G: Tell us about your business: What do you do? What did inspire you to start?
Hype! http://hypeapp.co/ tells you what is going on around you right now. It lets users know about best places, coffee, food, shops, people, local news and events in real time. Hype! also helps local businesses and non for profits to reach customers locally now.
The inspiration behind Hype! is a fact that 68% of people sleep with mobile phones next to their heads. Seriously, we are with them every single moment! We thought it is medieval to find out about what is going on in the area by physically going there, we thought it should be instant, now – when you need it. This is where Hype! came to be.
G: What is unique about what you do?
We are real time. And we are 24/7. We have real people in the area going around and looking for hype moments right now. That is the reason we will never feature a rooftop bar on a rainy day. We care about context – weather, time of the day and day of the week.
We tried hard to find other companies which do the same before we started Hype!, but we had no luck. Maybe this is the reason why even before the launch people were trying to compare our idea with a lot of different propositions, from listing sites to ticketing platforms.
We are about the moments such as a musician around the corner, live street art down the street, gallery having an opening now, new stall in Bricklane, pop-up shop you didn’t know about, a dog with sunglasses, happy cocktail hour, free gig tonight or new dish at this restaurant. We feature what is going on right now only or will start in no more than 3 hours. We don’t sell tickets, we don’t do bookings, we bring you news and best information. Hype! is like a news channel on your phone.
G: What were the biggest obstacles launching the start-up and how did you overcome them?
We are two founders and we tend to do everything ourselves. Sometimes it was hard to keep going. We both code, meet investors, manage work-flow, hire new people, organise meet-ups. First month we launched we even created all the content ourselves so we could teach others later and form the culture. Happily, we now have one great developer Aidas who helps us out and contributes a lot with very clever technical decisions.
How we overcome it? We just keep going, as long as you don’t stop you are moving forward.
G: What would you say has been your most memorable experience while developing your startup?
Our first meetup with curators interested to broadcast live in the area. We had 40 people, so many different personalities, we all had drinks and chat, it was really inspiring. To actually see people interested in what you are doing.
G: Why did you choose Shoreditch to launch your start-up?
We both are very technical people, we code and are geeky, but we come from creative background. 5 years ago we had an Art Center. Shoreditch is where both worlds come together – creative and technical. You can meet hipsters, anarchists, designers, venture capitalists and engineers here. We love it and thought it will be a great area to start with.
G: What/who should help for the development of Shoreditch entrepreneurial community?
We think the biggest slice of the pie goes to people from banking, business or technical backgrounds and not creative. This is very boring. We should have more colours and more diversity. We think investors should give a chance for designers, artists, musicians, producers and other creatives to start and run new businesses.
G: Who/what are your favorite CEOs/Businesses in Shoreditch?
We like Sugru, Berg, Future Human, Soul Kitchen and others. We love every business which is creative, innovative and makes social good.
G: What are your favorite places in Shoreditch?
We love Shutterbug, this is our usual place to work, have some crepes and cocktails. We also like Red Market, Paper & Dress, Timberyard and others!
G: What does the future has in store for Shoreditch?
If teleportation will ever be invented, it will definitely be in Shoreditch and it will be powered by bicycle!
Social links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShoreditchHype
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ShoreditchHype
Website/Blog: http://hypeapp.co/
