Recent news that social media giant Facebook successfully bought WhatsApp for around $12billion and bid $3billion in an attempt to purchase Snapchat highlights that the Apps business can be extremely lucrative.
Modern city lifestyles make time the most valuable commodity. Those that earn the most money rarely have time to enjoy spending it, due to the excessively long hours demanded by most industries. This makes the more relaxed lifestyle of working as an entrepreneur an extremely attractive prospect for many high-powered businessmen and women.
This was very much the case for Sebastian Brock, who until recently worked as an acquisitions and mergers lawyer in the City. This involved working 16 hour days and frequently sleeping in the office. Inspired by a 25 year old friend who owned his own apartment in London and went to the gym for a couple of hours whenever he wanted to, Seb decided to change careers and become an entrepreneur. Along with two other developers, Seb has developed Chattoo, a brand new group networking and messaging app. Last week, the group came to Shiplake and spoke to Year 12 Business students prior to them undertaking a product testing focus group on the Chattoo app.
‘I began with a green ideas book. I wrote down every idea that I thought of. Many of them were nonsense and I rejected them almost immediately. Increasingly I saw that there was a need for an app for the 16–24 market that made it safer for young people to communicate online. As an entrepreneur, perseverance is absolutely vital,’ Seb explained. ‘The developers of Snapchat had failed with 31 previous business ideas before finally succeeding. You must never give up. You have to learn from the failures, adapt and improve your product and service. Every product has to solve a problem.’
The Chattoo trio’s first app MonkeyFind enabled businesses to offer spot discounts to shoppers at quiet times. The idea proved popular with advertisers but it inevitably failed to solve a problem for many consumers. The group quickly learnt that not enough people can drop everything for a discount lunch or shopping spree, and therefore after initial promise the app promptly suffered a decline in popularity.
James Wilkinson, an Old Viking currently studying for an MBA at Henley Management College, is working alongside the investors in Chattoo. James introduced Chattoo to the College, suggesting that current pupils could help to provide valuable feedback.
Downloading a test version of Chattoo onto their phones, the pupils found that it was an instinctive and intuitive app. Girls in particular liked the idea of talking to new pupils as part of a group. Groups can communicate with each other if the majority of members provide consent. Many of the pupils saw the app’s potential value when heading off for a group holiday or attending festivals and sporting events. ‘We anticipate it being popular with university students in their early terms. Our research shows that meeting new people is one of the key energy points in many people’s days,’ added Seb Brock.
‘How do you see the company making money from this app?’ was the $64,000 question asked by every group. ‘We have no plans to monetise the product in the early stages. Pop-up advertising can be tacky, but as numbers grow we can look to introduce advertisers who can provide offers for the benefits of the users. For instance, if two groups agree to meet at a club or bar, the business could promise them a discount.’
You can try Chattoo for yourself at www.chattooapp.com. Once product trials are complete the app will be available for free download.
