Peaks and valleys

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Finding and sharing food/beverage experiences in real time.

Est. 2019

Table of Contents

What is LiveView?

The Problem

The Solution

Industry flaws and pain points

Fixing the flaws

LiveView App features

Bringing LiveView to life (UX/UI mockups)

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6-8

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9-10

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11-16

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17-21

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22-25

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26-35

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Why a social media app?

Content explanation

Back-end explanation

Current climate in the industry

Competitive landscape

Competitive advantages

Marketing

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36-39

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40-41

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42-43

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44-47

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48-52

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53-56

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Table of Contents

Growth plan

The LiveView team

Outside consultants

Financials

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58-60

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61-65

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66-68

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70-80

Table of Contents

What is LiveView?

LiveView is a smartphone app designed to help food/beverage establishments and consumers interact, in real time, on a social platform in order to share and find experiences in a way that is relevant and credible.

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LiveView has identified four common pain points, both for consumers and establishments, when it comes to finding and sharing new food/beverage experiences:

The Problem

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Credibility

Owner Voice

Lack of amplification & guest recovery opportunity

Platform

Static and limited

Historically based in a world of here and now.

Relevance

Anonymous or unconfirmed authorship

Pain Point Overview

Problem Scenario: Steven’s Dilemma

Steven, 24, and his coworkers decide they want to go out for food and drinks after work on Friday night. Around seven o’clock, Steven uses his phone to google “restaurants near me.” Steven scrolls through review after review on various sites, flipping through dozens of old still photos, struggling to decide which atmosphere looks most fun for him and his coworkers. After finally picking a place that looks satisfactory in photos, they arrive to find an underwhelming in-person experience.

Steven’s friends are now mad at him as they criss-cross the city, starving, in search of a satisfactory atmosphere.

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The Solution

Steven should have used:

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The world’s first interactive social media app that is designed specifically to help food/beverage consumers make the “Should I go?” decision by finding and sharing experiences live and in real time.

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When Steven uses LiveView:

Steven and his friends decide what kind of food/beverages they are looking for, input their search criteria to narrow down the options, and are given a list of establishments most suitable to their wish list. Most importantly, Steven can view live and recent stories from the different establishments, posted by the owners and consumers who are already there. This gives Steven and his friends an idea of what kind of atmosphere they can expect to walk into in real time.

Steven is now the hero of the night, having led his friends to exactly what they were looking for on the first try.

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Don’t blame Steven for messing up the initial search that left him and his friends disappointed. It’s not his fault. The food/beverage search and review industry has major flaws. These flaws hindered Steven’s ability to make the correct decision.

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The Platform

• There is currently no app specifically designed to focus on the experiences of food. No platform attracts a younger audience or encourages user generated content and engagement like social media apps do.
• People already demonstrate their desire to share dining experiences by posting them on social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. However, these social media sites are cluttered with other non-food related content.
• Existing platforms designed for finding dining, such as Yelp, are static and make it difficult to be interactive. This leads to a less than satisfactory user experience.

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Relevance

• Photographs and reviews of restaurants on current platforms tend to be outdated. In a world where yesterday’s news is already too old, photographs on food review sites are often months old.
• This prevents users from getting a “feel” for the atmosphere of an establishment at the moment they wish to go.
• Whether a place looked awesome and packed a month ago, is irrelevant to today’s consumer.

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Credibility

• Vetting reviews and photographs on current sites is a tricky process. Reviewers can remain anonymous, making it easy for restaurant owners to “plant” reviews about their own establishments.
• Still photographs don’t always tell the whole story. They can misrepresent a place which actually has an underwhelming live atmosphere. Conversely, photographs may not do justice to places where the real time atmosphere outperforms its initial appearance.

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Owner Voice

• Credibility goes both ways. In the same way a restaurant may not be portraying themselves truthfully, one disgruntled reviewer can be disingenuous.
• Algorithms of popular review sites only show the reviews of their most frequent users. The problem is, just because a reviewer is active, doesn’t mean their review is accurate or representative of the overall consensus.
• Much like consumers would benefit from a real time platform, business owners could take advantage of this platform as well. As it currently stands on other outlets, one bad night or experience from one table can put a permanent blemish on the entire online reputation of a business.

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Of 110 people surveyed between the ages of 18 and 29 . . .

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69 percent say that platforms like Yelp and/or other online search engines range from only somewhat effective, to not at all effective in giving an accurate feel for the environment and atmosphere of an establishment.

78 percent feel that online photos/reviews are either only somewhat trustworthy or are not trustworthy at all.

