Virtual Reunion: The App?
Every few conversations in my Virtual Reunion, someone asks if my main reason for reaching out is to build a business. For example,
Hey Jason, are you thinking about building a company based on your Virtual Reunion?
or
You know, if you’re not thinking about building an app for this, you should.
In fairness, I’m reaching out to former business school classmates, so that’s a natural question. Could Virtual Reunion form the kernel of a winning business? Or at least a moderately-successful app?
Hmm. Well… Good questions.
My main reason for reaching out was, and still is, simply to reconnect. I’m still reaching out, and I’m still having conversations. It’s Wednesday morning, and I have around 10 more chats scheduled for this week.
So, I don’t have an 80-page business plan for building that business, and I don’t have a product management board full of tasks to meet the specifications for that app.
But, some of the best apps and companies have come out of solving problems. Just for fun, it might be worth considering those challenges.
In particular, there are a few key problems in the process, including
- Making time. Everyone’s busy, so the excuses flow freely. Carving out time is job 1.
- Getting started. It’s hard to stare at a blank spreadsheet or inbox. And who to contact first? Those considerations can stop you, but, by not acting now, you’re just prolonging the process, or risking never doing it.
- Finding contact information. Old emails. LinkedIn. Alumni sites. These resources are helpful, but it can be a tedious manual process to find a contact’s details.
- Scheduling time. This is a complete hassle if done improperly. That’s why I’m using Calendly.
- Connecting. Once the meeting is scheduled, you have to be there. No excuses.
- What to say. In my case, it had been 10 years with some connections. But once you get started, the conversation flows. I described some of my questions in an earlier post.
- Staying in touch. Now that you’ve reconnected and had an awesome conversation, how are you going to reduce the time between now and the next contact?
Now, we have to ask ourselves, is that only one level of problems?
Here’s the kicker.
You might have been considering this at the 1:1 level — you with one other person. And that’s what I’ve been doing with Virtual Reunion. I’ve had some group chats in the past, of course, but this process has been primarily 1:1.
At a higher level, the problems include engaging with groups. Many groups.
Naturally, it’s a social graph problem. How do you connect and engage with the groups that you want to connect with? How are you updated on people that you care about?
That’s a problem that’s been solved to varying degrees of success by numerous apps. Is that a show stopper for a new app?
Disruption is a common theme in business. Facebook entered and then dominated the market that was occupied by Friendster and other social networks.
And before Google came on the scene, many people thought that Yahoo had solved search. And there were search engines before Yahoo.
But we need to dig deeper, because there have certainly been classmate connection apps built in many countries across the world. Yet, if you asked me which one to use, I’d probably shrug and say Facebook.
Where is the business opportunity?
- Is it at the 1:1 level, just solving the reunion problem, as a glorified CRM, or a glorified spreadsheet? What would that app look like to truly differentiate?
- Is it at the group level, connecting classmates? What about families, coworkers, colleagues, and more?
Well, it’s a very interesting business problem, and perhaps I’ll write more about it soon.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think would be an ideal connection/reunion app. I’d also love to hear what others are doing to stay connected.
Read more about my Virtual Reunion:
