Gaze: Long Distance Movie Night

by Startacus Admin

In an evolving world of movies, television streaming and overall media saturation, the next logical step is to share this long distance - which is exactly what the founders of Gaze have implemented.  We were delighted to welcome them to our Startacus collaboration space recently and now founders Guillaume and Lorenz tell us all about it. It’s long distance movie night: Gaze founders Guillaume and Lorenz talk to Startacus 

Hi Guys! So lets just start off; What is ‘Gaze’?
“Gaze lets people watch videos together in sync no matter how far apart they are. The aim is to give people a way to feel close regardless of their physical distance.”

I would wager there’s probably something that inspired this platform? What gave you the idea?
“My co-founder and I actually used to do this with our girlfriends when we were in long distance relationships. It was much hackier though. We would have Skype on one device and a video loaded up on another, and then we would count down, “3…2…1…GO!” It worked ok, but it was never perfect. When you don’t laugh at the same time you know something is wrong and you feel less connected, it’s incredible how perceptive we can be to these things. Oh, and forget going to the bathroom or grabbing some food, because syncing up again was a nightmare.
We discovered that others around world were doing the same thing with their friends, family, and significant others. This was a sign for us to build LetsGaze.com, for ourselves and for others like us.”

This is a rather unique platform; How have you found the development of the whole thing?
“It’s been a challenge, but so much fun! It’s great observing how we behave online and noticing the ways we connect with others, and then turning these observations into features and UX tweaks.”

So now for the business stuff - how are you planning to fund the venture?
“We are in the London tech accelerator, ‘Entrepreneur First’. They’re a great help and are helping us lay the foundations of the company. Through this channel we’ll eventually begin talks with VCs and business angels.”

That is a great way for a startup to get going - What are your plans and goals for Gaze?
“It’s not just about watching videos, we want to build Gaze into the place that people go to in order to connect with their friends and loved ones who live far. I think it’s important to mention that a digital experience like this will never be able to physically replace being with someone and we don’t mean to. However, we live in a totally globalised world, people are making strong bonds with others all around the world, and the laws of nature make it impossible to physically be with those people all the time. We hope that Gaze can make it easy to stay connected with those people in a fun way.”

Just have to ask, how would your team determine the success of Gaze?
“Once our space station is fully armed and operational!... It’s a difficult line to draw because we always want to push that definition further out, we always want to dangle that carrot in front of ourselves. That being said our main KPI is the count of repeat users. If we can see that people who use Gaze keep coming back over time, it would be a really good sign.”

Finally, Has there been any challenges or difficulties on your journey to this point with Gaze? How did you overcome them?
"We’re a two-man team, so there are only so many things we can do at once. The biggest challenge is prioritising, “what’s the most valuable thing we can build right now?” and then we have to balance it with the amount of time and resources it’ll take to build. Consolidating this and moving ahead can sometimes be a real battle. This is especially challenging when it’s a fork in the road and you have to commit to certain decisions."

Thanks so much guys! We’ll be keeping an eye on your success and we wish you all the best!
Keep track of their Progress guys! Check out their Facebook, Twitter, and catch them on Instagram!

 

If you, like Gaze, have a great startup idea and want to get help and connect with startups, mentors and investors; why not submit your startup to our collaboration space?

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Published on: 18th November 2014