Today’s American dream seems (more often than not) to follow a certain arc: come up with a brilliant idea, start scrappy but pour your heart and soul into it, then sell it for a squillion dollars and retire before your 20-year high school reunion. So who are the dreamers out there, still at the ‘scrappy’ stage, that you should be learning from (and maybe even investing in)? Check out a few actually awesome up-and-comers.
What it is: “The first and only app to instantly organize interesting social media chatter by time and location, Watsup curates everything from pop-up concerts to celebrity sightings using dynamic streams of text, photos and videos.” A recent dig around showed us a nearby pizza festival (yes!), the latest Matisse exhibition (oui) and a free Fleetwood Mac concert (Say You Will?), along with who’s-tweeting-what on the ground, trending pics and posters, and how to get to the heart of the action
Who it’s for: Currently Watsup caters to those in (or travelling to) New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas
Why it’ll catch on: Because the crack team behind it is made up of brainiacs from Google, Microsoft and IBM
What it is: “Snowball shows your messages from Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, SMS and all your other social apps in ONE place.”
Who it’s for: Android users
Why it’ll catch on: It’s backed by Google Ventures, and those guys know a good thing when they see it (umm, heard of Uber?)
What it is: This inclusion is twofold: First, let us introduce the pedestrian coffee-drinkers amongst you to Blue Bottle, the coffee company that takes morning joe and places it on a pedestal OH so very high. Their methods of brewing incorporate alchemy, and their finished products inspire hipsters to line up around the block both day and night. So if you like your coffee like you like your women-complex, delicious and only ready to go ten minutes after you’re late-give ’em a try. But save the wait by downloading Square Order-the app judges how far you are from your closest Blue Bottle, places your desired order when you’re a few minutes out (based on your physical distance from the shop, as well as their wait time) and pays for it.
Who it’s for: Coffee snobs in NYC and San Francisco
Why it’ll catch on: In a few short years, their chem-lab approach to percolating has resulted in a subscription service, 15 cafes and counting, and innovations like this order-ahead app.
Who it’s for: Creatives in search of a space in which they can be productive. A space, that is, in New York, DC, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, L.A. and three countries internationally
Why it’ll catch on: As the traditional office gives way to work-from-home entrepreneurs, and those entrepreneurs seek structure, the market’s booming for this type of business.
