We’re excited for serial entrepreneur Claudio Miranda and his cofounder Larry Rubin about the launch of Givvy, a social shopping application that helps Facebook users discover, share and curate the most fabulous gifts in the world!
I especially love how this app connects your social calendar with cool gift ideas. Here’s what Claudio told me about Givvy:
How does Givvy work?
Every gift on Givvy is submitted by Facebook users—or curators—who scour the Internet to find the coolest products, and then ranked by the community in order of popularity. Users can follow the gift recommendations of their favorite curators, or they can browse products categorized by the interests and personality type of the gift recipient. Users can also create their own “wish lists” to share with friends & family on Facebook.
Sounds pretty cool! What inspired Givvy?
I have a 10+ year background in ecommerce, primarily in the gifting sector. After exiting my last startup I decided that I wanted to build a new business that applied my domain expertise to the emerging social commerce marketplace.
The idea was to create a social shopping app that redefined how users discover and share gifts online. Hence Givvy was born.
Previously you headed Organic Bouquet. How was that experience helpful to starting Givvy?
I built OrganicBouquet.com from the ground up and learned all of the ins and outs of growing an online gifting business. This gave me a deep understanding of consumer behavior and industry trends as well as the operational
requirements and challenges of scaling this model. Lots of lessons learned along the way that will undoubtedly help with the successful deployment of Givvy.
What’s next for Givvy and its growth?
Our goal is to create a product that users genuinely need and love. To do this we need to actively engage our initial users and listen to what they love and hate about the app. Their feedback will help shape the growth of Givvy, whether
that means minor iterations to the user experience or a wholesale shift in an unforeseen direction.
You’ve been a Sandbox Suites member since 2008 with a brief hiatus. Thoughts on coworking?
Sandbox Suites provides an invaluable service to businesses that need to be lean and flexible—which in today’s world means EVERY startup that wants to be competitive in how they run their operations.
The coworking environment is great for networking with peers, building a dynamic company culture, and breaking the monotony and tensions of working with the same team every day.
Well, enough about us 🙂 Who are you looking for?
We’re are looking for web app developers, angel investors and gift curators. Also, would love a social media intern!
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Follow @givvy or email Claudio here.
