G: Tell us about your business: What do you do? What inspired you to start?
Lively is a mobile app that let’s people share photos and text together all in one go instead of just sharing a single image or a few words.
We started from the basic realization that pretty much all of the existing apps and services only let people share in quite a limited manner and it’s hard to tell the whole story – well, unless they put a lot of time and effort into a blog! Lively represents the middle ground between the sort of transactional or momentary sharing that everyone does on Twitter or Instagram, and serious blogging.
G: What is innovative / unique about what you do?
We’re really trying to give people a platform to make it easy to share a bit more with the world without having a full on blog. It’s very much a mobile-first product, with the app being the focus at the moment for both creating content and viewing content (although a web version is available). It seems simple, but it’s really just about giving people freedom to say what they want without limits, in a way that they can’t really easily do with what’s out there now.
G: What were the biggest obstacles launching the start-up and how did you overcome them?
Lively isn’t quite a startup in the strict sense. It’s the first product of mobile agency Smile Machine – so we’ve been able to avoid some of the basic issues of starting a business – we started a few years ago and have built up a team of app experts. So for us, the biggest obstacle has simply been shifting from making apps for clients to making an app for ourselves. When we become the client it’s a whole different dynamic – it’s been a great opportunity to run with a lean startup-like approach which we don’t always get to do on client projects. It’s also pushed us to learn about and do things that we don’t always do – taking the idea right from concept, through research and prototyping, to design and build, and finally to launch and promotion.
I think where we probably have a lot in common with other startups is the challenge of trying to turn techies into marketers! In attempting to work out the best way to market the app we’ve come to the general conclusion that no one really truly knows the best way to do it yet. We’ve heard of people spending as much as a hundred times more on marketing than building an app as they try all sorts of things! However, it’s been an important learning curve and has allowed ourselves to experiment and we’re certainly getting there. In a few days Lively will be in the App Store and then we’ll really start to see what works and what doesn’t!
G: What would you say has been your most memorable experience while developing your startup?
Seeing the concept evolve into a fully functioning app in our beta testing stage. We’ve had users uploading fantastic content daily and got some great feedback. When we first started scrolling through the feed and seeing really great stuff being posted by our beta users it was pretty cool! The more content we got the more we saw the potential.
G: Why did you choose Shoreditch to launch your start-up? Or why do you choose Shoreditch to run your business?
Shoreditch is probably the trendiest place in the country, and the things that are going on here need to be shared. It’s the place where the creative and tech worlds come together and for anything to do with mobile apps that’s really important – you need great design and real quality technology to build successful apps. We think being submerged in an exciting and inspiring environment is the best place to thrive, and get ideas for Lively. We love going out and writing stories about awesome places and publishing them all on the app.
G: What/who should help for the development of Shoreditch entrepreneurial community? What this community is still missing?
The entrepreneurial community in Shoreditch is great. In the few years since we first came to Shoreditch it’s just kept growing and growing and there’s a huge buzz and energy around. I think it’s starting to get noticed more and more and has gone from being a place that people are curious about and keeping an eye on, to a place where great things are really happening. I think all that’s needed is a few more big successes and that will hopefully secure a cycle of learning and investment in new startups, helping everyone in Shoreditch to achieve success quicker and easier.
G: Who/what are your favorite CEOs/Businesses in Shoreditch?
BERG is a company we admire tremendously especially since they’ve succeeded doing both great client work and great stuff themselves. Mind Candy is obviously a huge success story and we’re right across the street from them. But really anyone who’s started a business and taken it forward in the last few years gets a big helping of respect from me.
G: What are your favorite places in Shoreditch?
We love the £5 burgers at Blueberry Bar & Kitchen on a Monday. They are the perfect way to recover after the weekend. To be honest we could write you a list a mile long, particularly because we have spent a lot of time exploring this fantastic part of the city to find initial content for the app (lucky interns!) We could scream and shout all day about Brick Lane and its incredible vintage shops, gallery and street art. Maison 3 Garcons cafe is also a favourite hang-out of ours – the food is incredible! Also, Boxpark rocks, particularly because it is different every time you go.
G: What does the future have in store for Shoreditch?
If we have anything to do with it, Shoreditch will be full of a totally connected crowd of story-tellers, helping to build the hype about the area and maintain its awesomeness…and perhaps make it even better!
Brief Bio:
Lively is the latest iOS mobile app for sharing unlimited images and text to a captivated community in the form of a ‘story’. The app represents the midway point between momentary sharing and serious blogging. The mobile exclusivity enables users to be creative and spontaneously share stories anytime, anywhere. Lively is perfect for those of us who fancy saying and sharing a little more.
Social Links:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/livelysays
Facebook: www.facebook.com/livelysays
Website/Blog: www.livelyapp.com
