Spottah

We are constantly amazed by the album ideas that people come up...

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:43:59 -0500

We are constantly amazed by the album ideas that people come up with!

Here is one of our favorites. Every week, a group of friends meet on Spottah to collectively create a caption for the New Yorker magazine’s caption contest.

Basically, one person posts the photo to the “Caption Contest” album. Throughout the week, album members write their proposed captions in the comment section. The group rallies around the best caption, which then gets submitted.

Originally, the group used email. But emails get lost. Also, there is no “history.” By using Spottah, the group has every cartoon and proposed caption in one place.

Sneak a peak at our new logo.

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:58:05 -0400

Sneak a peak at our new logo.

Moonlighting a Startup: A How-To Guide

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 09:11:00 -0400

It’s been roughly nine months since starting Spottah and we’re still hacking! It’s been tough, given that our team of five is spread across the country and, with full-time gigs, have to work nights and weekends. We thought we’d share our process for those who are in the same boat or are considering going down the same path.

Constant Communication is Key
With schedules that don’t always align and a sheer lack of being able to often meet in-person, we have pay extra attention to ensure everyone is on the same page.

We started out with ad hoc phone calls and email threads, but our back end developer was quick to suggest we do short, nightly phone calls, or “stand-ups,” as a way for us to share with our most recent updates and any other pertinent news. Not only have stand-ups been key for keeping up-to-date, but they’ve also been a great motivator for getting more work done. You are inspired to come to the stand-up with an update or task checked off the to-do list. These stand-ups take place every night between Monday and Friday for about fifteen minutes each.

We use Google+ for longer meetings. It’s a great way to see each other face-to-face, virtual though it may be. During design reviews, the screen sharing capabilities make G+ a must. Hangouts usually take place every Saturday and typically last an hour. We are currently in a redesign phase, so these Google Hangouts have been happening more frequently.

While these digital tools help tremendously, nothing beats meeting in-person. We’re lucky enough to occasionally get the entire team together, which means everyone coming out to New York from California, Chicago and Boston. During these team outings, we spend half the time working and half the time celebrating our success. Two months ago, for example, we tore through downtown Manhattan’s bars and restaurants on Saturday, and then met at NYU Stern on Sunday for a full-day working session.

Inspire Each Other
There have been so many milestones: The first time we saw a barebones, functioning Spottah; the first time we saw our completed logo; the first time we saw our live design (and now redesign); the first time we had an article published about our app.. All these moments have pushed us along and kept us going, and they’re all a direct result of our hard work and talent. As each of us have pushed Spottah along, we’ve inspired one another to work that much harder toward our goals.

Have Fun!
Cliche though this may sound, this is really the most important part. All of us working on Spottah have the understanding that we’re here to kick ass and learn as much as we can, and part of that comes with realizing that we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over failures or take things too seriously. If you aren’t having fun, your heart is most likely not in it, and if your heart it isn’t in it.. Well, what’s the point?

Tools we’ve been using to get us along

Spottah - We use Spottah for work and play. If we need to share a screenshot, we post it to our teams album, “Building Spottah.” This is also the album where we say thank you (thumbs up pics), send birthday wishes (pics of cakes), and capture the memories for our outings.
FreeConferenceCall.com - Conference hosting service that we use for our nightly standups. It works just fine and it’s free!
Texting - When it is too tough to get everyone on a conference call, we’ll do a text up. Everyone texts in their updates for the day.
Gmail - For our never-ending email threads.
Google Calendar - To keep everyone up to date with meeting schedules, etc.
Google Drive - A great place to keep all of our pertinent docs, like PSDs and work-session notes, in one place.
Google+ and Google Hangout - Essential when it comes to seeing each other face-to-face and sharing screens.
GitHub - An excellent place to not only store code but to keep track of bugs, improvements, etc.
Pivotal Tracker - A project management tool that helps us manage requests for improvements, bugs, and anything else we need to keep track of.

Spottah Helps You Pay Attention To Your Weight

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:00:00 -0400

Last week, Bijan Sabet wrote a great blog about getting healthy and losing weight. The key takeaway: pay attention. Pay attention to exercise activity. Pay attention to caloric intake. Weigh yourself daily. In his quest to pay attention, Bijan uses RunKeeper and Lift.do, the yet-to-be-released app funded by the Obvious Corporation.

Bijan couldn’t be more spot-on. This past spring, I took the first step towards getting healthy: I admitted to being unhealthy. I was eating too much, not working out enough, and imbibing in a few too many beers.

