WAYRA pitch

We just received the video from the pitch we made at the WAYRA accelerator program in London: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxG2j81oEf4&feature=plcp

Well, it was not a successful one, as sadly we did not get selected.

We are still waiting for the jury feedback about what went wrong and why they did not want to invest.

Apparently they believe that we do not have a sustained revenue model to allow this company running smoothly. If you guys have some great ideas to share please feel free to leave a comment.

By the way we are looking for information about how many backpackers are cruising the world per year. If you got any data again feel free again to leave a comment.

Hang-out or Meeting?

In the quest to nail the right product and put on our MVP (Minimum Viable Product) the exact features that will push WikiTrip Users to meet-up each other in the real life, we are chatting with travelers. I recently had a chat Anne-Laure Humblot who is traveling quite a lot and she said that she does not like any constraints when traveling. By constraint she means that she would not like feeling obliged to go for a meeting, but rather go to a hang-out. She would prefer to know where travelers meet-up and perhaps go there or not. To set an appointment it is too professional and not flexible enough.

This insight was really interesting…since then I am wondering….

What do you think about that? Would you also prefer a hang-out rather than a meeting?

To tell us your answer please clicks this link: Hang-out or Meeting?

Foursquare API, Facebook Integration

The Foursquare check-in integration on the Facebook timeline was a great feature and it is very encouraging for the future. Recently, we’ve been delighted to see that Facebook not just display Foursquare check-ins on the timeline, but FB (Facebook) translate a FS (Foursquare) check-in into a FB check-in. In other words, FS check-ins are translated as a geolocalized data and not just an simple information. Every time you check-in with FS, it is the same as checking-in with the FB feature Place. You don’t need to check-in with both apps (FB & FS) to stay tune with your friends; just using the FS app will be enough.

With WikiTrip Users will sign-up with the FB connect only. We will be able to extract useful information to create an amazing experience for you (Also to insure that you’re not a fake).

For WikiTrip, this recent improvement on FB means that we can extract even more geolocalized information that will help us knowing better where Travelers are, thus improving our capability to connect people.

In the future this trend will allow Startups to create more innovative features that will make the usage of any geolocalized apps  more relevant. It will give a better experience to the Users on any platform.

Therefore FS or FB would not be just stand alone app anymore, as the data they are collecting, will create new value on other service (like WikiTrip).

The Facebook check-in improvement through a better integration of the Foursquare API is paving the way for a more interactive Internet future. Please guys carry on!!!!! Don’t you think?

Last “Mission Garage” session

This is our last “Mission Garage” in La Boate session and so many things to do!

As we are behind schedule we called out for help.

David & Maylis responded positively. Although, they are running a busy web agency in Marseille, they came for helping us bidding the Back-end and the Front-end.

Maylis is an expert in UX design, juggleling with Jquery, HTML5 and CSS. David is the « Geek », who looks after the development Back-end, a real Ruby on Rail evangelist. They are forming a great team ready to serve « coûte que coûte ».

We are having fun working all together, coding, learning and geeking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPEchNwbLzE –

We are getting there, but we will need at least 10 more days to get something ready.

Will you wait dear Wikitripper??? I hope so, you gonna love it!

Backpackers 5 characteristics

Backpackers have a specific behavior when traveling.  They are driven by specific motives, which are different from other travelers.

There are 5 characteristics that define a Backpacker (Pearce 1998):

–       A preference for budget accommodation

–       An emphasis on meeting other travelers

–       An independently organized and flexible travel schedule

–       Longer rather than very brief holiday

–       Emphasis on informal and participatory holidays activities

That is why WikiTrip is focused on the socializing factor and want to help Travelers to easily bump into each other.

reference:

Pearce 1998, http://past.is/VPZF

2 days away

We are only 2 days away from the soft launch at the Web Summit and I would like to share with you how the site is looking like:

Well, no stress for the team, we will get something ready on time…trust us !

3rd WikiTrip “Mssion Garage” session

For this WikiTrip “Mission Garage” N°3 we have spent our 3 days in La Boate Marseille.

We were supposed to work only for 2 days, but the team agreed to do one more. That’s what I call a motivated team!

