Eugene Libermann, ParkApp: «In 2-3 years we see ourselves as a universal app that comes to mind when the word" Parking ""

The first version of the application was a failure ParkApp. Perhaps because it made it without the support of the business model, more like entertainment. Much has changed since the advent of the profile of the investor. Now co-founders built, as they say, "yard" company. Between these two states - the months of hard work, doubt and desire to quit. "MakRadar" asked the co-founder Eugene ParkApp Liebermann talk about how it all began and what will happen in the future application.

Park App - this is your first application or were yet?

This is the first application.

You used to doing robotics. Why are gone from this promising industry in the creation of applications for the iPhone / iPad?

robotics industry is actually very promising, but expensive. Now there is a bias in unmanned aerial systems, and to me it is not so interesting, as is the case with anthropomorphic robots and intelligent systems, machine vision. And I decided that once the robotics industry requires significant financial investments, time and intellectual cost, then I will come back when there will be ready-made solutions - different components, sensors, actuators, gyroscopes, encoders, and so on, and I can buy them as ready-made solutions, rather than developing all from scratch. In addition, I am convinced that in Russia Robotics will be in demand only in the state security agencies, and I'm wondering exactly civilian direction. For this we need to move to the West, but I is not ready yet. I think robotics time will come in 10 years, not before. In the meantime, I became involved in that require immediate solutions - in particular, the problem of parking in Moscow.

You have a database of ten thousand free parking spaces. How do you make up this base? You can be bought?

No, we did not buy anything. It was the most that neither is manual and the "foot" work. I had six months to go and run around the center of Moscow, and when the municipality extended paid parking to the Third Ring Road, the run and had to travel 3-4 times more. There were, noted free parking, conducted surveys of drivers and consultation with employees of traffic police to be 100% sure that this section of the street is free. And so on. That's how we made the base.

What support base up to date?

We have a team that periodically verifies the parking lots of the base. We pay them to work. I often check the parking lot, which he brought to the base. The application also has a social component, and it is an effective way to maintain a database up to date. Drivers can put the huskies and comments about parking. It happens that drivers themselves report that here in this park yesterday everything was fine and now have established a barrier and there is no longer to put the car. We remove these from the parking database.

How was ultimately beneficial social component? I do not understand what I say, for example, with Natasha Vova squirrel or a warm donuts. Who are all these people, as they say ...

Chat and photo sharing, we've done at the request of the drivers. When the very first ParkApp only released in the App Store, its sole function was able to leave a mark on the map with parking and the time at which you parked. And other drivers knew that this is where there is a car that is now gone. But is it really so? Both drivers we wrote: make a messenger, give the opportunity to communicate, to exchange photos. We made and even added the ability to send stickers. It really works, a lot of people talking. And we have high DAU (15% of the total number of users).

Tell us about the "stuffing" of the application. There is a certain "integral unit", which determines where people are just going to leave, but had not yet left, and an application shows that the car park is about to be released. Do you happen to have created "artificial intelligence"?

I'll try to explain how it works, without revealing our know-how. Indeed, we use an adaptive algorithm that understands the behavior of the user, even if the phone is in a bag or pocket. The most important thing - it's not close ParkApp, «throwing" his swipe up. It must be minimized. When will iOS 9, the algorithm will work to close the application. Now every second algorithm calculates the integral of the kinetic equation, and we understand when the driver parked and when only just getting ready to leave. ParkApp - is a unified system that collects data from all the sensors built into the iPhone, aggregates them and presents a simple interface. This module is tested by us and works in 100% of cases.

You have an investor. It turns out that you are creating the application on the investor's money, rather than their own. You do not believe in your application?

The app was created with his own hands, at their own expense and at their own risk. After all, it did not begin when the investor came and when did the idea. I and my friend Michael Shcheglov spent their money, stuffed bumps fidbek received from the first user. We experienced some romantic illusion of a new application, the investment prospects and so on, but we did not get anything in the first half of the year. The first version of the application was weak, and I believe that if we got the money of the investor at the time, they would have been wasted. ParkApp second version we have made on the money by 60%, another part of us put FRII fund. And then we have found an investor.

You're probably familiar with the expression Smart Money. What does the money go ParkApp investor?

Our investor more business-angel, as he went into the project, when there were no sales. Smart Money was one of the criteria by which we selected investor. We were lucky enough that in the end it turned out to be a major supplier of parking machines in Russia, entrepreneur Alexey Menn. He brought in by the parking space project expertise, learn to build partnerships, including - with public authorities, and so on.

You are in the annex have something or sit without earning profits?

Yes and no. We had originally planned to make in app purchases, and sales have been generally good. But now we are completely cancel all app purchases, and from next upgrade all possibilities ParkApp will be free. Why are we doing this? First of all we want to show our future investor, who will come to the round And we do not looking for the small profit, and strive to build a custom weight, get social capital. If WhatsApp was estimated by its profits, it would be bought for $ 100 million, not 19 billion. WhatsApp is evaluated by social capital.

How do you see yourself in 2-3 years?

Practically every metropolis of the world has its own parking application. There are many, and they all operate on very small areas within the city. For example, the application only for the private underground car park in New York. To aggregate all of this into something more common, no one came. Therefore, we ourselves see in 2-3 years as a universal app that comes to mind when the word "parking". When I come to London, with the word "taxi" to my mind in the first place and come Uber Gett. Similarly, we want to ensure that people did not think about what the parking app download in London, New York and other big cities, and downloaded ParkApp.

Well, the conquest of the world has always been and will be an exciting challenge. I wish you success.