I set a goal of running three days a week, then upped it to four, and am now at five. I replaced meat with fruits and vegetables. I weigh myself daily.

So far, the results have been positive. I started at 226 lbs and now weigh-in at 214 lbs. My next goal is 209 lbs. The best I’ve ever looked and felt is 198 lbs; though this was after a 14-day, 150-mile hike in which we thought we’d catch fish but didn’t.

I use Spottah to pay attention. As a joke, I started an album called “Congressional Gym,” a jab at the infamous pictures of Anthony Wiener and Chris Lee. In the album, which is only shared with two other people, I add shirts-off pictures with accompanying weights. It is inspiring to have people cheering me on and it’s interesting to watch my progression over time. I would NEVER post a photo like this to Facebook or Twitter, but on Spottah I know that only the people I trust have access to these personal photos.

Draw Something! Spottah turns a one-to-one game into a...

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:45:34 -0400

Draw Something! Spottah turns a one-to-one game into a multiplayer bonanza.

A few weeks back, I got a random Spottah album request. The title was “Draw Something! Upload your best.” I clicked “Accept” and entered the album. Within a few seconds of clicking around, I was blown away by the community that had formed. Basically, Draw Something players were saving their photos and uploading them to Spottah. Once in the shared album, the guessing continued. People were also critiquing drawings and providing feedback. My favorite discussion centered around methods for improving the perspective of a drawing to make it even more three dimensional.

In summary, I love the Draw Something album. Spottah turned a one-on-one game into a multiplayer bonanza.

If you’re a fan of Draw Something, we’d love for you to join this album. Simply sign up for Spottah and send your username to support@spottah.com or post it on Facebook. Don’t worry, we’re making the process of finding albums easier; stay tuned for more.

Postagram the Best Photo, Whether It's Yours or Not

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:00:58 -0400

Postagram is one of my favorite apps of all time. If you’re not familiar, Postagram allows you to send a personalized photo postcard from your iPhone or Android phone to anyone on the United States for $0.99. Check out this video; it was made by a customer even more passionate than me!

I use Postagram when I truly want to thank someone. After a dinner party, for example, I send the host a picture from the night’s festivities with a little note. More often than not, the Postagram is proudly hanging from their refrigerator the next time we visit.

Postagram is also perfect for saying “miss you.” A couple of months ago, my wife and I moved from New York City to Boston. We have a great group of friends in NYC and one day we were missing them terribly. We drafted an “update” email but it was not capturing our emotions. So I pulled out my iPhone, selected the front camera, snapped a shot of us, and mailed off 7 Postagrams saying “Freezing and missing you in Boston.” Sending a physical card is simply more meaningful.

One challenge is that you can only send Postagrams of photos that you have taken. Nine out of ten times this is OK. But there is that occasional time where someone else takes the perfect picture. This recently happened to me. Someone uploaded a great dinner party photo to Spottah. I wanted to Postagram the photo to the host and thank them for the delish vittles. It wasn’t my photo, though, so I didn’t have it on my camera roll. Then it dawned on. I saved the photo to my camera roll by clicking on the “…” icon and then uploaded it to Postagram. Within seconds, I was sending the perfect picture to my friends’ mailbox.

Eventually, Spottah will integrate directly with Postagram (and other Sincerely products). But for now, this is a great work-around.

First Contest!The “Long Distance” AlbumOver the past month, a...

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:28:00 -0400

First Contest!
The “Long Distance” Album

Over the past month, a number of people have shared their albums with us. It’s been awesome watching the ways Spotters use our baby. To celebrate the creativity in the Spottah-verse, we are launching our first contest!

The “Long Distance” contest celebrates bringing people closer together, regardless of where they are physically located. The “Art” album, for example, has connected Art lovers across 5,800 miles; one person captured a Brancusi sculpture at San Francisco MoMA while someone else snapped a Torroella painting in Madrid.

The “Long Distance” contest is simple: The album that covers the most ground, so-to-speak, wins two Spottah T-shirts and a $25 Amazon Gift Card. The only catch: The photos need to be taken between Today (6/29) and the end of the contest, July 2nd at 11:59 PM ET.

To qualify, send nolan@spottah.com a screenshot of the album’s map (like the one above), along with a note detailing the two locations where photos were uploaded (San Francisco and Madrid, for example). We’ll then calculate the distances and announce the winners on July 3, 2012. The subject matter of the pictures is irrelevant.. just keep it PG ;)

Go to it! Invite your international friends and start snapping away. Any questions, feel free to holler at me — nolan@spottah.com.

