6 ms·

MessageParty (YC S10): How The Idea For My Startup Came At A Music Festival

45 points by inmygarage 16y ago

andrewljohnson 16y ago
There I was, tripping balls with Phish blaring "Bouncin' 'Round the Room" and my start-up idea came to me!
revorad 16y ago
Could someone please explain what messageparty exactly does and how it works? (I don't have an iPhone.)
- inmygarage 16y ago
  MessageParty is location-based chat. You open the app and it gives you a list of nearby parties that have been created by others. It's useful for concerts, events, conferences, etc.
  - seiji 16y ago
    Well, it's useful if people use it. You have the dating site problem. You want tons of people not connected to each other using a single service. Perfect ground for a Web 1.0 multi-million dollar marketing barrage, but kinda difficult otherwise.
    - vegashacker 16y ago
      It's even got a harder battle ahead of it than a dating site does. With Message Party, there's gotta people a ton of people using the site at that moment.
  - revorad 16y ago
    So who can create a party? Presumably, you restrict people from joining a party based on their location. But I imagine there are a few edge cases. For example, if I'm on my way to a concert but want to know something about a tent beforehand, can I do it?
  - points 16y ago
    Nothing better than being at a concert, and some idiot chatting on his smartphone with strangers about how great the concert is. Why don't people just turn off their phones and enjoy the concert/event/whatever? Meh what is society coming to!
    - johnrob 16y ago
      If this app does indeed take off it will be an interesting statement about modern society. Perhaps it means we have become antisocial, or perhaps it simply means we've found a better ice breaker. I'll hope for the latter ;)
    - christonog 16y ago
      I think their vision goes beyond parties/concerts/events. It's like a mobile Q&A for a specific area. What if you were at a brick and mortar store such as Bestbuy and had a question of opinion that both the other customers there and employees can answer? Or at a restaurant and wanted to quickly know what were the best dishes people are enjoying at that moment and at that specific restaurant? Many different business applications.
  - jlgosse 16y ago
    I feel like this would be better if it were more like Bump. Basically everyone in a specific range could post to other people's devices. Support for iPhone only is lame too.
- nicholasjbs 16y ago
  It's an iPhone app for location-based chat. You open up MessageParty and it shows you a list of geographically defined "rooms" (e.g., "Mountain View, CA" or "Startup School"). This means you can chat with other people in the same town or at the same concert or conference, for example.
city41 16y ago
http://yaptime.com http://yaptime.com is a competitor. They have the exact same idea.
- eam 16y ago
  I also think Loopt's Mixx would a competitor. Isn't also similar in a way?
cadr 16y ago
I'm not sure I've ever been to a music festival where I got signal. Might make it hard to use.
- axiomotion 16y ago
  Just got back from Austin City Limits and even SMS was suffering the entire time. I never got data, not once.
- vr000m 16y ago
  they could always leverage a combination of infrastructure and peer-to-peer technology. That was going to be my first question, if they use some adhoc stuff or not? Considering it is an iPhone app (maybe not) and ofcourse there are technical challenges of who hosts the message.
happy4crazy 16y ago
I personally really love this, and have actually been thinking about a YC app idea that would complement it really nicely. I will definitely try to spread the word in Boston. Good luck!
jpwagner 16y ago
No, I bet the idea came from an annual event at MIT's DU chapter. The name of the event is "Message Party" and the idea is the same but with physical messages and takes place at a frat party. It's been going on for years and years.
- inmygarage 16y ago
  The name DID come from that event. Jason Gavris (co-founder) is an MIT DU.
patrickryan 16y ago
Until mobile carriers solve the no service problem at large festivals, this app isn't useful in that situation. I was also at Austin City Limits last weekend with no 3G service at all, all day.
guynamedloren 16y ago
This is by far one of the the coolest startups I've heard of in a while. Unlike many today, it solves a real problem for real people. I also love the fact that it bridges tech with reality (and by that, I mean physical interaction). While this seems like an obvious concept, it is completely overlooked by a surprising number of startups these days, I think it is a pretty essential component.
- points 16y ago
  You're high.
almost 16y ago
I'm not sure I've ever been at a Music Festival and thought "hey, wish I could interact more with my phone". Maybe that's just me though... Of course there's also the battery and signal issues that would make it useless at any festival I've ever been to. Maybe there are other situations in which it would be useful though...

