TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016- Netaround
TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016- Netaround
Alan: Hi, this is Alan Olsen’s American Dreams and I’m here today with Yiqiu Gao and Sijia who are the co-founders of Netaround. Welcome to today’s show.
Yiqiu: Hi, American Dreams.
Alan: So can you tell me about your company Netaround?
Yiqiu: Yeah, so we are actually autonomous social networking. Autonomous social networking means people can freely build up connections at any event without having a context change up front. So the autonomous social networking is powered by location technologies. People create location based geo-fenced on at like certain event venue so that all the attendees who are currently in that range site can quickly discover that zone and jump in and once they jump in, you will have all the attendees leased and you can assess their profile and also do a private chat with people. So this can substitute the business card because traditionally, the business card is really hard to organize and there’s not much information on the business card so it’s not really efficient. So with that around you can very quickly get all the attendees profile information and that’s a very awesome way of networking in any event.
Sijia: I would say it’s more efficient so we can directly find the right person to talk to cause each profile, they have a special tag they put for themselves. So if I’m an investor and looking for a marketing startup, I can just write my tag “looking for a marketing startup”. And if I’m a marketing startup looking for an investor I can just put “looking for investor” so people can directly know what I am about, why I am here for this event. So they can directly talk to me, so it’s more efficient. Yeah.
Alan: How does a person find your company?
Yiqiu: Uh, the person find the company?
Alan: Yeah, if they want to sign up for your app and..
Yiqiu: Oh, so we actually launched on the app store a couple days ago. So they can find us on the apple store and download Netaround. Currently we only have iOS version unfortunately, but we are planning to have the angel version out soon. So, yeah, they can go to app store directly and search for Netaround and download it.
Alan: Okay, and is this your first company?
Yiqiu: Yeah, exactly. We actually graduated from, you know, college. And so we started our startup.
Alan: I am amazed at the fact that you’re right out of college, you’re going to do your own company. What inspired you to do that?
Yiqiu: So I was once in a competition and there were 100 people in that competition. And I was actually looking for someone that I wanted to personally approach them, but then I was being drug into group chatting things and I didn’t find that person in that group thing. Because there are only half of them in that group, and that group is only by invitation. So I found that it’s not really efficient to only do something based on location or based on same topic or interest. And so people can just discover and freely jump in if they are in the same commonality, you know, stuff. So that’s why I came up with this idea. Just trying it out.
Alan: And how old is your company right now?
Yiqiu: So currently we have my co-founders and other co-founder back in New York, we are based in New York and two developers. So we are Boot-strapping and we just launched a couple days ago and we are actually planning on user acquisitions right now.
Alan: This is what entrepreneurism is about and I really admire you for stepping out and launching your own company right out of college.
Yiqiu: Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, it’s a little challenging.
Alan: Just curious, you were classmates in college?
Yiqiu: Yeah, we are.
Alan: And what school was that?
Yiqiu: Pace University.
Alan: Pace University. Okay, Yiqiu and Sijia, thank you for being on today’s show.
Yiqiu: Thank you so much.
Sijia: Thank you so much.
We hope you found this article about “TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2016- Netaround” helpful. If you have questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us or visit our Family office page or our website at www.GROCO.com. Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.
To receive our free newsletter, contact us here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more updates.
Alan Olsen, is the Host of the American Dreams Show and the Managing Partner of GROCO.com. GROCO is a premier family office and tax advisory firm located in the San Francisco Bay area serving clients all over the world.
Alan L. Olsen, CPA, Wikipedia Bio
GROCO.com is a proud sponsor of The American Dreams Show.
The American Dreams show was the brainchild of Alan Olsen, CPA, MBA. It was originally created to fill a specific need; often inexperienced entrepreneurs lacked basic information about raising capital and how to successfully start a business.
Alan sincerely wanted to respond to the many requests from aspiring entrepreneurs asking for the information and introductions they needed. But he had to find a way to help in which his venture capital clients and friends would not mind.
The American Dreams show became the solution, first as a radio show and now with YouTube videos as well. Always respectful of interview guest’s time, he’s able to give access to individuals information and inspiration previously inaccessible to the first-time entrepreneurs who need it most.
They can listen to venture capitalists and successful business people explain first-hand, how they got to where they are, how to start a company, how to overcome challenges, how they see the future evolving, opportunities, work-life balance and so much more..
American Dreams discusses many topics from some of the world’s most successful individuals about their secrets to life’s success. Topics from guest have included:
Creating purpose in life / Building a foundation for their life / Solving problems / Finding fulfillment through philanthropy and service / Becoming self-reliant / Enhancing effective leadership / Balancing family and work…
MyPaths.com (Also sponsored by GROCO) provides free access to content and world-class entrepreneurs, influencers and thought leaders’ personal success stories. To help you find your path in life to true, sustainable success & happiness. It’s mission statement:
In an increasingly complex and difficult world, we hope to help you find your personal path in life and build a strong foundation by learning how others found success and happiness. True and sustainable success and happiness are different for each one of us but possible, often despite significant challenges.
Our mission at MyPaths.com is to provide resources and firsthand accounts of how others found their paths in life, so you can do the same.
Is Corporate America Getting Away With Too Little Tax?
It’s an argument that’s all too common in the business world: big multi-national companies don’t pay their fair share of taxes. A new study will only serve to add more fuel to the fire, as according to its findings, seven of the 30 biggest companies in the United States reportedly paid more to their CEOs…
Business in New York Being Buried by Heavy Tax Load
New York, New York: It’s the town so nice they named it twice. But when it comes to taxes in one of the world’s greatest states, things aren’t so nice. That’s because New York is one of the worst places to live if you don’t want to pay a lot of taxes. New York has…
Thinking About Loaning Cash to Your Business?
Are you looking to start a business, or is your current business in need of some cash? Maybe you can’t get a loan from a bank, or maybe you would rather not use a bank. What about lending some of your own money to your company? Can you do that? Yes, you can, but you’ll…
Which Tax Extensions Will Affect Your 2014 Return?
Are You Ready for Your 2014 Taxes? Although many people might answer yes to that question, the fact is taxpayers can only do so much as long as Congress is dragging its feet on several expired tax extenders. The fact that these extenders are still sitting in limbo is nothing new. It happens almost every…