Darren Huston touts his company’s organic growth versus Expedia Inc.’s

CEO Darren Huston says we’ve now been on a path and are sticking to the principle of properties being instantly bookable and verifiable, and no consumer fees. “Now we’re so far along the path that buying something that doesn’t fit that model just didn’t fit us.

Entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal Launched Photosharing App "SHOTO"

The investments of Indian American “The Big Bang Theory” actor Kunal Nayyar and Real Ventures helped launch a new photo-sharing app, “Shoto,” from Indian-origin entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal, based in San Francisco, here Sept. 25.
“A trillion pictures were taken on a smartphone in the last one year which goes to show the engagement by users. Users are now more interested in photos which were clicked by others, but curation always has been a problem. ‘Shoto’ makes getting photos clicked by friends on various occasions easier,” Duggal told IANS.

“‘Shoto’ tells you how many photos were taken with friends or family members from times spent together and easily lets users share photos and create private or public albums.
 

“It collects metadata from the phone and asks the user if he or she wants to share the photos, so the privacy issue is also taken care of,” he explained.

Read More @ https://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/global/big-bang-theory-s-kunal-nayyar-invests-in-photo-sharing/article_312df26a-63c7-11e5-b432-6f0b4f14dc46.html

Sachin Dev Duggal of Engineer.ai : Top User Acquisition Growth Hacks for Apps :

Shoto and sd2labs recently co-hosted a webinar with RocketSpace where I outlined some of my favorite strategies and user acquisition hacks for apps. I refer to these strategies as the “magic” — or the glue — that increases adoption and promotes long term engagement.

The 3 keys to creating “magic”

Within 50 seconds of downloading an app, users decide to get started or jump ship. The first thing the user sees — whether it’s copy, colors, a splash screen or permissions — is critical to the first impression your app makes and, potentially, its long-term success.

So how do you make “magic” happen? Appeal to the (1) motivation, (2) ability and (3) triggers in the process of adoption (a.k.a. the first 50 seconds).

Let’s break it down:

Motivation = satisfy a need or emotion — the one thing that will blow users’ minds.

We created the following push notification on Shoto to create this motivation: “Your friend X has 50 photos to share with you.” It creates excitement and triggers the user’s brain to release dopamine. WIRED offers a great explanation of the science behind it.

Ability = ease of use — the action users need to take in order to understand why your app is fun and/or useful.

For example, in Venmo, you can send money in two clicks. Straight away, users can use Venmo’s app to send money quickly and easily, establishing its convenience and use case.

Trigger = reach out at the right time/place — choose an action users will be able to take easily.

An easy example is putting running sneakers next to your bed to trigger a run in the morning.

Essentially, your app or technology needs to make sense to your users at the appropriate time and place.

Read More @ https://www.rocketspace.com/tech-startups/author/sachin-dev-duggal