Ways to fix the Flaws

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The Platform

• Create a real-time decision making platform that leverages the current behavior of food consumers on social media apps.
• A food specific social media platform, similar to Snapchat or Instagram, where sharing of experiences is done in a live and interactive way.
• A platform that is clean, lean, and easily navigable.
• A platform that revolves largely around user generated content but is supplemented by additional content via reputable sources in the food industry, such as bloggers and influencers.

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Relevance

• Provide “stories” that give viewers a real time feel for the atmosphere of an establishment at any moment.
• Does it look packed and fun, or is it dead?
• What promotions are happening now?
• Provide reviews and experiences that accurately reflect the current quality of an establishment, rather than relying on old opinions that may no longer hold true.
• Prompt the user to ask, “Should I go now?”

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Credibility

• Seeing is believing. Seeing something live gives it more credibility.
• By seeing establishments in real time with their own eyes, the consumer automatically becomes the reviewer, relying less on third party opinions.
• Third party opinions that are being taken into consideration should be from friends and acquaintances. These are naturally more trustworthy than random people or anonymous accounts.
• Temporary content, in mechanisms like a Snapchat story, is nearly impossible to “stage,” therefore, making it more trustworthy.
• Make sure all users’ posts will be seen. This gives users a fair opportunity to truly compare all reviews, rather than being limited to a select few.

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Owner Voice

• Consumers want insider, exclusive content. Give the opportunity to showcase things behind the scenes the average consumer may not be aware of (food prep, deals, theme nights, etc.).
• Owners deserve second chances too.
• Temporary content ensures one bad review will not be a permanent blemish.
• Provide business owners with guest recovery opportunities.
• Provide the opportunity to influence traffic to a location at a moment's notice with spontaneous “pop-up” promotions that can reach an audience instantaneously.

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The LiveView app delivers all these fixes through the features included on the platform:

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• Consumer “stories”:
• Geolocated.
• Short review and five star rating feature.
• Link to other stories that were posted at this location.
• Establishment pages:
• Geolocated stories for owners to promote their location.
• Additional information such as the phone number, full menu, and a reservation option.
• Link to see other LiveView users’ stories from this particular location.

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• Personal Account Info
• Customize privacy settings.
• Make “friends” and connections with other users.
• Track your personal rewards points.

• Search page:
• Saved personal preferences/constraints such as health requirements (gluten free, vegan, etc.).
• Ability to filter for distance, price, food/beverage type.
• Results page with links to consumer and establishment stories from the establishments that meet your search criteria.

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• Premium features:
• Rewards points system:
• Points given as an incentive for participation.
• Points can be redeemed for:
• Search optimization for businesses.
• Exclusive access to reserved seating at popular establishments saved for our top users.
• Guest recovery for business owners.
• Direct message a consumer who gives a review of three stars or lower to try to “recover” them.
• Premium Awareness for Consumers
• Be in the loop by receiving push notifications from select establishments regarding pop-up promotions.

Bringing LiveView to Life

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This is the home page for either new users that have yet to make a LiveView account, or current users that had logged out of their account.

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Search a specific establishment.

View rotating stories from the hottest locations near you from all categories.

Swipe left to see stories from trending locations, broken down by category.

Search for establishments using preference filter.

View personal account information.

Swipe left to see stories from establishments that have been “followed.”

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Release drop down menu for dietary, allergenic, and health constraints.

Slide filter to select range in distance and price.

Select the type of food you are looking for.

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Link to the pages of establishments that fit search criteria.

View distance of establishment in relation to current location.

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Additional information.

Stories from this location posted by other LiveView users.

Add personal story to this location.

Directions to this location.

Stories posted by this establishment’s owner account.

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Take a photo to add a story.

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Rate the current atmosphere and experience at this location.

Highlight and suggest specific dishes by tagging them with name and price.

Tag location with establishment name and logo.

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See what experiences friends are enjoying by viewing their recent stories.

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Keep track of personal metrics.

Redeem points earned with premium membership for rewards.

View personal recent stories.

Manage account and privacy settings.

Why a Social Media App?

