Focus depart: New Social Network For Travellers

Jean-Philippe Brianchon, is the I.T. Developer at Focus depart, a social network for travelers and locals giving you access to a community to share your travel experiences.

Jean-Philippe is a part of our Sydney Travel Massive chapter and when we asked him if he was interested in telling his story, he kindly agreed and answered a few hot questions for us.

What inspired you to create this startup? 

I wanted to build a website which covers all aspects of a trip. The places visited, activities, walks, places to sleep, where to eat and drink and events. Gathering everything in one place seemed like a great idea. I then added a few additional modules: guides, private conversations, recommendations and notifications.

With Focus depart you can:

• Create guides and invite others to contribute to your guides
• Contribute by posting photos, reviews on bars/dining, accommodations, activities and events
• Post your walks
• Stay informed by creating alerts on your interests
• Open private conversations with other members of Focus depart
• Share contributions on your Facebook or Twitter
• Recommend contributions to other members of Focus depart
• Organize a catch-up with friends
• Find contributions based on geo-locations

What makes your startup different from other similar startups out there?

Bringing all the components of a trip into one place seems interesting. We are also committed to the authenticity of the contributions on Focus depart.

We use Focus depart for various reasons like to find a restaurant; go on a walk; find a spot for your mornings jogs, etc. Instead of offering you one app for each, we provide a range of functions which will automatically update you based on your interests. 

We have recently added a catch-up module to organize catch-ups with friends. A catch-up is the best way to stay in touch with your friends on the go. Pick a place, choose the date and invite your friends. 

Do you have any tips for new entrepreneurs who want to create a successful startup?

One of the mistakes I made when I started working on Focus depart was that I worked on my own for far too long. Without confronting my ideas to others, I was unable to expand quicker. Despite the fact that you may be hiding your ideas from others for confidentiality reasons, it’s always a good idea to share your views with someone you trust. Think MVP (minimum viable product), MVP is a product with just enough features to gather insights and validate your idea.

As a startup, what benefits have you seen from being a part of Travel Massive meetups? 

Travel Massive is a good source for tourism information and networking. At the moment, I am using Travel Massive to get a vibe of what is the latest news of the travel industry.

Travel Start-Up is a monthly series that profiles unique online travel start-ups in the Travel Massive community around the world. You can connect with Jean-Philippe and Focus depart on Travel Massive, Facebook and Twitter.