As the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Checkmate Creations, my role is connecting the dots between contacts. A big part of my job involves networking, so I have traditionally spent a lot of time meeting people at events and conferences to find and build meaningful relationships. I’ll admit that I was pretty skeptical when an intern first suggested Shapr, but it has actually been a game changer.
Shapr gives you easy access to new talent, mentors, friends and partners. It’s exactly what I need to make the most of my time when I travel to the city on business and want to squeeze in a few meetings on short notice. I can easily vet and make relationships in a swipe, and have spent a lot more time meeting people in person instead of looking for the right people to meet. Shapr has become a critical part of my networking routine, and I check it every morning.
During my first week on the app, I met Jesse Karasin from Rehash Studio. We started with a quick call since I was based in CT and he was in NY, but made plans to meet up the next day in the city. Over coffee, I got to know Jesse not only as an entrepreneur, but also as a person. We had a wide-ranging conversation about tech, startups, and working in NYC. I learned that on top of working for a digital agency, he owns and manages a Songs for Seeds franchise with his wife in Greenwich, CT.
During our conversation, we also discovered many parallels between our businesses. We learned that our agencies are at similar stages of growth, and that we have analogous team structures built around the agile development methodology. However, our respective specialties are quite different. Rehash Studio is a software development studio that produces native platform specific applications (like iOS or Android). At Checkmate Creations, we strongly excel in UX/UI Design, and work on primarily creating cross-platform web applications that work on any device. We realized there was an opportunity to work together and blend our expertise to improve our client offerings.
Since that first Shapr coffee, we have already completed two projects together. I’m grateful that Shapr has made it easier to connect with professionals who share similar interests, and that I have developed both friendships and new business off the app. I look forward to continuing to partner with Rehash Studio on future projects as well as meeting many more people on Shapr.
Don Tirea is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Checkmate Creations. Connect with him @DonTirea on Twitter.
Want to up your networking game? Visit get.shapr.net to download Shapr and start meeting likeminded professionals near you.
