Uppd · Co-founder
Uppd: a B2B2C social game built on mobile video, social, and gamification
Uppd let users challenge friends to share a skill on video and compete for prizes. We raised a friends-and-family round, reached the 2014 Tech Stars Chicago finalist stage, and received interest from the founders of GoPro and Malwarebytes. We shut the company down after launch when usage data showed most activity happening on existing social platforms rather than in the app.
About Uppd.
Uppd was a social game where users challenged friends to share a skill on video. Submissions could earn virtual medals or prizes from sponsors. Each challenge allowed one recording attempt: after the user tapped record, the clip uploaded to the app and entered the competition.
Opportunity.
What we believed at the time. Video, social sharing, and gamification were all growing quickly on mobile. Uppd would combine them in one product: users performed for friends, brands sponsored local challenges, and trials could be tied to participation.
What turned out to be true. Video, social, and gamification did become major mobile formats, and challenge-style content grew significantly in the years after Uppd. We underestimated how much of that behavior would stay on existing platforms. A standalone destination app was not required for all three trends to matter.
Process.
We used a lean build-measure-learn cycle. Because the model was B2B2C, we partnered with neighborhood businesses to run local challenges and tracked challenges completed, votes cast, and sales tied to challenge events.
Each sponsored event asked customers to film themselves completing a challenge on site. Winners received a prize from the business (free product, gift certificate, or store credit). Three examples:
These events drove foot traffic to partner locations. Participation was strongest when we removed friction from the submission path. Many customers were reluctant to download a new app and preferred to submit videos through existing social platforms or text instead.
Result and wind-down.
Outcomes
Uppd raised $25,000 in a friends-and-family round and was a finalist for the 2014 Tech Stars Chicago cohort, which included workspace at 1871.
Following the finalist announcement, Nick Woodman (founder of GoPro) and Marcin Kleczynski (founder of Malwarebytes) expressed interest in the project.
The wind-down
Challenge-style content grew on major social platforms in the years after Uppd launched. Our own data showed strong engagement with challenges, but much of that activity occurred on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook rather than inside the Uppd app. We also saw signs of app fatigue among younger users. We continued to prioritize a standalone destination app instead of adjusting the model around where users were already posting. Uppd shut down after launch.
Reflections.
A few things I took from this project into later product and design work.
Lesson 01
Review metrics against the product hypothesis. Our challenges generated activity, but most of it occurred off-platform. We had that data for months before we changed direction. In later roles, I was sure to listen and respond to data.
Lesson 02
B2B2C needs clear value for both sides. Local businesses cared about foot traffic. Users cared about sharing and competition. One app served both groups without a primary experience for either. Since then I have looked for separate surfaces or value propositions when two customer types have different goals.
Lesson 03
Update the model when behavior shifts. User behavior moved toward existing social platforms faster than we adjusted the business model. We built Uppd during the peak of Facebook’s social plugins era and could have piggybacked on that distribution if we had acted on the data showing users preferred to post and vote where they already were. Continuing to fund a standalone app delayed a pivot we could see in the metrics earlier.
I was young and inexperienced when we built Uppd, and I would handle several decisions differently today. The project still shaped how I work. I learned to move forward on my own initiative, operate outside my comfort zone, pick up new skills, meet new people, and build something from nothing. As a self-taught designer, it also moved me from enthusiastic amateur to practicing professional. I had to learn design tools and UX practices, and understand them well enough to defend my decisions to cofounders, partners, and investors. I still had a long way to go, but the time and effort pushed me further along as an individual contributor as well. I also had to lead early, at a point when most people at that stage in their careers are still learning how to take direction. That prepared me for senior roles later on. Uppd was one of many startups that did not scale, but through its failure I gained experience that carried into the work I do now.