Nolan’s photos from Spain overlaid onto a map inside...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:53:43 -0400

Nolan’s photos from Spain overlaid onto a map inside Spottah.

To get this view, simply go into any album and hit the crosshair icon in the top right.

Nolan Does Europe

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:47:00 -0400

The more I use Spottah, the more I realize it does two jobs. First, Spottah is a social network. My friends and I, for example, created a “Current Status” album. It’s a fun space for us to share what we’re doing without blurting to the masses on Facebook or Instagram. As a result, the pictures and comments are incredibly personal. Other times, though, I turn to Spottah to organize my photos. Right now, as I travel across Europe, Spottah is doing exactly this.

On the train from my apartment to Newark Airport, I fired up Spottah and created a “Nolan Does Europe” album. As soon as I landed in Madrid, I began snapping away. There is so much to capture: monuments, paintings, street markets, tapas bars, new friends. Thanks to Spottah, I can easily caption a photo and add comments. For example, when I take pictures of art I write the artist and year in the caption. And if the piece really moves me, I jot down a comment to help me remember the moment. Spottah, in short, is so much more than a collection of photos. Spottah is a journal that reminds me of where I’ve been, what I’ve learned, and what I was thinking.

As I pack for Italy and reflect back on my time in Spain, it is amazing to see my journey come to life inside Spottah. I love that I don’t have to upload my photos after the fact. And as you can see above, I have all my Madrid photos organized neatly on the map. (Didn’t know about this feature? Simply open an album, tap the crosshairs icon on the upper right and, voila!, all the pictures are overlaid onto a map.)

Stay tuned to see how I use Spottah in Italy! I’m guessing there will be lots of gelato and leaning towers.

Meet the Team: "Cheetah the Cat"

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:38:46 -0400

You met The Machyine. Now meet Spottah’s (app store, video) other rockstar developreneur. He´s the fastest cat in the jungle.

“Cheetah The Cat”
Nolan had a concept: An app for creating a trip-specific photo albums. Jon had a wider vision: Why stop at trips; what about albums for groups, events, interests? A concept, a vision and $1.95 will get you a cup of coffee. Enter The Cat.

The Cat took our vision, added his own touch and delivered a working product. It was December 2011, and we were about to present our concept to a packed room at NYU. We had PowerPoint deck. We had nothing. The Cat quietly asked for Jon’s iPhone, which he plugged into his MacBook. A few moments later, The Cat handed Jon his phone and said, “Here you go.”

And there it was. A minimal viable product. It was not pretty. Hell, it was ugly. But it worked. Jon created an album, added a photo, and invited The Cat. He accepted the album and added a photo. Viola! A collaborative photo album.

We ditched the PowerPoint and did a live demo. “How many of you would use this product in your everyday life,” Jon asked the room. Nearly every hand went up. And these weren’t half-assed hand-raises. Think third grade teacher’s pet that knows the answer.

Since that day more than six months ago, Team Spottah has been driving hard to build an easy to use, relevant app that is fast and reliable. The Cat has been behind the wheel; and no, not like Toonces. There is no part of the technology stack that The Cat can’t pounce on.

Like The Machyine, The Cat is always looking ahead. It´s been an absolute pleasure to work with someone who constantly questions the status quo and actively takes on additional work to make Spottah the best it can be. Ultimately, it´s worth it — especially when we get love mail.

The one problem with The Cat. He lives 3,000 miles away. We talk every night, G+ Hangout every weekend and try to meet in person every few months. It works, but it would be nice if our friend and partner lived and worked among us.

Spottah v. Apple: Why We Aren't Worried

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:19:00 -0400

Yesterday, Apple released iOS 6, which includes a new feature called Shared Photo Streams. In a nutshell, Shared Photo Streams is similar to Spottah (app store, video), in that you can create one album or stream, invite a select group of people to that album, and everyone in that album can view and add photos as well as comment.