The session was about planning and developing the database. I have made myself an entity in one of the table. Mehdi was my professor (http://youtu.be/9E1RlrxwkTE). I feel like I am a geek now 🙂

We also bound the Back and the Front on the Landing page and the profile. You can find the last result on the following link: http://wikitrip.co.uk/beta/

I have also recorded with my video camera one of the key moments of this important task: http://tinyurl.com/7gejzm2

So now we can geolocalize any user via his or her IP address. We also have the “Facebook connect” in place and we can extract the user profile data, including check-ins.

Well, we’re moving forward and we should be able to present an “Alpha” version of WikiTrip for the WebSummit 2012 in London the 19^th of March.

2nd session “Mission Garage”

Early stage Start-ups by essence are Bootstrapping. It means that they do a lot with nothing. They also avoid waste by being lean.

One of the key characteristics for early stage Start-ups is that they are nomads. We work wherever we can. We need to be flexible. A warm and welcoming place with an Internet connection does the job perfectly.

Well, as you may have seen on the previous article, for our first working session we landed at La Boate. Today for the 2nd session, the WikiTrip “Mission Garage” is happening at Euromed Management Business School at la Joliette Marseille.

The World Med MBA that is taught at Euromed Management is focus on entrepreneurship. Obviously it is a real value for this school, as being myself a Euromed Management student, they kindly offered me to use their facility to do our 2^nd working session. That I could come in their building with my team to work on WikiTrip was something so obvious to them. They are not only teaching business and entrepreneurship, they support student entrepreneur all the way!

During this session we will finish up the Landing page design. We will find a solution to get precise retrieving user geo-localization through the router IP address. It will allow us to organize meet-up between travelers in defined places. We will connect the user stream panel on the landing page with the SQL database.

If you want to see our progress on WikiTrip design you can click on this link: http://wikitrip.co.uk/beta/

There is a new video of the WikiTrip team at Euromed Management during the “Mission Garage” session 2: http://youtu.be/QyeiSASnbNY

To be continued…..

1st day at work…”Mission Garage” in progress

I am really glad to announce that the WikiTrip is gathering at La Boate Marseille from today onwards, 9^th of February, to start developing our innovative meet-up platform.

The team is composed of Laurent Chaverlange, Oualid Jouhri and Medhi Farsi.

We will have 26 days to design and develop WikiTrip.

The concept is in place. We have worked closely with Backpackers to fine tune our offer to their needs. We are ready!!!

Thank you “Running Lean HQ” too, for the precious methodology.

To know more about WikiTrip please watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-40f9WuX1f4&context=C3c7afe9ADOEgsToPDskLw8m7yOJtOK7Y1S5Ax1PsB

If you want to follow our progression, I invite you to check our blog every week to view the videos of the team at work.

Here is the first: http://youtu.be/qohn8KiPF14

Do not hesitate to pop by and come at La Boate Marseille to assist us.

It is an exciting time for us and we hope you will support us.

To Be continued…..

Social network for real world connection

What an exciting moment to work in the Internet. So many things are happening.

They are lot of debates about what social network is and should be. The event Le Web 2011 in Paris was focus on SoLoMo: Social Local Mobile. In short it is about connecting people with the help of smartphone. So many cool apps are coming up.

There is also a lot of change in the Internet social network ecosystem. Gowalla, a company that inspired us has been acquired and lost the check-in battle against Foursquare, who actually is failing short to deliver is UVP (Unique Value Proposition); which was connecting people in the real world. What the Gowalla team will bring to Facebook? Will Foursquare will deliver is UVP?

Now, where do we stand at WikiTrip?

Well smartphones are nice, but you won’t use the 3G network if you are hopping from one country to an other with your backpack…will you? Instead an Internet connection in local cyber café will be the best spot to stay connected.

We believe in connecting people face-to-face, creating connection in the real world. We want a social network that doesn’t weakens real human relationships. Traveling is about meeting up fellow traveler, learning, sharing, being bounded. It is about finding yourself through others. This magic is happening in the real world, not online.

So we will use the Internet to create a social connecting tool to enhance meet up opportunity between travelers: “A tool to find like-minded Backpackers”.

Why do we need to connect with other when traveling? Firstly we sometime feel lonely. Secondly, time to time we need help. Finally, we are sometime looking for a travel partner.

WikiTrip is a Traveler’s social connector: http://wikitrip.com

Do you have time for a little survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KVV8SNY

Sincerely,

Julien Petit

CEO WikiTrip

To be continued……