Startup Story#6: Paul On How Bridge Gives a New Dimension to Mobile Social Networking

Bridge – Your Free Mobile Social Network to Connect with Like-Minded Individuals

You might not be the only fan of your favorite Band or TV show in your local or physical community. There might be a whole lot of people with similar interests around you. Unlike the old times, to connect with them now all you need to do is to just use an app and locate them in a few seconds.

We all humans are born with an herd instinct. We don’t like isolation, as we love to be the part of a group. A group which interests us, which allows us to actively participate in activities which we love to do or are good at. One such real world social networking app is BRIDGE which helps you to discover and connect with the like-minded people. This app has some really unique features that helps you redefine the boundaries of real life socializing.

Unlike other social media platforms like facebook and twitter where you just connect to the people by  focusing much on content sharing or browsing through status updates here with BRIDGE you get the real essence of social networking where you really meet, chit-chat and ponder over the things with like-minded people. This app is an effort to rediscover the bonding people share through various social media platforms.A complimentary benefit offered here is that it allows you to evolve your personality gradually finding new interests and your love for the things by exploring more and more new trends, events and happenings near your area or in other parts of the world.

Paul Lutkajtis,Co- Founder of Bridge, talks more about their app Bridge on how it aims to change the face of mobile social networking by focusing on real world socializing. He also explains the need for social media apps to introduce the ‘real-life’ aspect to zest up people’s social life.

About the Company

Q: Tell us something about Bridge.

A: Bridge is a mobile, social networking app aimed at empowering people to meet other like-minded individuals in real life. Our goal is to enable you to meet the people you want to know, so you can do the things you want to do.

Q: What is the USP of Bridge?

A: In the current social networking landscape, so much attention is placed on online content sharing, often leading to individuals neglecting their real world social lives. At Bridge, our focus is on content generation; encouraging individuals to create the moments that inspire them to snap that photo, capture that video or post that status update. We achieve this through our unique approach to real world social networking, which empowers users to create a ‘bridge’ – a moment in the future where they can connect with other like-minded individuals who share a common interest.

Finding the Opportunity

Q: What triggered the idea behind Bridge?

A: I had recently relocated from California to Sydney, Australia after spending 5 years in San Francisco and was looking to completely rebuild my social circle. My brother and Co-Founder, Michael, was in a situation whereby the majority of his friends were working shift work and he was finding it difficult to arrange convenient times for them to catch up.

We both found ourselves with an inherent need to meet new people. But not just people who shared our similar interests. People who also shared our common agenda. Individuals who wanted to do what we want to do, but also when we want to do it.After discovering that no other product in the market currently serviced our needs in the way we were after, we decided to design the product ourselves.

Q: What were the key steps you took to come up with the idea of Bridge?

A: After deciding to take the journey of creating a new, real world social networking app, the first thing we did was drive to the nearest hardware store, buy a large whiteboard and nail it to our living room wall. From there, we spent several days mapping out the logic of what would be the first conceptual design of bridge. After breaking and rebuilding the UX workflows for several weeks, we finally arrived at a point whereby we were ready to inject some visual ‘life’ into the project and start our UI design. And so, bridge was born.

Q: What were the main challenges that you faced along the way? How did you overcome them?

A: Like with any large scale app project, there will always be many, many bumps along the road. Bridge was no different. We set out to build a brand new social network in a way that had never been done before. This presented us with considerable UX and UI challenges that we needed to overcome in order to ensure we arrived at a finished product that gave our users an attractive, efficient and rewarding experience.A successful project is often made up of the sum of it’s parts. Forward thinking team members, highly talented designers and efficient developers helped us to overcome all of the hurdles we faced along the way.

Working with Click Labs

Q: How did you come across Click Labs and how was your experience working with them?

A: We were referred to Click Labs by a personal friend who had previously used them for a mobile app development project. They came highly recommended, so we decided to reach out about potentially being involved in the development process of bridge.Our overall experience was fantastic. Not only was their team highly skilled, but their level of customer service was outstanding. Knowing that we would be able to get assistance in a timely fashion, when we needed it, was very important to us. Click Labs definitely excelled in this area.

Future Aspects and Word of Advice

Q: What has been the reaction following the launch of Bridge?

A: Since launching bridge in Australia and California in April of 2014, we have been blown away by the positive feedback and general interest we have received from both our users and the press. With thousands of downloads across the globe, the enthusiasm has been very encouraging to say the least.Our users have been sharing their views on the product and market space with surprisingly similar trends.

Not only do we constantly hear about the genuine need for a real world, social networking product on the market, but we are also consistently told by many that they feel bridge to be the ‘missing link’ in a sea of existing online social networking and dating applications. Bridge provides individuals with a platform to meet new people in real life without the stigma that sometimes comes attached with other products on the market. Our users definitely appreciate that aspect.

Q: What are your future plans for Bridge?

A: Our focus at present is primarily on user acquisition. Bridge is a product that improves with every new user, so increasing our reach is something very important to us.
The next steps for bridge will be to expand our growth outside of our original launch cities and across the entire US.
Throughout this process, we absolutely envision many opportunities to partner with other organizations who could benefit from working with a product such as bridge that is full of socially active and outgoing individuals.

Q:What piece of advice would you like to give to other startups and entrepreneurs who are looking forward to build and grow a new product or business?

A: The two most important pieces of advice I have ever received are:

• When looking to build a new product, or start a new business, look to solve a common but trivial problem. An issue that isn’t overly complex, but has a far reaching potential user base. For us, this was the issue of ‘meeting like-minded people in real life’. It is something that isn’t difficult to digest, but impacts millions of people across the entire globe. If you’re able to identify an issue that meets this criteria, then you’re likely onto something profound and exciting.

• Always produce a MVP(Minimal Viable Product) ! Too many startups and entrepreneurs attempt to go-to-market with a mature product before they have even validated their concept. Produce a version of your product that solves the core issue that you’re working on, then validate that people actually want what you’re building before you continue to spend your time and money developing it.

Click Labs offers development of Mobile Social Network Applications like Bridge for all of you who wish to pep up your real world social lives. To take your interesting app idea to a virtual reality,  just Get in Touch for a Free Consultation Session with our experts.