How do we feel about this? To be honest, the first hour was rough. I personally was in a catonic, woe-is-me rut. But then I gathered myself from from the couch and realized that this is great news. Here is why:

Apple’s entry proves the Spottah Concept - Since quietly launching three weeks ago, we have have had one goal: collect customer feedback and prove that people want to selectively share photos. Presumably, Apple did the same research and received positive results. So while it is easier to not be in the same market as Apple, it is great to know that we are in the correct market.
Apple Photo Stream will be Apple Only - Apple is clearly trying to distance itself from Google, as evinced by the decision to drop Google Maps in iOS6. Apple’s Photo Stream product only works on Apple products, and I don’t see this changing in the future. Yet, the winner of the select photo sharing space will be platform agnostic so that iPhone, Droid, Windows and Blackberry friends can seamlessly share photos. Spottah is currently iOS only, but we have plans to be on multiple platforms in a very short amount of time.
Big entrants rarely win - When Facebook launched Places, everyone said it was the end of Foursquare. When Google launched Google+, the critics said that Facebook was in deep trouble. And when Apple launched iCards, people said it was the end of Postagram. Not only did these predictions not come true, but each threatened incumbent did better post entrance. Why? See the first point: An entrance by a bigger, stronger competitor validates the market and raises awareness of all products. Plus, new entrants aren’t specialized in the niche verticals. Apple is awesome at building beautiful hardware and fostering an ecosystem via the App Store. Are they good at building a social network? We don’t know yet, but I would bet that they are not as creative or agile as smaller rivals like Spottah.
Spottah is a social network…and we built it first - When we first designed Spottah, we thought of it more as a utility application. However, once Spottah was in the hands of users it became clear that it is a social network. It was great to hear Apple describe our similar products as social. Why? Because social networks are way cooler than utility applications. Also, I don’t mind bragging that we envisioned, designed and launched before Apple.

The Spottah team welcomes Apple into the market. Some competition will only make us stronger.

Bringing Wedding Guests Together

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:27:35 -0400

You know a wedding is great when the guests arrive as strangers and leave as friends. At my wedding, we achieved this by having a bonfire on Friday night. Under a Harvest Moon in Central Vermont, my very-soon-to-be wife’s friends and family mingled with my crew. By Sunday, real friendships had formed. People who did not know each other 48 hours before were hugging each other goodbye.

I share this story because I recently heard about Spottah bringing people together at a wedding. Basically, one woman created an album specifically for her friend’s wedding. As the day passed, she invited a few guests to the album. Those people, in turn, invited a few more. By the time the reception was in full swing, a dozen or so people were adding photos in real-time to one collaborative album. The next morning, they invited the bride and groom. They loved it. Rather than having to check their various friends’ Facebook pages, the newly weds had the most memorable photos in one place.

The album will live well beyond the wedding. The wedding’s guests can comment on each other’s photos. They can create new albums together and get introduced to one another’s friends who have similar interests. In other words, all of these once-strangers are now connected by one social network.

How To Edit An Album Title & Description A quick tutorial on...

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:15:22 -0400

How To Edit An Album Title & Description

A quick tutorial on editing the album title and description. This is a great way to keep albums relevant.

Meet the Team: "They Machyine"

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:21:00 -0400

You’ve seen the app. Now it’s time to meet the fine folks behind the pixels. Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to Team Spottah. So without further ado, meet..

Yin aka “The Machyine”
Yin joined us this spring and it was immediately apparent that he is not the usual developreneur. As soon as we finalize the requirements of one build, he’s mapping out version two, three, and four. Yin is on top of the market, constantly scanning for what’s new and hot in order to ensure that Spottah is fresh and up-to-date. Not a meeting passes without Yin whipping out his iPhone to show us a new app with a unique animation.

Yin’s creativity and coding skills are only matched by his insane work ethic. All too often we receive automated emails from GitHub at 3 AM, notifying us that Yin fixed a bug (or ten) or implemented a new feature. Yin is not a man, he is a Machyine.

Yin has a unique photo style. A few weeks back, Yin dropped his iPhone, cracking the camera lens. Now, Yin’s photos look as if Spiderman covered the world in webs. Is that the Brooklyn Bridge covered in webs? Nope, just Yin taking a photo on the Q train. But at Spottah we see inspiration in everything. When we add filters, you’ll be able to enjoy The Machyine filter.

Spottah wouldn’t be Spottah without Machyine. The moment he joined, the trajectory of Spottah changed forever.

Stay tuned. Next week we’ll introduce you to the fastest cat in the jungle.

Finding Our One Word: "Collaboration"

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:11:00 -0400

Every company wants their customers to have a one-word description. “Refreshing” is what Coca-Cola wants their customers to say after each sip. “Luxury” is music to the ears of Mercedes-Benz. Ford pops champagne bottles when customers say “dependable.”

