Realizing there was an opportunity to provide this type of curated insider guide to more than just friends, they got together to create a elegant, modern, mobile solution and Findout was born. Findout intelligently combines expert knowledge, user engagement (learning algorithms), detailed mapping and geo data, to create a personalized, location aware adventure and activity guide for any place in the world.
Findout was built with users at the forefront so there are no banner ads, no registration requirements, no requests to access your contacts or photos, just full length expert recommendations for free.
When opening the app, users are automatically presented a feed of articles about interesting places within 50 miles of their current location. Articles are sorted by an algorithm which ranks each based upon how frequently other users are reading, saving, sharing, how much time is spent reading each piece and the overall authority or Author Rank of the expert that created the article. With a simple toggle, users can easily adjust the sort to emphasize just those articles which are new or those which are closest.
In addition the default local feed selection, Findout has a Search functionality that allows users to jump to any location anywhere in the world, set the distance from that location that they are interested in exploring and limit by category if desired.
Between looking for places distant for an upcoming trip or exploring the local area in a new and exciting way, Findout is able to consistently surface interesting places that one is unlikely to otherwise find. When one does find something of interest the articles for each place are well researched, well written and the photography is nearly professional in quality. Each article not only provides enough information to truly decide if the place is worth visiting, but Findout also allows you to save the article to a todo or bucket list, share it with a friend, get turn by turn directions, go the official website, tap to call, and often view the hours of operation.
Looking at the rankings and stats for each article, it is clear that users are really loving the amazing selection of outdoor adventures. From waterfalls to ziplines to inexplicable art installations in the middle of the desert, these seem to be the places users are really connecting with and perhaps understandably so as there really are not many apps that provide this type of coverage on these types of places. This is not to say that the food, bar, and culture scene isn’t lively as well just that the preference leans towards the unusual or unknown which is where Findout is focused and really shines.
Findout is a great upgrade from some of the other products one might use to try to find interesting things to do nearby. Curation, quality and expertise are key in the approach and these are game changers in terms of getting quality answers quickly without having to sort through hundreds of business listings and read through a wide collection of user reviews. A great app for folks who are always on the hunt for something new and interesting!
Findout lauched in Beta in February and is now live throughout the US West Coast including Nevada and Hawaii and will have adventures nationwide by the end of the year. Venture and Angel investor backed, the iOS version of Findout has grown quickly amassing tens of thousands of downloads and quickly surpassing a quarter million articles read.
Beyond geographic expansion, the Findout team is very focused on leveraging new technologies like the ability in iOS 10 to integrate into services like Maps, Messenger, and Siri. You can download Findout on the App Store, while the app will become available on Android in January.
