BunchOut featured on SlideShare!
Jules and his nameless friends get like, thousands of views. Yeehaw! I’m referring to this slideshow getting featured on the front page of the world’s largest presentation sharing community.
Too bad BunchOut is no longer being developed / promoted.
That’s right. It was a fun ride guys, thanks for sitting in. Sadly I had to reprioritize my resources, and BunchOut isn’t looking promising at this point. I learned so much about marketing and building a usable web app from this experience! Thanks MindValley and my friends for believing in me. I owe you big time.
In the meantime the app is still usable, and it’s twin cousin ExpatPool is doing fine.
Hope to see you again on my personal blog, and my new ventures.
It’s been almost a year since I first came up with the idea.
Time really flies. While I’m glad this is one idea which got realized, it certainly didn’t take off the way I hoped it would. That’s okay though. I have a version 2 in mind, and it will be perhaps a month or two away from launching. And I’m still optimistic 
Version 2 of BunchOut
Hey peeps.
Yeah, the first rollout of BunchOut wasn’t all that magnificent, I admit. Not that bad either, I guess. I have about 40 groups in Kuala Lumpur, a lot of good feedback, and a solid idea of what needs to be done.
But being very realistic, I need to follow the market demand. Hence ExpatPool. (A version of BunchOut focused on expats)
I’ll be working on ExpatPool for now, but will be tackling BunchOut again, perhaps next month.
The dream is not dead. The market is growing and ripe, and the idea has potential, however the strategy will need to adapt to succeed.
I’ll reveal more once some specs are confirmed, in the meantime thanks for supporting me so far. Really appreciate it.
More Innovations to focus on group identities
I’ve been preaching about this for a long time.
But as individuals, one major aspect of our identity is associated by the people we surround ourselves with - we can be very different people when with different groups of friends, coworkers, family etc hence different identities almost.
Most of today’s “social” web applications has group functions, but there is more to be explored.
See this TechCrunch post about a new startup which allows you to create a “group profile” and get group members to come and modify it wiki-style as they please.
Embed Listings In Your Blog
Okay, this is not my listing.
But its one of the real listings in Kuala Lumpur.
Go test it out~!!
Full version open in 6 cities!
The full version is out and about.
Here’s the Kuala Lumpur version.
What other cities? Here’s the list.
Yeah che-che-che-che-che-check it out!
Next up, I’m advertising on facebook flyers, getting help from a few blogger friends, and hitting the big press! Wish me luck!
Revamping Bunch Out… again?
On one hand, marketing a web application allows me to adapt the product to user feedback on the fly.
On the other hand, it can be an excuse to not “get it right” the first time… rely too much on user feedback instead of your own ingenuity to make product development and user experience decisions.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will try and get it right this time.
Why? Because I’ll be doing some massive press and blog promotion and I can’t afford to muck around with an unclear web application.
Thanks again for all your feedback my friends. I’ll be rolling out improvements, as well as THE FULL APP after the weekend.
My Personal Struggles in Marketing
Feedback from bloggers and friends have been quite revealing…
Bunch Out is a great idea, but I haven’t found the exact words to get the simplicity and excitement across.
“People pooh-poohed our idea for more than a year. We took that to mean either we weren’t explaining it well or we were dead wrong. Yet the more we studied the problem, the more clear it became that we weren’t wrong.
What you forget—because you’ve been living and breathing this idea for so long—is that others may not see what’s obvious to you.
You need to connect the dots for them. We did that by finding a metaphor that explained what our company would do.”
- GIBU THOMAS, CEO and co-founder of personal media synchronization startup Sharpcast
While I haven’t begun marketing Bunch Out in the press etc, I really shouldn’t do it till I have simplified and sharpened the communication of what it is…
If any of you can offer any advice, I’m all ears 
The Blogger’s Media Kit
If you’re a blogger and you think Bunch Out is good for your city, making a blog post about this will help make it happen.Very soon, everyone can easily shop around and choose new interesting groups of people to hang out with!
For now, I want to thank you in advance, AND give you these things to make your job easier!
(and remember you can always contact me for an exclusive interview, or if you want me to help you with anything)
Ok, on to the good stuff.
Screenshots!
http://blog.bunchout.com/images/bunchout-sanfrancisco.gif
http://blog.bunchout.com/images/bunchout-kualalumpur.gif
Paste this comic in your blog!
Grab the code by clicking on the “embed” button above. It’s the third button on the bottom of the comic. For pasting it anywhere else…
Easily Describe Bunch Out
What is Bunch Out?
Short Answer: “Bunch Out” is a list of interesting groups of people in your city!
Long Answer: “Bunch Out” lists all the interesting social circles in your city. Browse listings to discover who they are, and arrange to go out in a group!
How does it work?
1) Browse group listings in your city!
A listing is similar to an advertisement - you CANNOT “join” a listing, or “add a friend”. You just find a listing you like and contact them.
2) Create a listing for your group(s) of friends!
Listings get you in touch with people you want to meet. How?
If Jane in interested in your listing, she hits “Contact Them” on your listing. You will be shown Jane’s group listing, and you’re invited to send her a message (or ignore her).
Who should use Bunch Out?
- Groups of friends who want to expand their social circle
- Couples in relationships? Meet other couples, or find people for similar hobbies and activities to add color to your weekends!
- Singles! Grab your friends, and meet new groups of people you actually like to hang out with, and see what happens.
- People looking for like minds and interests… to talk about philosophy, politics, floral arrangement, whatever.
- Bands and musicians choose fans they want to meet with in the city they are going to play at.
- Sports teams can use this to find other sports teams to play with. Same goes for poker players, or board games.
Which cities can use Bunch Out?
City specific sites…
- San Francisco SFbay.BunchOut.com
- Los Angeles LA.BunchOut.com
- New York NY.BunchOut.com
- London London.BunchOut.com
- Singapore Singapore.BunchOut.com
- Kuala Lumpur KL.BunchOut.com
- For every other city, you need 100 listing to launch. See Upcoming.BunchOut.com
Add these interesting bits!
- Group dating is apparently a big trend
- Beavers can hold their breathe for 45 minutes under water!
- Discover The origins of Bunch Out, based on a true story.
- It’s founded by Khailee Ng, a 23 year old dude. It’s also co-owned by MindValley, the creators of BlinkList and SocialRank
- The leading causes of death in the United States are: 1. Heart Disease 2. Chuck Norris 3. Cancer
Thanks again for this. Remember, email me here for any reason!
Sudden comic about Bunch Out
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