In a position where you don’t know what to do?
Evan Katz ’15, a business major, has been working to help those in a quandary by turning his idea for an app into a reality. The new application is called Pickle, and he hopes it will provide a fun escape for college students as well as serve a greater purpose for those “in a pickle.”
While studying abroad in Ecuador the spring of 2014, Katz befriended computer developer Morgan Steffya, who now heads Pickle’s tech team. The two hatched a plan to develop an app which would allow high school girls to upload pictures of their outfits and gain feedback from their friends. Upon launching the app, however, it became apparent that people wanted to upload and gain feedback on a variety of different photos. “People really like to use it as a voting tool and a time wasting game,” says Katz, “the goal being to guess which photo will be most popular with other users.”
The team has continued to develop the app, which has gained interest from brands and market research firms hoping to collect data from college students. “Typically, when trying to put together a marketing campaign, brands are limited to surveys which can be really slow and costly,” Katz explains. “What’s more, the data is often inaccurate because people do not pay attention to the surveys.” Katz argues that Pickle offers faster, less expensive results, making it easier for a brand to do more specific surveys and the ideal tool for market researchers and brand strategists. Katz says “In the future, we hope to give people the opportunity to ask only a certain demographic of people their questions.”
Katz has been able to develop the app with the help of StartCo., an organization dedicated to providing funding, mentoring, and resources to entrepreneurs to help them jumpstart their projects. StartCo.’s goal is to bring new talent to Memphis as well as give opportunities to those who might not come by them so easily. Katz and Steffy applied to be a part of the program, pitched their idea to a room of investors and were accepted. Now the duo joins 16 other companies from all over the world in pursuing their projects.
This is not Katz’s first entrepreneurial endeavor. He also is the co-founder of The Bridge, a non-profit newspaper that provides employment to people who have experienced homelessness in Memphis. Katz, a graduate of Hopkinton Jr-Sr High School in Massachusetts, reflects that he has always “had an entrepreneurial drive and liked thinking of new ideas.” Katz also is a member of Rhodes’ Entrepreneur Club. “This is a great way to get students excited about starting their own businesses in college or just opening their eyes to the possibility,” he says.
Katz’s app is currently available for download in the app store for Apple products. It also can be found here.
(information compiled by Rhodes Student Associate Sophie Anderson ’15)