It’s a Thursday night, and you get a text from a mysterious number. Before you can spend much time wondering who it is, you read the first line, “FRM: Bars Dude.” Okay, so it’s Bars Dude, but who is the dude behind it all? Her Campus investigated, and as it turns out, it’s not just one dude; it’s four dudes and a dudette!
Read on to learn a little bit more about Bars Dude and its founders (and if you haven’t given them your phone number yet, you might want to when you see the picture!)!
What is Bars Dude?
BarsDude is an SMS text-based advertising service that connects local restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues with local users based on users’ preferences.
How did y’all think of the concept/the name?
It was always a little arbitrary where we chose to go out on any given night. When we first got to school, we actually called this one guy on our hall “Bars Dude” because he always seemed to know fun places to go with good drinks. We actually created the site in our spare time a while back and then re-visited the idea to use it for our Entrepreneurship class this year. People seemed to like the idea, so we figured we should start launching live deals.
How do you administer it?
We run the site completely on our own and actually ran it off the UVA server when we first started it for our class. Each week we talk to different restaurants/bars and then choose one or two deals to go out to our users.
What are the benefits of signing up?
Users who sign up get 2-3 exclusive BarsDude deals sent directly to their mobile phone each week. For example, last week Bars Dude promoted a deal for $0.25 wings and $1 pints at College Inn.
Sounds great – how do we sign up?
Signing up is easy. News users just have to visit our website (www.barsdude.com), select their university, and enter their phone numbers and carriers. They’ll get some great deals, and there is absolutely no spam.
Meet the founders (in order, from left to right):
Aaron Kur
Hometown:McLean, VA
Major: Commerce (Finance)
Where he’ll be next year:New York City (Sales and Trading, Goldman Sachs)
Childhood career dream:A Secret Agent or a Professional Athlete (I soon realized this was not going to happen)
Hobbies:Playing Music (guitar and piano), pick-up sports, and pretending I’m not going to graduate in two months
Favorite drink: Anything but tequila
Favorite Charlottesville Bar: The Virginian
Eric Trouton
Hometown: Alexandria, VA
Major: Systems Engineering and Economics
Where he’ll be next year: I’m working at BlackRock in New York next year.
Childhood career dream: A roller coaster tycoon or a jet fighter pilot.
Hobbies: Pick-up basketball, skiing, mountain biking, gambling
Favorite drink: Bourbon and coke, or anything with an umbrella
Favorite Charlottesville Bar: Virginian, or Backyard/Biltmore when it’s warm
TJ Wootton
Hometown: Virginia Beach, VA
Major: Bachelor of Science in Commerce with a concentration in Finance and Accounting
Where he’s going to be next year: New York, NY (working in the Private Bank for J.P. Morgan)
Childhood career dream: As a kid, I always wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps and be a doctor. I even came into college with this dream, but it was crushed upon taking my first UVA chemistry course.
Hobbies: Surfing, playing all sports, following Washington D.C. sports teams
Favorite drink: John Wall shots, or Bourbon and Coke
Favorite Charlottesville Bar: The Virginian
Stephanie Deichman
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Major: Commerce – Management and IT
Where she’s going to be next year: DC – Consulting for Accenture
Childhood career dream:When I was four I wanted to be a Dentist. Dream big.
Hobbies:Hiking, reading, drinking
Favorite drink:Dirty Martini or Bloody Mary
Favorite Charlottesville Bar: Virginian, of course!
Bill Igou
Hometown:Huntsville, AL
Major:Commerce
Where he’s going to be next year: Atlanta – McKinsey and Company Consulting
Childhood career dream: Doctor
Hobbies: Hiking, reading non-fiction, good food, hunting
Favorite drink: Bourbon and ginger
Favorite Charlottesville Bar: The Virginian