Social media’s influence on the food industry:

• A study by emarketer showed that 37 percent of social network users polled use social media to research brands, products, or services before making a purchase. Source: YP Marketing Solutions
• Empathica research shows that nearly three out of four customers (72 percent), have used Facebook to make restaurant or retail decisions based on comments and images shared by other users. Source: Dr. Gary Edwards

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Nearly 90 percent of all people in the US age 18-29 indicate they use any form of social media. (PEW)

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• Out of all brands mentioned on Twitter, food and drink brands are the most mentioned, compromising 32 percent of tweets. Source: Daren Bach
• There are 5.7 Billion food related pins on Pinterest. Source: Craig Smith
• According to research by Zizzi, 18-35-year-olds spend five whole days a year browsing food images on Instagram, and 30 per cent would avoid a restaurant if their Instagram presence was weak. Source: Rachel Hosie, Independent

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It is clear that food has a commanding social presence. LiveView simply leverages existing consumer behavior by consolidating food and beverage experiences onto one specialized social platform.

93 percent said that they would be interested in a mobile app tailored to finding/sharing new dining experiences that functions as a social media app like Instagram or Snapchat.

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Of 110 people surveyed between the ages of 18-29 . . .

86 percent said they preferred LiveView’s design when shown mockups of LiveView’s user interface in comparison to major competitors Yelp and Foursquare. Of these, 70 percent expressed willingness to pay the proposed monthly subscription for premium features.

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(Cont.)

Content Explanation

• User Generated Content
• The vast majority of LiveView’s content is user generated through live stories and reviews.
• When it comes to stories, LiveView is a platform, not a publisher. There is a mechanism to flag inappropriate or offensive content for review, but LiveView does not otherwise screen posts for quality.
• Providing genuine, unfiltered and unedited content is one of the major purposes the app exists to begin with.

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• LiveView Endorsed Content
• Supplemental content placed on the LiveView Blog that is not user generated.
• All potential bloggers are vetted, and their content screened by LiveView editors prior to being posted on the platform.

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Content Explanation (cont.)

Back-end Explanation

• The iOS app will be written in Swift.
• Developed and tested in Apple X code.
• iOS Software Developer’s Kit (SPK) will be used as the Application Program Interface (API).
• The Android app will be written in Java.
• Developed and tested in Android Studio.
• Android SDK manager used as the API.

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Back-end Explanation (cont.)

• Servers:
• Cloud based computing with Amazon Web Services.
• Low cost, pay-as-you-go.
• Servers spread around the country that allow app to stay online in certain regions even if there are problems in another.
• Access to as much or as little capacity as needed.
• Increased agility for LiveView developers.

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What makes now the right time to pounce on the flaws in this industry?

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Current Climate in the Food Industry

• Over the last decade, there has been a massive awakening of an entire generation’s interest in food.
• The labeling of people as “foodies” has become commonplace in the human vocabulary and is a term of endearment that is worn with pride by those who claim it.
• There are entire networks on television and channels on YouTube that revolve solely around the experience of food.
• Some of the most visited and viewed social media pages and online discussion forums are often all about food. Source: Brandwatch

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Millennials and Generation Z are obsessed with food.

“I think that a lot of people in our generation are thinking . . . ‘Where am I going to go dine next?’ . . . If you look at any of the statistics for Instagram or Pinterest or Twitter or Facebook: Pinterest, the food boards are the most popular boards. There’s a website that’s just foodporn.com where you can go look at food all day.”

• Eve Turow, Author of the book A Taste of Generation Yum

“As many of us have heard before, Millennials love going out to eat. In fact, according to an analysis of historical data on food spending habits by the University of Arkansas, eating out has increased from 25.9 percent of consumers in 1970 to a current record of 43.5 percent.”

• Forbes

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Despite the overwhelming enthusiasm, no player in the space has been able to claim the foodies generation.

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Largest age demographic:

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35-54 years old

Largest age demographic:

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45-70 years old

94 percent of users:

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29 years old and above

Source: DMR Business statistics

Competitive Landscape

• Number one competitor and giant in this space.
• 72.3 million monthly unique visitors.
• 32 million unique devices have the Yelp app.
• 4.6 million local businesses
• Top brand recognition when it comes to reviews.
• Very expensive.
• Selfish and unfriendly toward business owners.
• Static UX/UI that is historically based.
• Spread thin across a variety of categories

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The Giants:

• 455 million monthly unique visitors
• 4.7 million listed restaurants
• 270 user contributions per minute
• Mostly thought about by tourists.
• Static UX/UI that is historically based.

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• Biggest following of all social media platforms
• Currently beta testing a new review system for business pages.
• Fastest growing site behind Google for reviews.
• Spread thin across a large variety of purposes and categories.

• Google Maps has integrated a review feature for businesses.
• GPS location triggers a prompt to be sent to the user to leave a review after leaving a business.
• Some studies show Google maps reviews may be passing Yelp.
• Awards redeemable points in return for participation.
• Not live, user only leaves review after departing.

