Brian Ritter's Startup SocialPing helps you connect with like-minded new friends

Please tell us more about your role and / or your startup

I am the CEO and Co-Founder of SocialPing. I handle the operations side of the business and manage and coordinate the tech development side. I also raised seed funding by writing a formal business plan and shopping it around. Once we launch, I will again be responsible for spearheading fundraising efforts, in addition to marketing execution.

How long have you been in that role? How do you balance a startup with your personal life?

I started the company about 1 year ago and have since raised seed funding and grown the team to include three bad ass computer engineers. Balancing a startup, with graduate school, a newborn and major shoulder surgery has not been easy. However, when one is truly motivated, one is able to see how much he or she is  truly capable of achieving  Work hard and it will pay off!

You play an integral role in your startup. Can you please tell us more about what the startup does? 

We developed an exciting new social media application that allows users to connect, meetup and hang out with other individuals based on shared interests. The app is platonic in nature and aims to increase in-person socialization, without a creepy dating pretext. 

With SocialPing, users have the power to easily and seamlessly connect with others to enjoy their favorite social activities...either one-on-one or in a group. Play a sport, grab a drink or dinner, catch a movie or ballgame, go bird watching and more! We have over 100 activity preferences and users will tell us which ones to add as we grow.Additionally we incorporate an interactive and dynamic meetup mechanism whereby users perform what we call a "Phone Dap" which is a Phone fist bump of sorts.

​One phone scans the other and then each individual receives a badge for the social activity they have chosen to participate. Our message feed allows users  to post about social experiences or learn of fun and exciting things that are currently going on around them. The app is geolocation specific and has a multitude of filters so each user can find the perfect buddy or pal for any occasion. 

How does it work? Can anyone join? 

We are undergoing our final beta testing and hope to launch officially next week. The app is 100% free to use and download and will be distributed via Google Android Play Store, as well as iOS Apple App Store.

What is the most challenging part about what you do? How do you overcome that challenge?

The most challenging part of what I do currently is work with minimal capital. Without capital it is difficult to hire key personnel and execute on marketing strategy. To overcome this challenge, I have been able to grow the team purely with equity compensation. In terms of marketing execution, I have to be highly strategic about which channels to utilize, where to spend money and what can be accomplished without any expenses, such as social media marketing, growth hacking, grassroots promotional events etc.

Where online can we learn more?
www.socialpingapp.com