Home What is Unsearch? Launchpad Winner Baydin Thinks it’s the Future

What is Unsearch? Launchpad Winner Baydin Thinks it’s the Future

Quirky Boston-based startup Baydin won this year’s Enterprise 2.0 Launchpad competition with their interesting take on e-mail search: Unsearch. Unsearch, now in closed alpha, is an Outlook plugin that analyzes individual e-mail messages as they’re read, and provides relevant search results next to the message. Imagine Gmail, but with related files and e-mail conversations instead of ads.

The ZapThink report the company commissioned notes that Outlook add-ons can be a dicey business proposition. “If Microsoft likes what a partner is doing and thinks they can do better themselves, then they’ll simply incorporate the partner’s functionality into their software and put the partner out of business.”

We asked Baydin CEO Alexander Moore how the company hopes to avoid commoditization. Moore thinks the company has some secret sauce that’s difficult to clone. Although driven in part by Microsoft’s Windows Desktop Search API, Unsearch does its own filtering of search results returned by the API. “We have two layers of proprietary technology sandwiched around Microsoft’s tech,” says Moore. First, Unsearch analyzes the e-mail and extracts keywords. Then, it runs the keywords through the search API and returns search results from within the user’s e-mail as well as the organization’s Sharepoint and other locations. Finally, it runs a set of proprietary algorithms on the search results to filter and reorder them and displays those processed results.

The only piece of software Baydin has released publicly is Boomerang, a simple piece of productivity software that allows users to move a message out of their inboxes until a pre-scheduled time. Moore admits that Boomerang would be easier to replicate than unsearch, but notes that it’s actually just one piece part of a larger forthcoming project. “We decided to go ahead and release it as a standalone product when we realized that there were a lot of people who needed that specific feature right now,” he says.

Baydin could be seen as competing with Xobni.

According to the company’s web site, the word “Baydin” is Burmese for “foretelling the future through magic.” The company has strong ties to Burma: one of the founders ethnically Burmese, the other is in a long-term romantic relationship with someone from Burma. The company promises to donate 5% of its profits towards educational efforts in Burma.

Baydin won the Enterprise 2.0 Launchpad competition in Boston last week. The other finalists were Doodle, InnovationCast and MindQuilt. Last year’s winner was CubeTree.

Baydin presented the following video at the Enterprise 2.0, which includes a history of the financial crisis that could be charitably called “incomplete”:

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.