One question we’ve been asked a fair number of times is how did you come up with the idea for Cleverly?
The short answer is that it was based upon a personal desire to stay connected to people I’ve meet through life, jobs, school, careers, etc…and the resulting frustration in the inefficiencies that exist with our current methods of staying connected.
Here is the problem as I see it. I have an address book that comes with my phone. One that hasn’t really be updated since the iPhone was first released. That address book is full of inaccurate, incomplete and outdated information. Why? Because currently I’m responsible for both entering everyone’s contact information and keeping it up-to-date.
To further add to the problem, all of my contacts aren’t even in my phone’s address book; they are also scattered across old email accounts, work emails, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc… In short, it is a mess. If someone changes jobs, quits checking an old email, takes a break from social media, etc…I lose touch with them – and often don’t even know it!
Things weren’t always this way. Let me take you on a walk down memory lane. The year is 1988. Big hair, Walk Mans, parachute pants are all the rage. When you wanted to get a hold of someone all you had to do was open the phonebook. You looked the person up by name and you were rewarded with both their phone number and address. It was simple.
Jumps ahead 10 years to 1998. You now have this new thing called the internet and “email.” I’m sure if you close your eyes and imagine it you can still hear:
“Pshhhkkkkkkrrrrkakingkakingkakingtshchchchchchchch cch*ding*ding*ding.” To go along with this new email of yours you might also have website of your own – something people could find using “Webcrawler” – you know back before Google ruled the world or even existed!
Welcome now to 2008. In addition to a home phone, an email address you now have a “cellular device”, most likely a flip hone and this new thing called social media, specifically, MySpace – oh, the joy of being in someone’s top 8!
Moving right along in 10-year segments, we arrive in 2018. Myspace and home phones are no longer, but we now have Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, multiple email address, online dating sites, and apps galore…all without a single tool to connect them together like we had in the phonebooks of good old 1988 – until now that is. Now you understand the problem that lead to the creation of Cleverly.