Most of you have probably read our piece on Startlike before (and if not you can pull it up via our search box). If you’re even a mild outdoor enthusiast then this is one of those applications that you will most likely really enjoy. Based off of Facebook it’s designed to be a hub for others that share the same passions as you. I myself like it so well, and have enjoyed by Beta testing so much so, that I wanted to give you readers the opportunity to hear from Jeff French the founder of Startlike. So read on!

Jef Price Co-Founder/Editor

(NC) Hey thanks for taking the time to talk with me Jeff.

(JF) No problem, Happy to do it.

(NC) So for our readers who may not know, what is Startlike?

(JF) It’s an easy-to-use personalized community homepage featuring a daily background photo that matches your interests.

For example, I love the outdoors so every day I get to see a picture of a new place to hike or just enjoy nature.  There are also hotlinks to explore the picture of the day and learn more about my passion.

Startlike has all the homepage basics like Google search and quick links to my favorite sites and news feeds.  In addition there’s an awesome discussion board where I can talk with other outdoor enthusiasts.  Honestly, I just love the simplicity and relevance.  It’s awesome!

(NC) So what is the end goal with Startlike?

(JF) We want to create friendships and the plan is to have a Startlike homepage for everyone.  We want to see Startlikers become friends and enjoy their passions together.  If we can achieve that goal we believe everything else will take care of itself.  We are getting very close to having a solid “version 1” of the platform and then we will focus on expanding the community topics.

(NC) It’s really a pretty unique idea, how exactly did it come about?

(JF) Failure I guess.  We originally set out to build a group of niche social networks but we had a hard time getting traction.  We found a passionate audience but not a very patient one.  We needed to provide immediate value to early adopters so they would stick with us.  And so, Startlike was born.  At its core the daily background photos are dead simple but highly engaging.  Even if you are the first person using a community homepage there is something new you can sink your teeth into every day.

(NC) Now what kind of long term plans does the Startlike team have? Anything else cool coming in the way of features, or maybe even a new project we should be on the look out for?

(JF) We are going to scale the number of community topics to offer a wider variety.  I’m not quite ready to discuss the specifics, but I think it will be a winner.  We’re also going to be focused on helping people connect with each other for real offline meetings.

(NC) So what’s it like working on the Startlike team?

(JF) Our culture is very similar to a Silicon Valley start-up except we live in Columbia, SC.  I was visiting Facebook’s offices a few weeks ago and it was oddly familiar…albeit a tad bigger.  We have a small team of 8 and we work in one large room.  Collaboration and teamwork is the key.   We try to reward everyone with every reasonable perk we can like equity, free lunches, flexible schedules, ping-pong and pool.  We have a great group and I enjoy getting in the trenches with our team every day.

(NC) Are you guys really into this stuff? I know as a user, I’ve seen photos of some f the team on adventures, is that a team thing, or are just some of you friends outside of work?

(JF) Haha.  Let’s go back to before the Startlike iteration to when we were working on the niche social networks.  The entire idea was born out of the fact that I don’t have enough friends that share my passions.  If I want to ride mountain bikes I have a few guys I could call or otherwise I ride alone.  It’s the same for my other interests like hunting, fishing, skiing, diving, hiking, golf etc.  My co-founder Dikran Yacoubian was in the same boat.  We love getting out and being active and we want a wider base of friends that enjoy each activity.  Hopefully everyone can get that from Startlike.   All of our team members have at least a few interests that fit with what we’re trying to do.  So it’s not an act at all.  We really enjoy this stuff and we get along well and hang out outside of work.

(NC) What was the most challenging thing you’ve experienced working on this project?

(JF) I’ve been a tech entrepreneur for over 10 years.  I’ve gone from start-up to scale-up and I have a few grey hairs to prove it.  I’ve always found one thing to be the most challenging and that’s finding good people that fit in and don’t slow the momentum.  Bad hires are just such a waste of time on so many levels.  We took 6 months and looked at over 1,000 resumes before hiring our most recent team member.  It’s a challenge and we don’t always get it right, but cutting corners on the people you add can cause problems in a hurry.  We are literally ready to hire every developer that matches what we’re looking for….they are just very hard find.

(NC) What was that moment when you just knew you were on to something with Startlike?

(JF) When I saw the passion of our early adopters.  There are some people out there that really love Startlike.  They have met real friends and they have learned more about their passion.   When is the last time you’ve had someone pull you aside and tell you how awesome his or her homepage is?  Well, if you get in a room full of Startlikers I think you’ll hear a lot of that.  It sounds cheesy, but when I see people enjoy Startlike it pushes me to make it better.  I want the product to be something important in their lives and make them happy.

(NC) Thanks for talking with us. We look forward to speaking with you again Jeff.

(JF) I really appreciate the opportunity to be here.  I look forward to doing it again soon.