When an accessibility mapping app went viral, success came with a cost
When an accessibility mapping app went viral, success came with a cost
“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.
No one said that launching a startup was easy. Last year, venture capital investment dropped as much as 30%. And in the world of tech, there are on average more than 1,200 new apps released on Google Play and in the Apple App Store every day.
Despite that, some startups are finding a way to not only survive, but thrive.
Joe Foster is one of the founders of Colorado-based Roll Mobility, an app for mapping out accessibility infrastructure and connecting disabled communities. He and his team have seen firsthand how hard it is to get traction as a new player.
“For our first three months, we would have had more success had we stood on the street corner and just told people about it than what we actually saw,” said Foster.
However, after a viral video boosted their user numbers to the point where it “looked like a hockey stick,” the team found that sometimes success comes with a very literal price.
“Everything that we have done since Day 1 has been fully self-funded,” Foster said. “And now that we are growing, we’re at a point where we need to raise money.”
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