Vermont Startup: i-ask Mobile App Let’s You Get Feedback Instantly INTERVIEW

Burlington Vermont startup i-ask is all about asking questions and getting feedback instantly. The concept is the brain child of co-founder Steve Foley who used to take online surveys for fun. He was looking for a way to offer a question and answer format with instant feedback via a mobile app. It was that idea that is the foundation behind i-ask.

Imagine being at the store and not having a buddy with you to decide what to get. Or actually I had this exact experience last month at Best Buy when both the Nikon D3200 and the Nikon D5100 were the exact same price. Luckily I have 100,000 followers on Twitter and could solicit feedback really quickly however if I had i-ask I could just ask and for lack of a better word, crowdsource the answer.

Foley was able to solicit feedback for his startup from comedian and star of the CMT hit show “Mabe In America”, Tom Mabe, who said, ” I spend hours going through sites having to delete unwanted or unrelated comments made on my videos and content, i-ask would be the perfect choice for me to put my material on and I no longer need to worry about the feedback”.

We got a chance to talk with Steve about i-ask, check out the interview after the break



What is I-ask?

i-ask is an app that connects social media with instant feedback. i-ask was created
by Steve Foley who use to take online surveys for fun. One day he mentioned to
Ed Novicelli (Co-founder)the idea of having not only surveys in an app, but the
ability to get instant feedback, and within days i-ask was on paper. Ed and Kevin
Bailey (co-founder) have collaborated together on developing mobile apps through
Leap to Mobile. It was clear then the three co-founders from VT, CT, and OK
had an idea that was going from paper to development very quickly.
I-ask is an app that simply allows someone to ask a question through text, pictures,
and video. The user then has the ability to design questions, and answers and send
it out to social media outlets like facebook, twitter, or even SMS and email.

i-ask focuses on individuals who want instant feedback from friends and family, or
if that doesn’t work, the i-ask community. Corporations gain fast valuable feedback
on a product or brand I-ask was created to allow a Fortune 500 companies to
upload a commercial, and have feedback in a flash. Small businesses can engage
customer’s feedback, and not have it negatively effect their image.

“When i-ask, the whole world will answer”

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Steve Foley, South Burlington, VT
Steve has a BS in Sports Medicine from Lyndon State College and worked in the
health care industry for 10 years prior to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Foley manages a multi million dollar medical device territory, and has a passion for
technology and startups. Steve is married, and enjoys living in Vermont with his
three children.

R. Edward Novicelli, BSEE with a Computer Engineering Minor from
Northeastern University.
Successful entrepreneur across many platforms.  Early adopter of the Internet but
latest ventures have been in medical device.  In the past managed  multi-million
dollar sales organizations.  Married -two lax /hockey players….

Kevin Bailey has a bachelor degree in marketing and has been in sales for over 13
years.  Kevin’s first job was “marketing” for his parents’ Dunkin Donuts by dressing
up as the character from the 80’s commercial who said “Time to make the donuts”
and stood on the curb directing traffic to their restaurant.  Kevin is Co-Founder of
Leap To Mobile, a mobile app development company and enjoys spending time
with his family.

Where are you based?

I-ask is based in Burlington, VT with other co-founders based in CT and OK.

What problem does I-ask solve?

i-ask will allow users to get feedback, while sharing it on their social media
venues. The comments made between users will be private to the person
hosting the feedback or survey. Unlike some social media sites that allow
the public to see unwanted negative feedback, i-ask allows people to get
feedback and only see the comments between “followers”. i-ask was
designed to fix two major challenges in todays social media and survey
platforms. First, current feedback can take more time than a person
has to wait for a decision. Second, comments on various websites can
quickly turn to negative or unrelated derogatory responses. When Co-
Founder Steve Foley spoke with Tom Mabe, comedian and star of the
hit CMT show, “Mabe In America” he said it best ” I spend hours going
through sites having to delete unwanted or unrelated comments made on
my videos and content, i-ask would be the perfect choice for me to put my
material on and I no longer need to worry about the feedback”.

What is your secret sauce?

Flash Feedback & Video
Flash feedback is our patent pending feature of i-ask that allows someone to get
feedback, but choose the number of responses it needs to complete the survey.
So if someone is in a mall, and wants feedback quickly, maybe they just need 25
responses to make an decision. Flash feedback provides that for you each and

every time. Video, never before has video been used for feedback purposes.
Video can be utilized by people to ask questions and even give responses. If your
curious if you appeal to someone in the dating world, upload a short video about
yourself, ask a few questions, and see what people think of you. If a company
wants feedback on a new commercial, they upload the commercial and feedback
comes back in an instant. If someone’s in the kitchen, wants feedback on a certain
recipe, someone can actually send a video response showing explaining a recipe or
technique.

While in beta, we will be rolling out a demographics profile that will carry over
for each and every survey or feedback survey. If companies big or small want
feedback, they can choose to pay for the demographics of the survey, not the
responses. This is allow for accurate and fun market research. We truly believe i-
ask will make customer survey’s fun once again.

What is the culture like in the Vermont startup scene?

Vermont is known for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Green Mountain Coffee, but
in the last few years some notable startups have come to life right here in VT.
Most recently Kohort, and social media site for groups was founded in Burlington
and now called New York City home. Vermont is becoming a small hub for
tech startups and developers are sticking around here. Vermont takes pride in
companies that start here, and makes it well known when “Made in Vermont”

Do you feel you face challenges building a tech start up outside one of the major hubs like New York or San Francisco?

No…since we are based around the country we don’t get the inter office
mingle …we don’t have direct access to networking events but then again this
doesn’t reduce or hinder communication.  We utilize google + and a few other
tools to keep the flow of information amongst the group.

Back to I-ask, what is one challenge you faced in the startup process?

Awareness and funds, whether to go the distance with private funding or VC. We
decided to go on indiegogo, not only for exposure but to crowd-source the idea.
Regardless of the outcome, i-ask will be in iTunes this summer!

What’s next for I-ask?

Getting i-ask approved and up on iTunes this summer, then proceed through our
beta. Once we start adding our demographic features, our monetary model will
generate revenue to fund i-ask.

Linkage:

You can find out more about i-ask here at their website

i-ask is running an indiegogo campaign you can check it out here

Nibletz is the voice of startups “everywhere else” check out these interviews from other founders of startups “everywhere else”

 

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