"This is not checking in, because frankly, why do you want to check-in alone when you can start hanging out with friends on Foound. - Danny Tan"
I like the closing by Danny, the founder of Foound.
If you look closely on the existing applications, like 4□.. which does nothing in bring people together, or solving existing real-world problems. They are just new play-toys which (most) people try and forget about. Of course there are still many out there who uses these apps. But personally, me and the tech friends around me has stopped playing with FourSquare after few weeks of testing. Ok, this is not my main point of this article. Read more on this topic at newsweek.
What attracted my attention to Foound is it's idea of solving problems that we all face everyday - Trying to organize a gathering.
Is there any existing solution? Yes, there are... Facebook event? Google Calendar? But they don't help you link up with your friends who is not those platform.
I think what fundamentally makes Foound a useful app is that
- It helps answer basic info that people will want to know about a hang-out
- When,
- where,
- who is going...
- It helps bridge people from different platform
- Facebook,
- email,
- sms...
Was talking to Danny few weeks back at Tertiary Tech Conference (TTC), and asked him about Foound for Windows Phone 7/Mobile and Android. He said the team has plans for Android, but not Windows at the moment.
Can't wait for the Android app!
Heres another media interview video.
Foound interviewed by InLab Ventures
More links:
p/s: I think start-up ideas should be something like this, solving existing real world problem instead of introducing new options to the world.
