Featured Startup Pitch: LifeGunk offers a lifestyle and goal-oriented approach to social networking

Avatar
By Editor May 1, 2012

LifeGunk_logoCompany: LifeGunk

Website: www.lifegunk.com

Founder: Javan Joel

Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York

Year Founded: 2011

Investors: Self-funded

Twitter: @ProjectLifeGunk

Brief Company Description: LifeGunk is the world’s first Life Network that gives you the tools to keep track of your activities, goals and ideas so you can get back to achieving!

 

Lifegunk officeBy Javan Joel, founder

Product Overview

LifeGunk is a free, user-based Life Network where you can keep track of your activities, goals and ideas all in one place. Users can also collaborate with others on projects, assignments and much more through the use of LifeGunk’s project management features. Our product is for any individual with an active lifestyle and/or hobbies as well as businesses that utilize innovative communication methods with employees.

LifeGunk provides a comprehensive set of services and tools that provides members with all the tools they need to manage their lives. LifeGunk’s user interface, called the ‘AGI’ board (an acronym for Activities, Goals, Ideas and pronounced ‘oggie’) allows members to manage their own personal schedules and notes. This section is always visible to the user and allows them to quickly search, add and edit these items. In addition, users can help others reach their goals by joining in on their activities and brainstorming with others on their ideas. Users can also create groups, which have their own AGI board, and connections separate from the user’s profile.

Founder’s Story

Being a goal-oriented person, I kept track of my schedules, goals and ideas in notebooks, paper scraps and computer programs; other times, I just made mental notes. Like many of us, I managed my life this way for many years only to end up with information that was convoluted and disorganized; I even lost track of and forgot simple to-dos, which resulted in some great ideas slipping through the cracks. I realized that I needed something that would help me manage my life better: a central location where I could access all of my important information no matter where I was in the world. So, after serious thought and two years of development, the world’s first Life Network was born. The company was founded to allow users to conceive, achieve and connect with people or groups who share similar interests or concerns (like global issues) and have access to tools that make it possible to be more organized. As the founder and senior architect, I oversee the implementation of updates plus the development of new tools for the website.

My previous work includes being the lead developer of notable websites Snaptickets, ClubPlanet, Entourage Nightlife and Wantickets. I write poetry and study spirituality, technology and success philosophy in my spare time.

How We Are Different From Our Competitors

Our competitors are Goalscape, AtTask, Basecamp, Facebook and Twitter. The problem is that our competitors only offer just a small portion of what LifeGunk can do. LifeGunk combines its competitors’ best features all from one central location. Also, Goalscape, AtTask and Basecamp require paid memberships for the same services we offer for free. In addition, Facebook and Twitter take a more passive approach to social networking: where users merely observe and comment on the lives of others on the aforementioned websites, our Life Network encourages you to become actively involved in the lives of others and make a meaningful difference in their lives and yours as well.

Marketing/Promotion

The company is currently engaged in a marketing campaign to gain awareness of its Life Network. The campaign consists of three strategies: Guerilla (street) marketing, Online marketing, and Public Relations. Each strategy has a team of people who manage and execute the tasks for these campaigns. The first step after receiving funding is to expand these marketing arms to include more workers, more localities and increase productivity.

LifeGunk will initially establish marketing territories that focus on the major market areas around the country and, ultimately, around the world. Key cities and their surrounding areas include: New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Montreal and Paris. These cities will be targeted with focused marketing initiatives. Our target demographic is anyone with an idea, goal or active lifestyle.

Business Model

LifeGunk has several plans for generating revenue. LifeGunk will monitor behaviors on the network as members interact with the user interface. LifeGunk can then offer the user ‘suggestions’ based on their behaviors. For example, if a member creates a goal to quit smoking, suggestions will be posted on how they can accomplish it. The suggestions will actually be advertisements from paid customers. So suggestions could take the form of:

-A support group or any businesses that can help you accomplish your goal

-A stop-smoking hypnotherapist who chooses to create an advertising campaign on LifeGunk

-Companies like Nicorette that have products that can help that member achieve their goal

A similar advertising model works when members also create activities and ideas on LifeGunk. Members actually get useful suggestions, in the form of advertising, to help them accomplish their goals, expand their ideas and enrich their activities. By contrast, the current leaders in social networking bombard their members with useless and unrelated advertising. With LifeGunk, the member would not even feel like they are being advertised to. Members would see these suggestions throughout our website and on any of our mobile applications; it will show up on their dashboard when they log in and while they are navigating through the site. These advertisements will not be intrusive; they are things that members will actually want to know about and will be interested in based on their interactions with the LifeGunk site. For advertisers, they will be advertising their products and services to users who actually need and want their business.

Current Needs

LifeGunk is currently in the process of hiring applicants for the following positions: Marketing Professional, Marketing Intern, Junior ASP.NET Developer, Web Graphic Designer, and 3D Developer. Applicants are encouraged to send their resumes, cover letters and portfolios to [email protected]. We also have investment opportunities for investors who can provide both funding and tools and services that will help our company grow.

LifeGunk – www.lifegunk.com