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I would like to comment a little bit on my competitors. Facebook and meetup.com are search based events. If you want to find something to do you have to search

I would like to comment a little bit on my competitors. Facebook and meetup.com are search based events. If you want to find something to do you have to search it. You could get invited as well but if you don't you will never know about an event unless you actively look for it. They are not the same culture ethier. I would not go on meetup.com to see if my friends are going to the bar. The same goes for Facebook. Also I'm 21 most of my friends don't use Facebook. I went on meetup.com to find coding events or networking events. A lot of my friends have never heard of meetup.com. My problem is I hate texting people every time I'm trying to go out for the night. If people don't already have plans that I can go to, I have to create the plans. Then I have get everyone on board with them. I have texted like over 20 people doing this sometimes, and we don't always have a group chat, or want one. People hate group chats sometimes because you get included in a conversation that you didn't even want to be included in the first place. Plus your phone dings too much with group chats. And some people can't make it due to timing, or simple they don't want to go. So I would love an app where I can just go on it, see what all my friends are doing that night, and go to their events.

root_axis 6y ago
You may be on to something with respect to culture, but that is where the hard work will be: user experience design and marketing that codifies the culture into a brand that can distinguish your product among the sea of commodity social networking software.
- ryansam 6y ago
  Well my signup screen (first thing the user sees) has a background photo of a night life party to set the tone. Maybe I should make it darkmode themed to set the tone more but I don't want to discourage people using this to meet up for coffee. I strongly agree though, lots of hard work will be needed to be put in culture.
  - rdtwo 6y ago
    I don’t think there is currently any danger of anybody using it for anything.
  - rblatz 6y ago
    Why are you forcing singup? Skip that, make it optional. When people are invited to an event send them a unique link tied to their email/phone number/WhatsApp or whatever. Create a long lived cookie that identifies them as that user. If someone really wants to create an account with a login and password let them, but don’t make them create yet another account to manage. Edit: Also as you build the graph out, consider making all events private by default, and providing a what’s up feature that would let your friends/clique/circle/squad or whatever you are calling it know you are looking for plans tonight. Then let them opt you into visibility for their evening plans.
    - ryansam 6y ago
      Well there is a signup wall however it's "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Apple". For now it's iPhone only so by default everyone already has an account (after hitting the Apple button). Once on android I think Google is the default for that as well. Also I could use their APIs to send links to people who don't have the app.
      - rblatz 6y ago
        Obviously your long term goal is to get an app on your users phone. But today you need to build a base of users and get a network effect going. That’s going to be extremely hard. Any barriers to getting someone using your platform should be torn down. Requiring an app is a barrier. Find a way to build a web version of this to show value and get people to choose to install the app.
avree 6y ago
Both meetup.com and Facebook have news feeds that show me which events my contacts are attending... Maybe you should research your demo a bit more, and try to think about why Facebook or someone else in this space hasn't already built what you are trying to build (since it's not a particularly novel or new idea, honestly)
sulam 6y ago
Listen, your idea is inherently viral, so if you can’t make it work, it’s probably because you’re focusing on solving the wrong part of the problem. Simplest solution: an app that texts my friends with an invite to an event, and has a link if they want to go that takes them back to my site and gives them a chance to change their mind on the page. No download required. If people want to make their own events, they have to download your app. If _that_ doesn’t grow, then you’re just not solving a painful enough problem. It might be painful for _you_, but it’s not painful enough for your friends.
WesleyJohnson 6y ago
While not your target audience, my wife is someone who hates group texts. She loves my family, but I put her in a group text once with them and her drove insane. With the younger generations moving away from facebook, etc, I think this could work - as others have said below. Good luck.

root_axis 6y ago

You may be on to something with respect to culture, but that is where the hard work will be: user experience design and marketing that codifies the culture into a brand that can distinguish your product among the sea of commodity social networking software.

ryansam 6y ago
Well my signup screen (first thing the user sees) has a background photo of a night life party to set the tone. Maybe I should make it darkmode themed to set the tone more but I don't want to discourage people using this to meet up for coffee. I strongly agree though, lots of hard work will be needed to be put in culture.
- rdtwo 6y ago
  I don’t think there is currently any danger of anybody using it for anything.
- rblatz 6y ago
  Why are you forcing singup? Skip that, make it optional. When people are invited to an event send them a unique link tied to their email/phone number/WhatsApp or whatever. Create a long lived cookie that identifies them as that user. If someone really wants to create an account with a login and password let them, but don’t make them create yet another account to manage. Edit: Also as you build the graph out, consider making all events private by default, and providing a what’s up feature that would let your friends/clique/circle/squad or whatever you are calling it know you are looking for plans tonight. Then let them opt you into visibility for their evening plans.
  - ryansam 6y ago
    Well there is a signup wall however it's "Sign in with Google" or "Sign in with Apple". For now it's iPhone only so by default everyone already has an account (after hitting the Apple button). Once on android I think Google is the default for that as well. Also I could use their APIs to send links to people who don't have the app.
    - rblatz 6y ago
      Obviously your long term goal is to get an app on your users phone. But today you need to build a base of users and get a network effect going. That’s going to be extremely hard. Any barriers to getting someone using your platform should be torn down. Requiring an app is a barrier. Find a way to build a web version of this to show value and get people to choose to install the app.

avree 6y ago

Both meetup.com and Facebook have news feeds that show me which events my contacts are attending... Maybe you should research your demo a bit more, and try to think about why Facebook or someone else in this space hasn't already built what you are trying to build (since it's not a particularly novel or new idea, honestly)

sulam 6y ago

Listen, your idea is inherently viral, so if you can’t make it work, it’s probably because you’re focusing on solving the wrong part of the problem. Simplest solution: an app that texts my friends with an invite to an event, and has a link if they want to go that takes them back to my site and gives them a chance to change their mind on the page. No download required. If people want to make their own events, they have to download your app. If _that_ doesn’t grow, then you’re just not solving a painful enough problem. It might be painful for _you_, but it’s not painful enough for your friends.

WesleyJohnson 6y ago

While not your target audience, my wife is someone who hates group texts. She loves my family, but I put her in a group text once with them and her drove insane. With the younger generations moving away from facebook, etc, I think this could work - as others have said below. Good luck.