GoWithMe to Grab a Coffee
“GoWithMe allows you to do the things you love with people you like,” said Amanda Denatala to the 1 Million Cups Cherokee (1MC Cherokee) community Wednesday. Denatala is the founder of GoWithMe, an event-based app. When Denatala’s 17-year-old stepdaughter expressed an interest in dating apps such as Tinder and Match, Denatala’s immediate reaction was to shut it down. Her husband, however, had a different perspective, “This is not necessarily the life we grew up in or what we are accustomed to, but it is their life. You could say yes and spend the next eight months preparing her for that world.” After researching dating platforms, Denatala was blown away by the statistics of the billion dollar industry such as the average user spends $243 on annual subscriptions and has profiles on at least 4 different platforms. Denatala also saw the overlook in key issues in these apps and made a plan to develop her own platform and focus on features to solve the issues the industry is facing such as catfishing, personal safety, and reliance on algorithms.
“You can view the events in your area and choose to go with someone or you can propose an event as well. GoWithMe is different than Meetup because while it is centered around events, GoWithMe allows you to choose the people who go with you rather than being stuck with whoever shows up.”
GoWithMe uses video over a series of photos for the member profile; “you get a better read hearing people speak and seeing them on video. The platform is also based on events. Instead of matching people and texting to find out what to do, you start with what you like to do and find the person who wants to have that experience with you.” Other than the mandatory background check a user must agree to before setting up the profile, the most interesting safety caution is the in-app tracking that follows the user throughout the set event time and sends a text to the participants once the event is over.
A common question during the Q&A portion centered around the benefits provided with the monthly subscription fee. Denatala explained, “You can view the events in your area, choose to go with someone, or propose an event. We do a soft background check to make sure they are the person they propose to be and that they do not have a sexual or criminal background history.”
In closing, the GoWithMe team summarized the mission behind the startup; “this is not a dating app but an event-based platform because I can choose a woman for friendship to go to hot yoga with, you can choose three people to form a card game or choose someone to play golf with. These interactions are not necessarily romantic, they can be platonic as well.”
Kennesaw State University is designated as the startup’s flagship college ambassador program, and GoWithMe is expected to roll out in the Apple app store in the near future.
Free, bi-weekly program developed by the Kauffman Foundation
helps build startup communities nationwide.
To learn more about 1MC or if you are interested in being a presenter, please visit the website to be directed to the application.
If you missed the event you can still access all the fun! All of the 1MC Cherokee events will be live streamed and recorded. So, pour yourself a cup of coffee and check out the presentation here: https://www.1millioncups.com/cherokee
1MC Cherokee will meet again at The Circuit Woodstock on September 5th from 9-10 am and will feature Marianna Velozo of Thrive Virtual Assistants.