Building a Social Product Centered Around Time
In today’s fast-paced world, managing our personal and professional lives can often be a juggling act. While there are numerous calendar and scheduling apps available to help us organize our work commitments, finding time to catch up with friends can still be a challenge. That’s where Howbout comes in. This innovative app is designed to make time a social entity, allowing users to easily connect and schedule meet-ups with their friends.
The concept behind Howbout is simple yet powerful. The app enables users to share their calendars with friends, giving them a glimpse into their availability. According to Howbout, more than 75% of its users share their full calendar with at least one friend. This sharing feature is particularly popular among Gen Z users, who are comfortable sharing their personal schedules with their friends.
Founded in August 2020 by Neil Tanna, Jake Jenner, and Duncan Cowan, Howbout aims to bridge the gap between personal and professional time management. The three co-founders, who were university best friends, realized that it became increasingly difficult to catch up with each other as they pursued different career paths. Tanna, with a desire to build something of his own, convinced Jenner and Cowan to join him in creating Howbout.
The startup recently announced that it has raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by Goodwater Capital. Other participants in the funding round include FJ Labs, Sequel, and football player Harry Maguire. With this latest investment, Howbout has now raised over $13 million in funding. The company plans to use the funds to further expand its presence in the U.S. market, where it has its largest user base.
So how does Howbout work? The app allows users to view their own schedules as well as the schedules of friends who have shared their calendars. This makes it easier to find common free time slots for meet-ups. Additionally, users can share their availability with a wider group of people without revealing their entire calendar. Howbout also offers the option to create different groups for users who frequently hang out with specific sets of people.
One unique feature of Howbout is its event scheduling capability. Users can create events and invite people through a link, even if they are not on the app. However, to respond to the invitation, non-app users must download the app. The company has also experimented with allowing users to respond on the web, which could be a potential option in the future.
In addition to event scheduling, Howbout offers tools such as voting on a time for availability or a meet-up, similar to popular professional apps like Doodle or Clockwise. This feature allows for seamless coordination and decision-making within groups. Moreover, users can add future events to their bucket lists and preserve past events as memories for recall value. Each event on Howbout has its own group chat for planning, eliminating the need to use temporary groups on other messaging apps.
With over 4 million monthly active users and more than 50 million events created on the app, Howbout is gaining traction among its target audience. The app’s largest user base is in the U.S., followed by the UK, Germany, Australia, and Canada. The company believes that its network effects will be driven by what it calls “chief friend officers” – individuals who take the initiative to plan meet-ups and events within their groups. According to Tanna, most people who visit the app stay active and add more friends, indicating positive engagement and potential for growth.
Chi-Hua Chien, co-founder and managing partner at Goodwater Capital, sees immense potential in Howbout as a social network centered around time. He highlights the importance of a core content type for successful social platforms, such as Facebook’s updates from friends or Musically’s looping videos with music. For Howbout, that core content is time. Chien also notes that Gen Z, known for their willingness to share personal information, presents a great target audience for the app. By sharing their calendars, Gen Z users can ensure they don’t miss out on meeting or catching up with friends.
While shared personal calendars may not yet be a widespread social trend, Howbout is at the forefront of this emerging concept. By offering a social product centered around time, the app provides a unique solution to the challenge of scheduling meet-ups with friends. With its recent funding and growing user base, Howbout is poised to make a significant impact in the world of social networking. As more people recognize the value of shared calendars, we may witness a shift in how we manage our social lives.