The Foursquare of People
An elusive execution
It has become commonplace for people to quickly frame startups and nascent ideas with a short tagline such as, “the Uber of X.” This is helpful in marketing speak, but there is far more that goes into getting an idea off the ground and retaining growth and engagement among customers. One of the most common of these amalgams is, “the Foursquare of people.”
Until the advent of Instagram and Snapchat, Foursquare was considered the third most promising consumer social network (following Facebook and Twitter). Foursquare certainly received ample funding; the company raised debt to avoid a down round. And while its revenues have never matched its valuation, it is a company many are rooting for, and it has recently been showing signs of hitting its stride.
As a familiar and loyal user of the service, I could itemize its virtues, but it does also have its drawbacks. Foursquare clearly caters to the young urban dweller. Its one baked-in advantage over Yelp is short-form reviews and tips, a byproduct of being built for mobile, along with a generally savvy early-adopter user base.
Now, what if we were to take these pared-down reviews for locations and apply them to people?
Not so fast. People discovery, especially on mobile, must be distilled into either business or romance to attract meaningful users as a stand-alone service. I am generally bullish on the future of romance on mobile with the likes of Tinder and Hinge making inroads. Business, on the other hand, is trickier.
LinkedIn was built for the desktop web, and its shortcomings are reflected by that. Its newsfeed isn’t used for people to broadcast who they’re with and what they’re doing (an on-the-go phenomenon). It is also missing more immediate and casual information about people and what makes them unique. Friends, friends of friends, and people in the vicinity who want to meet or contract another person aren’t easily able to read about one’s expertise in a mobile-optimized manner.
About.me has some of what I’ve just described, but there’s no active use case surrounding it, which limits its ceiling. After thinking to myself whether there could be a stand-alone startup dedicated to this, I’ve believed it to be possible. However, the best possible solution for a people discovery engine lies within Foursquare itself. With a few hitches, Foursquare could become the de facto people discovery engine and reclaim its path as a heavyweight.
I’d love to offer my knowledge to this pursuit, but right now I’m focused on productizing strategy consulting.
