Although this sounds very much like a first world problem, there is potential to solve this issue and Ryan Rucker, Adam Haywood and Herry Makker may have created the solution. Together the three founding members have worked together to design an app, Charmer that simply allows you to describe experiences and people in three words. That's it! No lengthy captions, no long online reviews. "It was important to figure out what demographic needs this and finding a solution. I think we have a pretty good one on our hands," says Haywood. For Rucker, creating Charmer as strictly an app was never his initial intentions:
"I think it starts more broadly. For some creating a just an app, that's cool. When I thought about this, I wanted to create a company. I wanted to solve a problem the best way I could. I found solving a problem could be capable through an app. When you think about solving some of the world's biggest problems, some of the world's greatest entrepreneurs are doing that with a product, a website, an app or equipment. When building an app, you have to learn the language and servers or partner with someone who does. It starts with finding some of the world's biggest problems and going from there."
We had a chance to put Ryan Rucker and Adam Haywood's real life Charmer skills to the test. Even for the creators, it was a little difficult to restrict their dialogue to three words, but it was fun hearing them try. Take a look below:
Biggest thing you've learned about yourself during the process of creating CharmerA) Management: Critical Thinking/Problem Solving: DriveR) Vision:Strategy:Leadership
Long-term goals for CharmerA) Ubiquity: Integration: FamiliarR) Sustainability: Connection: Global
Describe CharmerB) Intuitive: Social: Swagger
Describe YourselfA) Creative: Handsome: CriticalR) I Am:The: Man
Top 3 Movies of All TimeA) Matrix: Friday: DjangoR) Creed: Avatar: Star Wars
Celebrities You'd Want to Use CharmerA) Jennifer Lawrence: Future: John BoyegaR) Kylie Jenner: Lebron James: Barack Obama
Favorite FoodA) Sushi: Burritos: Ice Cream
Motivation to SucceedA) [Charmer] User's: Friends: MentorsR) Family: Passion: Society
Top Daily AppsA) Snapchat: Twitter: Google KeepR) Google Calendar: Gmail: Twitter
Barack ObamaA) Humble: Honest: FunR) Chicago: Powerful: Thoughtful
Qualities of a Perfect GirlA) Fun: Passionate: CreativeR) Girlfriend: Girlfriend: GIRLFRIEND
Top Artist On Playlist Right NowA) I: Love: MakonnenR) Ty: Dolla: $ign
Trusting his talents were superior, but not enough to totally create the vision he wanted, so Rucker elicited the partnership of COO Adam Haywood and Design Lead Herry Makker to begin the process of creating Charmer. The team now holds eight members including a marketing analyst, public relations analyst, and a development team. After closing a few major investment deals out of California last week, Charmer is set to launch within a $250 billion industry January 18, 2016. The Charmer team has been growing subscriber anticipation since announcing the launch date.Describe Your FriendsB) LIT: LIT: LIT
"We're going at a much faster pace now. People are excited, reaching out to us through our Facebook page. We're ready and excited about launching, and ready for everyone to partake in this experience. We have this club we've created called the Birthday Club. We're encouraging people to say happy birthday to their friends and family as well as encouraging sign ups for the Charmer app. With those individuals we're calculating and analyzing all of this data and will select a person to win $333 because we deal with 3's.We want to let the product speak, we want to let the people speak. We also have a new website launching," Rucker shared.
The old saying "third time's a charm" reign's in Charmer's name and concept. According to Haywood "humans have the greatest creative output with restrictions. Our brains work better with less and short formats. We are able to group things in our mind of 3's or 4's. We value our time sometimes more than we value our money, so Charmer is about creating a simpler experience."
At 23 years-old, Rucker and his team surely don't have all the answers, but with a history of creating a small business and working in fields such as marketing and engineering the team has a few pointers for anyone interested in starting their own business with limited or no funds:
"It's a common misconception that you need a significant amount of capital to start a business. Really all you need is a particular idea, become knowledgeable and partner with someone to begin building. Once you built up enough to have something worth showing that's when you start to attract the funds. I'm not sure if anyone who doesn't know you feels comfortable giving you large amounts of money with nothing to prove for it. Some do attract large amounts of money because they have a good track record or they have given an investor a high return in the past. There's tons of ways to raise money, like crowd funding. At least raise enough money for your MVP (minimum value product). With your MVP you can share it with people, see how they respond to it and see if it's something worth pursuing."
Charmer will be available to all Apple (iOS) users January 16th completely free! For more information on Charmer and it's features visit the app's website or follow their social media pages for updates. You can also read more about Charmer here.
(Photo: Black Enterprise)
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