45 points by inmygarage 16y ago

andrewljohnson 16y ago

There I was, tripping balls with Phish blaring "Bouncin' 'Round the Room" and my start-up idea came to me!

revorad 16y ago

Could someone please explain what messageparty exactly does and how it works? (I don't have an iPhone.)

inmygarage 16y ago
MessageParty is location-based chat. You open the app and it gives you a list of nearby parties that have been created by others. It's useful for concerts, events, conferences, etc.
- seiji 16y ago
  Well, it's useful if people use it. You have the dating site problem. You want tons of people not connected to each other using a single service. Perfect ground for a Web 1.0 multi-million dollar marketing barrage, but kinda difficult otherwise.
  - vegashacker 16y ago
    It's even got a harder battle ahead of it than a dating site does. With Message Party, there's gotta people a ton of people using the site at that moment.
- revorad 16y ago
  So who can create a party? Presumably, you restrict people from joining a party based on their location. But I imagine there are a few edge cases. For example, if I'm on my way to a concert but want to know something about a tent beforehand, can I do it?
- points 16y ago
  Nothing better than being at a concert, and some idiot chatting on his smartphone with strangers about how great the concert is. Why don't people just turn off their phones and enjoy the concert/event/whatever? Meh what is society coming to!
  - johnrob 16y ago
    If this app does indeed take off it will be an interesting statement about modern society. Perhaps it means we have become antisocial, or perhaps it simply means we've found a better ice breaker. I'll hope for the latter ;)
  - christonog 16y ago
    I think their vision goes beyond parties/concerts/events. It's like a mobile Q&A for a specific area. What if you were at a brick and mortar store such as Bestbuy and had a question of opinion that both the other customers there and employees can answer? Or at a restaurant and wanted to quickly know what were the best dishes people are enjoying at that moment and at that specific restaurant? Many different business applications.
- jlgosse 16y ago
  I feel like this would be better if it were more like Bump. Basically everyone in a specific range could post to other people's devices. Support for iPhone only is lame too.
nicholasjbs 16y ago
It's an iPhone app for location-based chat. You open up MessageParty and it shows you a list of geographically defined "rooms" (e.g., "Mountain View, CA" or "Startup School"). This means you can chat with other people in the same town or at the same concert or conference, for example.

city41 16y ago

http://yaptime.com http://yaptime.com is a competitor. They have the exact same idea.

eam 16y ago
I also think Loopt's Mixx would a competitor. Isn't also similar in a way?

cadr 16y ago

I'm not sure I've ever been to a music festival where I got signal. Might make it hard to use.

axiomotion 16y ago
Just got back from Austin City Limits and even SMS was suffering the entire time. I never got data, not once.
vr000m 16y ago
they could always leverage a combination of infrastructure and peer-to-peer technology. That was going to be my first question, if they use some adhoc stuff or not? Considering it is an iPhone app (maybe not) and ofcourse there are technical challenges of who hosts the message.

happy4crazy 16y ago

I personally really love this, and have actually been thinking about a YC app idea that would complement it really nicely. I will definitely try to spread the word in Boston. Good luck!

jpwagner 16y ago

No, I bet the idea came from an annual event at MIT's DU chapter. The name of the event is "Message Party" and the idea is the same but with physical messages and takes place at a frat party. It's been going on for years and years.

inmygarage 16y ago
The name DID come from that event. Jason Gavris (co-founder) is an MIT DU.

patrickryan 16y ago

Until mobile carriers solve the no service problem at large festivals, this app isn't useful in that situation. I was also at Austin City Limits last weekend with no 3G service at all, all day.

guynamedloren 16y ago

This is by far one of the the coolest startups I've heard of in a while. Unlike many today, it solves a real problem for real people. I also love the fact that it bridges tech with reality (and by that, I mean physical interaction). While this seems like an obvious concept, it is completely overlooked by a surprising number of startups these days, I think it is a pretty essential component.

points 16y ago
You're high.

almost 16y ago

I'm not sure I've ever been at a Music Festival and thought "hey, wish I could interact more with my phone". Maybe that's just me though... Of course there's also the battery and signal issues that would make it useless at any festival I've ever been to. Maybe there are other situations in which it would be useful though...