What We’re Shouting For
Shout had a very exciting week. UrbanDaddy posted an article Tuesday afternoon and within a half hour our user base had doubled. The New York Post and Refinery29 followed; then, my proud, Jewish mother called to tell me Kelly and Michael were chatting about Shout. By 5 O’clock on Thursday, I was on the Pat Kiernan radio show. After I hung up, Pat’s co-host implied that Shout could soon be used to sell plots in a cemetery to the highest bidder. Boy, did that bother me.
After we received an inflow of new users, we locked down the platform. We did this to maintain quality and to stay true to our long term goals. Let me explain.
Shout has one main assumption: people in close proximity have complementary resources and needs and, if given the opportunity to communicate, can make exchanges and help one another. At the moment, we are striving to learn what is most essential when two strangers are entering a relatively synchronous transaction. What do they need to feel most comfortable? What can we do to facilitate their interaction, but not restrict it? These are the types of questions we are working to answer and your feedback has already been incredibly helpful.
Two weeks ago, Wes wrote his blog post about our Valentine’s day promotion. After a whirlwind 12 hours of flower deliveries throughout the city, we realized how fortunate we were to be a special part of everyone’s day. Setting aside my interest in the platform, it felt genuinely awesome to help a stranger. We were struck by the fact that there is no great way for someone to ask for, or offer, help. And so, our mission for Shout crystallized.
Some of you may have noticed that you can now “sell” things on Shout for free. This is only a hint of what is to come, but it taps into something larger that we are trying to accomplish. We want people who are nearby to be able to have spontaneous and extraordinary interactions and in doing so, help a fellow Shouter in need. We want Shout truly to be a community, not only an abstract, ethereal, Internet community, but a true community of people interacting in real time, in a real space.
Shout will either fail or succeed attempting to create a world where you can sit in a coffee shop and Shout for a charger or borrow something from a neighbor or sell your spot in line. If there is a reward attached to the Shout, great, if not, even better. What we care about is connecting people in close proximity with complementary resources and needs.
Henri’s first post referenced an early user who found Shout in FL., and then bought SNL tickets and a spot at RedFarm the day before going to the Superbowl. He said something that has stuck with all of us, “Having Shout is like having a friend in New York.” It may be overly sentimental, but it meant a tremendous amount to the team. It perfectly embodies what we are trying to accomplish.
