Talkwheel: Chronicles of a Startup Foretold

I spend more time staring down at my phone then anyone I know because I’m obsessed with news information. I flip through Flipboard, scroll through Twitter, and observe hot stories on G+ (I’m a sucker for an underdog). But staring at your phone is an isolating activity. Before I got the iPhone (something I fought for a while) I would badger any friend who was with me to put their phone away to the point of obnoxiousness.

This isn’t a new revelation, people have been writing about the ironic truth; that smartphones, which help us become more connected, make us personally distant. But at Talkwheel, where connectivity is kinda our mantra, this is not ok. We can’t ban cell phones (how else would our CEO Jeff Harris find his way around SF), but we can make them more engaging.

With that in mind, we are working vigoursly and will be launching our mobile app at the end of this month. The Talkwheel mobile app will serve as a mobile forum where you can talk with your friends, congregate around topics you love (politics, dogs, and the football) with people you love them too. Unlike other forum apps, Talkwheel will be gorgeous (when did it become a rule that to be a forum you had to be ugly?). What I said isn’t entirely true. Being connected via mobile isn’t truly being connected, that’s why all Talkwheel conversations will also be available on our web app as well. Say for example you are talking in one of our groups with fellow beagle lovers on your way to work. You know your boss will be angry if you pull out the smartphone at work (unless you work at Twitter or Apple), so you go to social.talkwheel.com and continue the conversation with your fellow simpatico souls from your desktop. One conversation, all devices. We thought we’d tease with you with a couple photos of our gorgeous app in development (yes the app is for iOS and Android!). Excited to let you use it soon!

Patrick and the Talkwheel Guys