. A one-on-one resume service, advice from career experts, customized online profiles and e-mail alerts are available, as are a host of services for recruiters.

Since TheLadders was founded in 2003 by ex-HotJobs.com executive Marc Cenedella, the New York-based site has grown into the largest specialty employment website in the world, it says, with more than 1,600,000 members and over 35,000 recruiters using its .com and .co.uk websites. Last fall it was named a Momentum 2007 Company at the Momentum Growth Conference in recognition of its revenue growth over a short period of time, proven and scalable business model, user-base size, customers and partnerships. A good one to emulate, either in other regions or targeting niches with similarly simple boundaries.

Website: www.theladders.com — www.theladders.co.uk
Contact: www.theladders.com/abouttheladderscontact

Personal gene sequencing may be just beginning to make its way into the mainstream commercial world (see our post on Genome mapping services, as well as DNA-driven dating, which we just covered), but it's already getting upgraded. Witness Knome, which is offering whole-genome mapping for USD 350,000.

Launched in November, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Knome is offering just 20 individuals the opportunity to participate in its debut by having their entire genomes sequenced. Whereas the contenders we've already written about have focused on sequencing just key parts of the human genome for anywhere between USD 985 and USD 2,500, Knome will map out and analyse the entire thing--something only two people have had done before. That means decoding the 6 billion bits of information that make up an individual’s genome, and the result is a comprehensive view of more than 20,000 genes and insight into the individual's risk of developing up to 2,000 common and rare conditions. Knome's price also includes a thorough analysis and continued support by a team of geneticists, clinicians and bioinformaticians. Clients will retain full ownership of their personal genome and have the ability to anonymously share all or portions of it with researchers and other medical professionals.

Dr. George Church, PhD, a cofounder of the firm and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, explains: “In 2003, the Human Genome Project completed a 12-year effort to sequence the first human genome at a cost of USD 3 billion. Only very recently have costs come down to a level where it is now feasible for private individuals to be sequenced and analyzed. We expect this evolution to quickly usher in a new era in personalized medicine.”

Need we say more? As this type of service becomes more commonplace, there will be plenty of demand for medical consultants who can put it all in perspective. Something tells us there may be a whole new market for medical lawyers as well...

Website: www.knome.com
Contact: info@knome.com

Spotted by: Bjarke Svendsen

Of all the markets that could benefit from increased price transparency, the one for used cars surely ranks near the very top. Pricing sites have emerged in one area after another—including Zillow for home buyers—but now used-car buyers finally have one of their very own with the launch last fall of PriceHub.

San Francisco-based PriceHub was created by two car enthusiasts who have collectively bought, owned and sold more than 30 (mostly used) cars over the last decade. They observed that while car buyers can refer to published invoice prices, MSRP prices, book values, trade-in values and other estimates of valuation, there was no source of real, actual car transaction prices. PriceHub, now in beta, is dedicated to providing that price transparency as well as a community for people to share and discuss prices. Users of the site can search for a car's make and model, and PriceHub will furnish a chart listing transactions made, including model year, mileage, condition, location, transaction date and actual sale price. People who have just bought a used car can submit the price they paid, thereby adding more data to the list, and PriceHub gathers sale prices from various auctions, agencies and dealers as well. Used-car sellers, meanwhile, can get a better indication of how much they can reasonably charge given their car's make, year, options and mileage. Sellers on Craigslist have even been spotted using PriceHub to justify their asking price, according to the company blog.

Exposing pricing information for all to see is an example of what our sister site trendwatching.com would call transparency tyranny—a phenomenon that's informing buyers and leaving sellers with no place to hide. The lesson for companies: Offer real value, or pay the (figurative) price yourself!

Website: www.pricehub.com
Contact: info@pricehub.com

Spotted by: Bill McMahon

Last year we covered muesli that's mixed to order, and now You Bar has brought another customizable food to the table with its design-your-own nutrition bars.

Customers of You Bar can choose every ingredient that goes into their nutrition bars: the base, protein powders, nuts and seeds, fruits and berries, sweeteners, seasonings, grains and infusions. One consumer might select cashew butter with shredded coconut, organic molasses and nutty rice cereal, for example; another might choose dates, soy protein, walnuts, ground cinnamon and dried banana. Special requests such as for organic ingredients or "extra crunchy" can also be accommodated. Consumers can choose a name for their specially designed bars, and You Bar will print it on each wrapper. For those feeling overwhelmed by the list of choices, on the other hand, You Bar offers three popular bar styles—"Honey Cashew," "Great Date with Chocolate" and "Breakfast Bar"—that are still customizable, but based on set ingredients. All bars are freshly made to order in You Bar's kitchens; pricing is USD 40 plus shipping for 12 fully customized bars, or USD 30 plus shipping for 12 of one of You Bar's popular styles.

Los Angeles-based You Bar was founded about two years ago by a mother-and-son team frustrated with the limited choices on the retail shelves. They're certainly in good company, as consumers have begun to expect having it their way, all the time. Because the bars fall into the realm of snack foods, they also lend themselves particularly naturally to use as gifts—promotional or otherwise. It's hard to imagine a health club, for example, that couldn't delight its members with specially concocted and self-named nutrition bars. (Related: Custom vitamin packs, Blends for Friends tea.)

Website: www.youbars.com
Contact: support@youbars.com

Spotted by: Jonathan Teller