Here’s my interview with founder and co-founder of a brand new app called Conecter!
Name: Brittney Urich
Major: Professional Writing
Year: Senior
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Name: Zoe Zappitell
Major: Professional Writing
Year: Junior
Hometown: Delray Beach, Florida
How did you two come up with the idea to make Conecter? In January, we decided that we wanted to create an app focused on helping college students. We wanted to create something innovative and different from the traditional social media apps. After brainstorming the problems that students face at Michigan State, we determined that finding friends was a huge issue on such a large campus. It was then that we began creating Conecter, a mobile application that connects college students to eat, study, work out and have fun together. The app consists of a feed of real-time events created by students, for students on their campus.
What was the process involved with creating the app? We have been working on this since January. We first conducted market research to see if a lot of students had difficulty making friends, and if they wanted to eat, study and workout with other students. Once we verified that this was a significant problem on campus, we developed some sketches of what the interface could look like. We used Sketch3 software to turn our sketches into digital prototypes. We have spent months redesigning these prototypes and testing them with students and usability experts. Since we are not developers, our biggest dilemma was finding people who would code the app for us. We ended up partnering with Venturit, a development firm based in East Lansing, Michigan. They are currently in the process of developing Conecter. Generally, we speak to them on a daily basis about exactly what we want to happen, and then we test what they produce. Conecter will be released to the public in January 2016.
How have you marketed the app to students? We have been focusing on general brand awareness until Conecter launches. We have made a push on social media, especially Twitter. Twitter is an easy way to quickly push out events happening at Michigan State. We have also been visiting classes to talk about our app and the resources available for entrepreneurship on Michigan State’s campus. We’ve started collecting the names of students who want to be first on the app, and we are currently running a contest. The club that gets the most students to sign up ahead of time at conecterapp.com will receive $100. We plan to continue on social media, and we hope that word of mouth will help us expand on campus.
What resources or advantages has MSU or being a Spartan offered you, in terms of brand awareness for your app? We wouldn’t be where we are today without the resources at Michigan State. As students, we have been able to attend many Spartan-specific events to promote our app and get our name out there to students and alumni alike. We We have tied our Twitter account to MSU by posting about on-campus events from the perspective of a fellow student. We also appeal to many because we understand the problems of a Spartan and want to help our fellow Spartans.
Do you have any advice for students who would like to create their own app or are interested in pursuing a career as an entrepreneur? If you have an idea for a business, don’t be afraid to talk about it. There are so many resources available on campus. For starters, at Michigan State you can visit the Hatch in the MSU Innovation Center, where there are funds and mentors ready to help you with an idea. We would also advise students to look for a mentor among their professors. There are plenty of professors on campus that are willing to get involved and help you.
What experiences have you gained from being the founders of Conecter? We have had so many wonderful experiences together; it’s hard to pick. This month, we were honored to have lunch with The President of Michigan State University, Lou Anna K. Simon, who understood the importance of our product for Michigan State students. Another amazing experience was participating in Techweek Chicago, where we pitched our idea to hundreds of people over the course of two days. Our daily experiences have also taught us many lessons. Before we started, we barely knew how to fill out a business canvas, let alone how to prepare a profit and loss statement and file as an LLC. We truly are different women from when we started, and we are still developing and learning everyday. One of the best parts of our job is that no two work days are the same, and we wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
Be sure to follow all of Conecter’s social media pages and look out for its release in January of 2016!