A short interview with Matthew Rosenberg of Fast Society

We noticed an iPhone app called Fast Society being mentioned on Twitter the other day. It did look interesting but we weren't quite sure how people were reacting to it (we later found out it was launched back in September, and that it has recently been featured in the New York Times and Business Insider.) So I got in touch with Matthew Rosenberg, one of the co-founders, to ask him a few questions. I think it's interesting that they are so focussed about their target audience. Would that change if they become as big as Facebook, who went from Harvard-only to Ivy League-only to everyone in the world?

Matthew was extremely forthcoming - here's what he had to say:

1. Tell us how Fast Society came about - what led you to create the app? Was it just frustration with existing apps and services or was there more to it? 

My partners and I were at a concert.  We had a hard time communicating with everyone.  One person would call, another would text.  There was no easy way to communicate as a group.  We realized there had to be a better way.  We looked at what else was out there, and nothing fit our needs.  We said, we can do better, and started working on Fast Society.

2. What would you consider as the pre-cursors to Fast Society?

Well group texting has been around for 10 years - in some form or another.  3Jam, UPOC, and Gogii.  We looked at all of them, and realized none of them worked.  They all tried to do it the same way.  To us, the definition of crazy is trying to do the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.  We realized groups are dynamic and fluid things - Fast Society reflects that.

3. You launched in September this year. How have the past couple of months been, and what do the next couple look like?

The last couple of months have been crazy.  We feel really lucky.  We wanted to get 500 users in the first month - instead we had 500 users in the first five days.  Our growth has exploded since.  The next couple of months is all about hunkering back down and working on the next generation of Fast Society.

4. How many of your users use the iPhone compared to BlackBerry or Android phones? Are adoption rates influencing your plans for the future?

Right now we find about half our users have the app (iPhone) and the rest come from other platforms.  We work on any phone, on any carrier in the US.  We want to bring the native app experience to every platform we can.

5. You're currently US-only - when do you plan to launch internationally?

As soon as we can!  Text message rates vary per country, so working on those deals can take a long time.  We are working as hard as we can to expand internationally!

6. Have you thought of extending Fast Society beyond just enabling friends to connect - how about enabling messages to be passed to groups easily in times of crisis, along the lines of what Ushahidi does? Or even enterprise usage by firms?

Fast Society was built to party.  We are focusing on socially active people ages 13-30.  For us, to be everything to everyone is silly.  It just means your nothing to nobody.  We want to be special to our users, and that means keeping our product focused on them.

7. And last but not the least, it would be lovely to hear more about your background, as well as that of your co-founders, and what you have planned in the long-term. 

So there are three of us - myself, Andy Thompson, and Michael Constantiner.  Andy and I went to college together, and then two years out of school started a startup called edopter (http://edopter.com).  Michael and I grew up together (and have known each other since first grade. I spent time while in college at Vitamin Water, MTV, and Columbia Records.  When I graduated I worked for Yahoo! for a year.  Andy, while in college, spent time at Red Bull and DC 101 (a radio station.)  Then went to work for Live Nation.  Michael worked at HSBC and CAA in LA.  We have this team background in marketing, branding, promotion, guerilla, entertainment, music, and technology.  I genuinely think we are one of the most well-rounded teams - especially given the way the startup world is moving.  The future is not just about technology, but about creating compelling products that are beautiful and emotionally relevant.

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Thanks, Matthew, and all the very best with Fast Society!