JOKE CONCEPT TURNED REALITY

We’d be lying if we told you ChumpDump was the result of some master genius plan we had at Startup Weekend.  The idea came together in the last few remaining hours of the weekend event when three friends started talking about what everyone at Startup Weekend’s usually talk about.. social media, twitter, facebook etc.  TechCrunch had recently posted a story about a Twitter frowning upon a bulk automatic unfollowing tool and we sort of agreed- bulk automatic unfollowing was too easy, it took the soul out the whole friending process.  Our solution, let’s make it a game.  A game around dumping friends on twitter.  Half jokingly we squeezed our pitch in at the end of the weekend’s functions and explained to everyone, yes we too would be joining everyone else in building a startup- we’re going to build ChumpDump.

A playful joke yet laid in a solid foundation of a real problem.  People follow chumps.  We know they do, they know they do, yet we all don’t seem to do anything about it.  Solving this problem in a fun engaging way became our focus.  The game would be simple.  A lottery- everyone likes playing the lottery! Players decide who lives or dies, not us, we just give them a place to do it.

From sketch to beta

Our first coded beta was playable on the iPhone in just 10 days.  From there we began several (dozens) iterations refining the concept in a closed beta with 15 close friends.  The game evolved.  A real utility, and more so, a real addicting fun aspect exploded in the game.  The joke turned concept, turned into a real reality of something viable and useful for everyone who came in contact with it.  Insane fun was present and the rest is history.

What players are saying…

Spot the buzz is on the web…