As a bootstrapped startup we often joke about how many consecutive free meals and beers we could get if we really tried, and as a recent grad I know college students are in the same mindset. So when I found out about Brewspy, I had to reach out to their founders. Wish you could know what specials bars are having in the area during the week for cheap eats and drinks? Brewspy aims to be the place you go to for answers, and the company has a lot planned for 2011 – including a foray into the pre check-in space, allowing you to share where you’re going and see where friends are planning to go.
Brewspy is the creation of a college student from Northeastern University. The idea was conceived at a bar in Allston when founder Tyler Smith was taking advantage of 15 cent wings (amazed he could get full for under $2). The concept evolved from his compiling a list of all the great specials in Boston for his friends, to constructing a website and content management system that now enables bars to log in and enter specials themselves.
Brewspy had their launch party earlier this month, and has already captured the interest of five local establishments who log in and upload their offers. Their active user count has doubled since launch to over 1,200 active users. We asked founder Tyler Smith more about the company, and his plans for 2011 – including a new Facebook app that capitalizes on what we like to call the pre check-in space (i.e., the “I’m going…” space):
How are you getting the word out about Brewspy?
When we initially released Brewspy we spread the word to friends, but for the most part kept it under wraps. Even with the limited exposure we started to see a following develop that gave us a great source of pride. We began to acquire more attention by initiating some guerilla marketing efforts, such as walking around various campuses handing out flyers. Beyond a few simple marketing campaigns, we have really just relied on word-of-mouth.
How are you working with bars and restaurants?
As we started developing the latest version of Brewspy, we were very focused on the users and what they wanted out of a nightlife website. Moving forward we will start to work with nightlife establishments more and get a sense of how Brewspy can better serve them. In the near future we will be starting the phase of getting establishments to sign up for Brewspy and working to get their offers out to the people that are interested.
Are you working on any partnerships?
Brewspy believes that it is hard to find success without the help of some great partners. We have already begun to team up with Drink and Hunt (DrinkandHunt.com), which is a “mobile based scavenger hunt and pub crawl game”. We’ve also started to converse with InstantNightlife.com (a company that “provides realtime updates from Boston clubs”) about possibly combining forces in the future to better assist users in planning their perfect nightlife.
What’s in store for Brewspy in 2011?
The Brewspy team is very excited for a new Facebook application we will be launching within the next couple of weeks. This application will allow people to tell their friends where they plan on going out that night with the “I’m Going” button. This feature will allow everyone the chance to know where all their friends will be that particular night and any friends that plan on going to the same place can click the “Me Too!” link. Bars will have the ability to promote offers through this application. For Example, if An Tua Nua wanted to promote their “Flavor Fridays” the image and a brief description would display anytime someone pressed “I’m Going” (Attached image is the described scenario).
What do you think about Brewspy’s plan to capture the pre check-in market? They’ve amassed a great following on Facebook, so make sure to like them to stay on top of their app launch!
