EventWith is a Tel Aviv based startup that is trying to conquer the social event planning space.
EventWith is a social utility that helps you plan events and have your friends participate too! Choose together a time and place and set up a shared checklist, so that everyone sees exactly what they are responsible for. Manage your budget, create personal to-do lists and much, much more. It’s never been this easy to split the effort and share the fun! Co-founder Itai Fridman told us in an interview.
Of course this is no new idea for startups, it’s going to be all about execution in a space that’s getting crowded. Fridman and cofounder Daniel Beck insist that EventWith will prevail in the event space because their platform is “transparent” and also encourages all event attendees to actively participate. EventWith also has a fun UI and can handle any size events from intimate birthday parties to PTA meetings.
We got a chance to interview Fridman check out the rest of the interview below.
What is EventWith?
EventWith is a social utility that helps you plan events and have your friends participate too! Choose together a time and place and set up a shared checklist, so that everyone sees exactly what they are responsible for. Manage your budget, create personal to-do lists and much, much more. It’s never been this easy to split the effort and share the fun!
In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)
A first of its kind app to plan events together! Split up tasks, vote on time and place, and have everyone participate all in one, easy place!
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Both founders, Daniel and Itai, met while pursuing their undergraduate BA at IDC, Israel and have been friends since. Both founders have experience in the international arena and are passionate about new media solutions because they like to make life easier and fun.
Itai Fridman Co- Founder and CEO Daniel Beck Co-Founder and CMO
Where are you based?
Tel-Aviv, Israel
What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?
Israel is one of the top leading start-up nations.
How did you come up with the idea for Eventwith?
EventWith was born when a fun get-away weekend turned into a weekend of comedic problems. Itai’s wife, Dana, was trying to put together a quick & fun get-away for 6 families and everything that could go wrong, went wrong:
They accidentally booked 5 cabins for 6 families Each family promised their kids a different activity, causing chaos and confusion Everyone’s kids were constantly whining because no one brought enough “kids” stuff to eat. When the trip finished and they got home, Itai figured he would help Dana look for a planning tool for next time. He was disappointed to find tools that either let a person invite or project manage a company
– but nothing that collaborated a whole group to plan an event!
Itai got together with his buddy Daniel, who also attended the wild get-away weekend trip, and together they created the ultimate destination for seamlessly planning a group event.
How did you come up with the name?
The app is all about creating and planning events with friends and family, therefore it was only natural to name our solution EventWith.
What problem does EventWith solve?
The EventWith app provides you with a set of key features to split up group effort while keeping everyone updated. This makes event planning super easy, efficient, and fun!
• Plan everything online – minimizes time and effort for everyone.
• Split responsibilities – divvy up tasks and track progress.
• Facilitate group decisions – fast votes on activities and venues.
• Easy budgeting – share budgets and make purchases together.
What’s your secret sauce?
Unlike many other solutions in the event planning space, we offer the perfect combination of planning tools and social capabilities, packaged in a transparent environment, which truly entices the involvement of event participants. What makes us so appetizing to our consumers is that EventWIth is a fun product that allows groups to plan events and activities together more effectively on numerous occasions ranging from bachelor/ette parties and baby showers to PTA events, in-class parties, camping, tailgating parties, and so much more. Not only is Eventwith wonderful with creating events together, but our added seasoning is the ability to also use this planning utility on top of already existing events in other social networks such as Facebook! That is the recipe to our secret sauce… a large amount research, a dash of social networking, and a whole lot of collaboration both in the planning and in the use of this app.
Are you bootstrapped or funded?
We raised $400k in seed money back in April by a group of A class angel investors such as Gigi Levy and Zohar Gilon.
What is your go-to market strategy?
Cater to identified verticals such as outdoor activities, PTA and bachelorette parties;
– Social Marketing (exclusive blogs, active ambassadors in Facebook and Meetup)
– Performance marketing (behavioral and demographic targeting)
– Produce DNA (viral by design as host invites guests)
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?
Keeping things simple and translating the vision into an easy and intuitive interface for the host as well as guests.
Who are some of your mentors and business role models?
As entrepreneurs, we are fortunate to work with very seasoned angle investors whom have experience taking companies like ours from early stage to a mature life cycle in the form of sales revenues or exist, depending on business and strategy.
What’s next for Eventwith?
We are currently working full steam on developing our iOS version. You should expect to see and use EventWith early in the spring. This new version will help event guests respond and engage on the go.
Where can people find out more?
On our website there are currently video demos and FAQ, while in the near future we will release our own, personal blog. In addition, whoever hits ”like” on our Facebook page will enjoy periodicals updates.
Speaking of events, do you have your ticket to this startup event that made Forbe’s list of must attend entrepreneur events?