Former AU Student Government Presidents Nate Bronstein and Andy MacCracken are starting a new social media venture to help organizations across the globe plan events and projects in easier, more concise ways.
Called Cahoots, the venture focuses on student-business interaction.
The two friends, Bronstein, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, and MacCracken, now an SPA graduate student, realized they both wanted to make help organizations work together.
“It is natural to organize, but difficult to achieve,” MacCracken said.
Cahoots uses networks and project management tools to enable student organizations to improve internal communications, build regional coalitions and connect with local businesses.
“The site bridges two online industries, integrating the practicality of project management software with the connectivity of social networking,” Bronstein said in an interview via Facebook since he is currently abroad in Spain.
Cahoots is similar to both Facebook and Google, but with some differences. The two students think communication between organizations will be less fragmented because organizations can consolidate business discussion to one site.
“It simply came from the fact that we have continually encountered major problems utilizing the current tools (email, Facebook, Google Docs, etc.) to coordinate people,” Bronstein wrote.
The potential competition Cahoots has with Facebook and Google does not scare the duo.
“The need is there,” MacCracken said. “It is not about being social, but being social changers.”
To use the site, members will log in to the Web application and subsequently post ideas on a project page.
“These are not revolutionary technologies, but there hasn’t been one in place,” MacCracken said.
Bronstein and MacCracken started working Cahoots in October 2010 and developed their early plans at D.C. Start Up Scramble, a workshop run by global investment company Ashoka in February 2011. They pitched their idea to a panel of entrepreneurs and business experts at the event, MacCracken said.
Bronstein and MacCracken won $1,000 of startup capital. The company then became incorporated as an LLC, or limited liability company, which means it does not need to be organized for profit.
They have worked with various website developers to design a format, including Breckenridge Design Group, Three Consultants and independent developer Kelly Mears.
Bronstein and MacCracken are confident they will be able to raise the $20,000 to $30,000 needed to start a beta, or test, site.
That first draft of the site is meant to get students onto the system and see how they are using it compared to how Bronstein and MacCracken designed it.
MacCracken compared it to Twitter — a site that was meant more for chatting, but became a professional news hub.
“The shift of the purpose of the site will be according to how users take it,” MacCracken said.
Bronstein and MacCracken plan to reach out to about 15 to 20 D.C. college organizations with which they have previous connections, including the AU SG, College Democrats and College Republicans. These organizations have not yet been formally invited to test drive the site, MacCracken said.
“The site is intended for small niche groups,” MacCracken said. “There are really an endless number of groups and students with varying passions.”
Though Bronstein is abroad, he and MacCracken were able to complete some work before Bronstein left the United States.
They regularly talk via Skype and emails, and Bronstein’s new connections abroad help spread the word on Cahoots, Bronstein said. MacCracken has been holding meetings on Bronstein’s behalf in the United States.
They have also worked with Rebecca Prowler, who graduated from the School of Communication in May, to design a new logo and brand for their system.
Their friends and family have donated to the company via StartSomeGood.com, a website that connects social entrepreneurs with people who want to help.
Cahoots backer Adriana Ganci, a sophomore in the School of International Service, has invested in the company.
“I think it sounds like something campuses can really utilize,” Ganci said.
The future of planning is less hierarchical and more a give-and-take of ideas between people, MacCracken said.
“Increasingly, our generation plans differently,” MacCracken said.
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