Sometimes finding a companion to go BASE jumping with presents a challenge. And for those fortunate souls who have weekdays off and can galavant off to the mountains, skiing companions can be scarce. California startup At the Pool is striving to connect people with a similar taste for all things adventurous.
At the Pool business developer David Zimmerman built a similar app, Open Garage, during his senior year at DU. He and his partners thought Open Garage would revolutionize the social networking market and put the ‘social’ back into social networking by allowing people to meet others with similar outdoor interests, such as hiking, rock climbing or skiing.
The team had to disband after he and another member of the group graduated in 2011, but Zimmerman has continued his mission to get people off their phones and into the mountains, ocean, or concerts. He joined a startup called At The Pool, based out of Santa Monica, Calif., in May of 2013. Zimmerman originally contacted the two founders to set up an interview and give a marketing presentation.
“They said they’d get back to me but never did. I called them a few times and kept bugging them, and they told me that they just didn’t have the resources to hire someone full-time for marketing,” said Zimmerman, whose avid skiing habits were his inspiration for working on At The Pool.
Zimmerman persisted, though, and negotiated a month-long contract to work for At The Pool. After two months as an independent contractor, he was brought on full-time to lead the business operations. Since then, Zimmerman has worked 12 to 14 hours a day (save for nightly trips to the boxing gym) on expanding the app’s user base.
At The Pool is a social networking app that can be called many things: “The reinvented contact list,” according to David Zimmerman, a DU alum from Lake Oswego, Ore. and lead of business development for the app; or the #1 new social app, according to Apple just after the launch on Nov. 7, 2013. There is one title, though, that the four-person staff of At The Pool covets.
“We always talk about it becoming the next Facebook or the next Google,” said Zimmerman.
The app is aimed at allowing people to connect easily through adventuring, such as hiking, skiing or going to concerts. The idea is that a user will utilize the app to meet up with either an existing friend or a stranger for an offline activity.
“We wanted to create a tool that helps people step away from technology and connect face-to-face with the people around them,” said Zimmerman, a Daniels College of Business graduate with a degree in marketing.
At The Pool launched two years ago as a web application by current CEO Alex Capecelatro and lead designer Jason Hsin, but quickly shifted to the mobile platform to better fit its mission.
At The Pool launched its mobile application on Nov. 7, 2013, and quickly jumped to the top spot in the social category of the iOS app store. Zimmerman says most of that success can be attributed to having a great product, but also to the minimalistic iOS 7 design of the app. The iOS 7 update only became available six weeks before the launch of At The Pool, so the fact that the app was a poster child for Apple’s new OS was very lucky, according to Zimmerman.
Despite the early success, which includes mobile users in over 40 countries worldwide and media attention from TechCrunch, TheNextWeb and Installation, Zimmerman and his team have even bigger plans.
At The Pool intends to use its location-based services and user’s keywords to provide relevant advertising down the road. Zimmerman gives an example of a hypothetical group driving up the Pacific Coastal Highway on their way to go surfing. The At The Pool app will use keyword searches to determine what the group is doing, and will send them a notification about a nearby surf shop that will give them a good deal on wax.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten wax while going surfing,” said Zimmerman. “Our ads have to be easy to read and relevant [to users].”
Zimmerman says that Instagram, for example, doesn’t always show relevant advertisements. He will see advertisements on his news feed that relate to someone he follows, but the ads often don’t relate to him.
In order to promote the app, Zimmerman and his team are implementing a marketing strategy that aims to improve the quality and specificity of the user experience.
The team has set up an Ambassador Program for the app, where they carefully select a number of individuals to help promote the app in their respective cities. Currently, the company has about 12 brand ambassadors, according to Zimmerman.
“The idea is that when you travel to a new city, you can look to the brand ambassador for local knowledge on that city, best restaurants, hikes, et cetera,” said Zimmerman.
At The Pool’s team has developed an incentive program based around each Ambassador and their respective “territory.” At The Pool will help subsidize a trip or experience of the Ambassador’s choice, relative to their performance in promoting the app and improving users’ experiences.
