Cozi Gets Comfortable

Robbie Cape and Jan Miksovsky started Cozi to address the need for better coordination and communications within families concerning things like shopping lists and kids’ sports activities.

Says Cape, CEO of Cozi, “Eighty percent of the families that are connected to the internet are still using some kind of pen and paper method to manage their lives.” 

Cozi’s software provides a calendar-on-the-fridge experience for coordinating schedules without the hassle of sticky notes and constant phone call reminders. Users get an integrated online calendar, shopping list, to-do list and updatable family journal. They can set reminders, which can be sent to a family member’s cell phone or e-mail address. If Dad needs to pick up chicken for dinner, Cozi will send him a message right before he leaves work. The software is simple to use, requiring little more than pointing and clicking.

This free, web-based service is accessible from a PC or through a $1.99 app on a smartphone. A complete mobile version of Cozi is in the works.

Cozi makes money by selling advertisements that are seen by its 2.7 million users, a number that is steadily growing. The advertisements are often targeted contextually, such as a to-do list to help families get ready for flu season that is sponsored by Tamiflu. Cozi’s ad revenue increased 600 percent from 2008 to 2009, and Cape is expecting a similar increase in 2010.

He stresses Cozi’s family-centric approach. “If you look at any part of our company, our site, our office, our business partnerships, it’s obvious that we have a fanatical focus on families. We want families who use Cozi to have a better relationship with each other.”

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