As Founder & CEO of App.Co I have been asked several times, this last few weeks, why my, with my co-founders Anurag Mishra & H. Paul Hammann, I took the decision to end the life of our previous company in this space, AppWhirl, Inc.

When we first set about to change the way mobile apps were built, in 2009, all the focus was on the iPhone.  Over the course of the last year our understanding of what a mobile app is, of how they will go to market, and how that market will evolve, has fundamentally changed.

We felt it best to start with a clean slate, a far better brand (thanks to the folks at .Co Internet) and a new team (though with many familiar faces).  To that end on the 4th July this year we started on a new adventure in mobile apps, App.Co.

Thank you for joining us on that journey.

The future of communication, authority and influence doesn’t lie in TV, Radio or Newspapers. It doesn’t even lie in Websites or on the Internet.  It lies in the palms of our hands. 
It’s our mobile phones, or more specifically mobile applications.  Mobile applications are quickly becoming the primary means of information filtration; staying connected to only those things that interest us. Things ranging from a favored local politician to a regional sports team or even an international movie star. Mobile applications allow each of us to dictate what news is important to us and where it comes from, amidst the chaos of all information made available everyday.

This prompts an interesting question: Should I Build A Mobile App?

In short, yes.  In this new age, you are a brand. What you say and do can be followed and read by millions of people everyday. Your mobile app can be about things that interest you such as cooking tips, travel ideas, calls to action and more.  The point being, when your app is sitting side-by-side next to CNN’s app, the playing field is leveled.  If I like and trust you more, I will opt to download your app, not theirs and get my world news updates from you, and not them.

“But, I’m not a famous person - why would anyone download it?”

The same reason why You Tube is turning unknowns into overnight celebrities.  Your fan base may be bigger than you realize and with effort it can quickly grow to astronomical proportions meaning that every time one of your followers boots up your mobile app, You - not ABC or the New York Times or even Google - have the captivated full attention of your followers on the most sought after screen space, their mobile phone.

If you were going to build your app today, what would it be about?

@MatthewOlivieri

Prior to killing off our previous startup in this space AppWhirl, the App.Co team were fortunate enough to be selected for the Open Angel Forum.  Here’s a brief outline of our experience:

It’s been a while with our heads down at Team AppWhirl, with no time for blogging as we got the product out the door.  But there couldn’t be a better time to get back to blogging the startup than when reflecting on Friday night’s Open Angel Forum Silicon Valley.

As a regular listener to This Week In Startups, and as supporters of Jason Calacanis’ drive against pay-to-pitch (some would say exploitative) investment forums we have followed the Open Angel Forum.  We applied to present to the OAF Silicon Valley.  After being shortlisted we interviewed with Tyler and were accepted in.  It was a very efficient process and respectful of Founders’ time.  We were thrilled.  

I think it’d be easy to underestimate what an undertaking Jason, Tyler and the team are embarking upon on behalf of all entrepreneurs, at the same time as running a Sequoia backed company and also delivering the entertaining and informative TWIST.  But to give my fellow entrepreneurs an idea - Tyler was up calling and emailing entrants at 2am the day following the submissions deadline.

The event itself was very smoothly run.  We got emailed instructions and tips from Tyler.  It was hosted in the home of a Woodside based investor and the venue was intimate enough for discussion while not being cramped.  The startups were great - I’d run into one (Mighty Meeting) previously.  Some very good pitches.

The angels were real - they included names-you-know (I don’t know if OAF releases names, so I won’t).  I got to meet Jason Calacanis who is pretty much as you’d expect from his show - he’s professional, courteous and comes across as a genuinely nice guy.  Met Dave McClure who so many of us follow for his great startup advice.  Finally got to connect with Chris Yeh in person. 

You know when you’ve done a great pitch.  AppWhirl did an okay pitch, not great.  We had a demofail.  When we demo’d the product the simulator didn’t pull the live feeds - which at first we thought was a network problem but actually we’d introduced a bug making last minute changes that probably weren’t necessary so close to the pitch.  Still, ours is a very simple story - we are to apps what Blogger.com was to blogs or Geocities was to web pages; we’ve seen a steep ramp in usage and a flood of signups; we have a working product.  The room clearly got the gist of that.  

The questions were solid for all pitches.  The audience seemed engaged and interested.  Genuinely there with open minds.  

One of the biggest complaints that I hear from fellow entrepreneurs, and which I have myself, is that so many angel groups are merely sewing circles, social gatherings for gossip and networking.  There are some that I have seen which appear to be a complete waste of time.  Open Angel Forum is the antithesis of that.  This is where serious startups pitch serious investors.  That’s the bottom line.  

Thanks to @jason and @steepdecline for bringing this to the community.