What is ili pika?

Last weekend, the ili pika project was released from closed testing to release in the app store (version 0.8).
Site
App store link

The version for iOS is now presented, and within one or two weeks the application will become available for Android. This is a project for the global market.

A little bit about the project.

Ili pika is an application for creating and maintaining micro-forums. The so-called "One to many" product.
A user can be an admin-admin, create communities (open / closed community) and invite followers. Or be someone else's subscriber.

Communities are listed, not taped, so do not overlap with each other. You can invite subscribers to your community from your contact list by phone number or simply tell everyone your community ID.
The admin has access to all contacts of the subscriber. A subscriber has access in a particular community only to those subscribers who he has in contacts. With the rest - ban (asterisks instead of phone numbers).
ili pika exist only as an application, without a web version. And we do not plan to create it.

We attracted a business angel with a minimum amount ($ 5000) of investment to the project. The rest sought their own. Development cost much more - and money, and man-hours.
')
There was even a heated discussion about us - is it worth it to write about such small investments?

Idea - 2 days.
Design / usability - a month.
Coding - 3 months (one of them went to the phonegap, which, of course, did not fit).
Closed testing - month (January).
Release and preparation - month (February).

Idea

The idea appeared after the closure of the group on psychological assistance to adolescents LGBT in VK. For me personally, this was unacceptable. I am committed to free speech.
And I wanted to create something where you could lead groups and not have a web version, do not fall under the indexing of search engines.

During the development period, we met a huge number of interesting people, and we had a Skype conference with Y combinator in the Yellow door. This was during the closed beta test.
They helped a lot, formed a description and presentation of the product, asked to test. Since all testing goes through testflight (the entry threshold is large for users), and the release was on the nose, we decided to immediately release the release.

For whom / what is it?

Examples:

You are teacher. You have 4 classes where you teach, as well as 4 groups of parents. You create a community for each class and post tasks or messages corresponding to your subject matter.

You are a coach. You have several groups you train. For each of them you create a community. Etc.

One of the founders of ili pika is an employee of a well-known IT company in the Russian Federation. There (as in all more or less large companies) intranet is actively used. On the internal intranet there are a lot of small groups: learning Chinese, rocking, a group of fans of ping-pong, anime, etc.
All intranet systems as a forum have one big problem. Intranet access is only at work.

Accordingly, we have created a product in which there can be both personal and working communities.

Question...

... to which we respond, not this one:
- How are you different from FB or VK groups?

And this one:
- It is inconvenient for me to keep whatsapp chat, because when there are more than 5 users, any message is lost and chaos begins. What to use to convey information to a specific group?

- So why there is no chaos in ili pika?
- Because only the community administrator has the right to create new messages. The rest of them either read or comment.

If the user does not need such a tool, we will not be convinced of the convenience and necessity of the product. It is simply impossible.
If the user is actually looking for such a product, because others do not solve current problems, then the idea becomes clear during testing.

And bubbling shit on this topic can immediately stop. Not starting.

Analogs

FB group, VK group, Telegram Channels, Whatsapp chat.
Personally, my opinion is that we are closer to the Telegram Channels, but with advanced functionality and another task.

Team

Two founders (first investors)
One co-founder (manager / investor)
Backend developer
iOS developer
Android developer
Two admins for servers.
Designer + team.
Business angel
+
mentor

Advantages and disadvantages.

As the founder of the project, it was important for me to launch ili pika. To at least somehow worked. Crooked, askew, but it worked. Therefore, version 0.8

+ the project is functioning;
+ you can create communities;
+ invite user;
+ receive push notifications;
+ delete / leave communities;
+ post photos and text in communities;
- no search by contact;
- sometimes SMS does not come during registration (delete and reinstall);
- problems in some places with design;
- there are glitches and bugs;
- Push notifications do not come instantly;
etc.

Afterword

The main task of, say, Instagram or Snapchat is to keep the user in the application for as long as possible. Scroll and waste user time. The more user inside, the more money the creators earn.

We do not care how long you are in the application. We wanted to create a product that you will need in everyday life. The desired product, not entertainment.
It is important for us that ili pika convey information to the particular user. Need. Like an alarm clock. Like a toothbrush. Like shoelaces.

Well, accordingly, to earn a lot of money on this necessary product.

About me

I am also the founder of another project in the Russian Federation - iRuPay
About iRuPay is simple - this is Russian Paypal with payments inside and outside your personal account.
About iRuPay is difficult - this is third-party processing with the possibility of payment from your personal account.

I created iRuPay 4 years ago and am still trying to launch it. The reason is simple - there is no funding. But I still believe in him. It employs about 6 people (remotely).
Then there were no competitors at all. They did not even think this way. Now - grow like mushrooms, but still no global approach. Without a single (one) and scalable solution for the user.
But this is a separate article.

PS

I hope ili pika you really need it. Everyday.
Good luck.
GO!

respectfully

Suro jr
(Suren Mkrtchyan)