After about one week on the Apple App Store and several dozen conversations with Spottah users (Spotters), we are pleased with the word forming around our product: “collaboration.”

Spottah’s design fosters collaboration. Albums don’t have “owners.” Once the originator invites one person, that album is owned and operated by the community. The community is powerful. Anyone in the community can invite others to join. Community members can change the title and description of the album. And lastly, the community controls the photos in the sense of being able to download, email, Tweet and post them to Facebook.

A quick story to demonstrate the collaborative nature of Spottah. During our beta test, a friend created an album to chronicle her adorable Goldendoodle Gracie. At first, the album was filled with pictures of Gracie napping, playing with her toys, and just looking cute. I added a picture of my parent’s dog with the caption, “Gracie meet Brandy.” Then a cat picture crept in. Picture by picture, the album evolved from being about one dog to being about beloved pets. The album title no longer made sense, so the community used Spottah’s comment feature to discuss changing the title and thus the purpose of the album. And so “Gracie” evolved into the “The Cute and Furry.” When Spottah moved out of beta and onto the App store, “The Cute and Furry” spread quickly as each dog lover invited their dog-loving friends.

Spottah’s collaborative structure enhances the social experience. Think about it: each album is a Wiki in which every member has a vested interest. This level of collaboration is not found on other networks. Facebook, for example, is centered around the individual. The individual posts a comment, video, or photo and the community reacts by liking, commenting and sharing. This is amazing stuff, but it is not collaboration.

One reviewer summed it up best: “I like the communal aspect of sharing a photo library, once you’ve shared it out it belongs to the group, very open source.”

We are thrilled that Spottah conjures up the word “collaboration.” The world can always use a little bit more collaboration.

Spottah as a (re)discovery tool I’m absolutely stoked...

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:23:00 -0400

Spottah as a (re)discovery tool

I’m absolutely stoked about this. I was recently added to a “music” album, where you post photos of concerts, streaming screen shots, album covers, vinyls.. you name it. I was flicking through the album this morning before I left for work and come across a screen snap of the American Beauty soundtrack cover on Pandora. I had forgotten about how much I love that score. I’ve been listening to it all day since!

What are the cool people of Brooklyn talking about? Spottah, of...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:01:24 -0400

What are the cool people of Brooklyn talking about? Spottah, of course.

What a Week It's Been!

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:52:54 -0400

Three of the Spottah cofounders graduated from NYU and we officially launched Spottah! We couldn’t have possibly asked for a better graduation present :)

We’ve also been stoked by all the feedback that we’ve been receiving from all you users. Each and every recommendation has given us a great idea about the direction we want to take Spottah and how to make it even better. Stay tuned for updates and improvements!

Have any more feedback? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to support@spottah.com. We welcome and all input.

Congrats NYU class of 2012! The festivities kicked off on...

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:22:16 -0400

Congrats NYU class of 2012! The festivities kicked off on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, followed by Stern Graduation at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday.

Spottah spread quickly and by the end of the festivities several dozen Violets were sharing their photos in one, collaborative album. The result was amazing. Instead of everyone keeping their photos to themselves and then maybe uploading to Facebook or another album service, friends and family members enjoyed each other’s pics in real-time.

Awesome Album Ideas

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:36:05 -0400

What will people do with Spottah once they get it in their hands? As we built Spottah, we constantly asked ourselves this question — and dreamt up potential answers. Well, after three days of being live on the App store, 111 and new albums have been created. A few people have been kind enough to share their creations with us, so I want take a moment to shout-out a few creative albums in the Spottah-verse.

“Famous Things” - Have a picture in front of the Great Wall of China or the 30 Rock Christmas tree? Well, those pictures are perfect for a Famous Things album.
“I’d Live There” - People dream of the perfect home. Maybe it is a bungalow in Venice or a Mansion in Newport. This album was created to capture those homes, and photos are coming in from all over the country.
“Trucks Hauling Trucks” - Inspired by this website, the album delivers on its promise.
“Jumbo Beavers” - Stop right there. It is not what you think. It is actually an album shared between a couple. They did not know what to call the album so they combined the names of their college mascots: The Tuft University Jumbos and the MIT Beavers.
“Everyday” - This album was created by a group of friends trying to stay better connected. The idea is simple: everyone has to add one photo everyday. The photos don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be consistent.

As other ideas come to light, we’ll shoot them you’re way. If you have a cool album idea and want to share, don’t be shy.