Competitive Landscape

• Indian based company that acquired UrbanSpoon.
• 1.2 million restaurants
• 30 million photos
• 10 million reviews
• 90 million monthly visitors
• A relatively new company (2008), Zomato seems to have noticed that the big boys are spreading themselves too thin and straying from their initial purpose.
• They have pretty much recreated Yelp, but kept the scope limited to food.
• Static UI/UX that is historically based.

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Slightly smaller, but more focused:

• “America’s favorite dining app.”
• Designed to steer travellers away from chain restaurants and find the local hidden gems and eat like a local.
• 3.5 star rating on the app store.
• Seen as a competitor to Yelp and TripAdvisor.
• Consistently ranks as a top paid dining app in the app store.
• Similar UX/UI to Yelp.
• Does not provide real time atmosphere.
• Aimed at tourists.

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• 55 million active monthly users.
• 600 million photos shared all-time.
• 100 million venues worldwide.
• 1.3 million business pages
• A gamified, geolocated, “check in” rewards system.
• For food, nightlife, entertainment, and shopping.
• Same static UX/UI as other competitors. Just still photos and reviews.
• Very old age demographic.

Competitive Advantages

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LiveView separates itself by outperforming competitors in 4 key areas:

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2. Live Action Content

• LiveView is the only platform out of all those mentioned that is built to share live experiences.
• This makes LiveView the most relevant and credible source out there to assess real time food/beverage establishment atmosphere.
• All competitor platforms rely on historical references.

1. Age Demographic
• LiveView is designed specifically to attract the key 18-29 age demographic all other food review site competitors are missing.

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3. Specific Scope

• Though competitors like Facebook and other existing social apps appeal to a younger age demographic, only LiveView consolidates all food/beverage experiences onto one platform.

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4. Cost to Businesses and Advertisers

• The giants in this space are extremely selfish and unfriendly to businesses. Yelp charges business owners a monthly fee of $300 for an enhanced account, and charge local advertisers $600 per 1,000 impressions.
• LiveView approached 10 local restaurant owners in Connecticut, all of whom expressed great animosity toward Yelp, and said they much preferred LiveView’s proposed pricing for premium accounts and advertising.

Marketing an app

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• Year 1 (Budget of $40,000)
• Paid advertising in popular food blogs, magazines, etc.
• Sponsor the main event at a food/restaurant expo and incentivize attendees to sign up for the app.
• Set aside 15 percent equity for celebrities and influencers.
• Organic social media marketing campaign.

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• Years 2-3 (Budget of $580,000 total)
• Expand focus to other major metropolitan areas across the US.
• LiveView hosted food festivals.

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Growth Plan (Year 1)

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• Establish a user base. The plan is to launch in the Apple store by 2020, initially focusing marketing in the NYC area. Following this, LiveView will begin expansion to Android users at the six month mark, fully implemented by beginning of year two.
• Collect feedback after launch from users regarding user experience, making updates and changes accordingly.
• Fully implement the monthly premium subscriptions of $4.99 and $19.99 for consumers and business owners respectively.

Growth Plan (Years 2-3)

• Continue to grow user base, expanding marketing focus to other major metropolitan areas in the United States, (LA, Chicago, Dallas, etc.)
• Continue to update development of the app and premium features to suit demands of the industry and customer feedback.
• Begin other streams of revenue, launching the first LiveView hosted food festival.

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Growth Plan (Years 4+)

• Grow with the customer base.
• As the Millennial generation matures, LiveView will adapt to tailor to their shifting priorities, introducing new features that are child and family-oriented.

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• Transition to promotion mediator.
• LiveView has already gauged interest from larger chain franchise owners who would like to use the platform as a way to inform users of promotions in an instantaneous manner.
• As the app grows, LiveView could pivot to become a real time promotion mediator and alert system for larger chains.

The LiveView Team

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Griffin Kutzner

CEO/CMO and Co-Content Editor

• Responsibilities include:
• Oversight of day to day operations and managerial decisions.
• Planning, budgeting, and execution of marketing strategy in years one to three.
• Communication between investors and key partners.
• Co-Editor for content to be posted on the LiveView Blog.

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XiaoBin “Sean” Shen

CFO/Head of HR

• Responsibilities include:
• Financial operations and bookkeeping.
• Personnel recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, and task analysis.

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Colton Bender

PR Officer and Co-Content Editor

• Responsibilities Include:
• Establishment and maintenance of communication between key investors and partners.
• Plan and execute campaigns in order to maintain positive reputation among consumers and publics.
• Assist in blog editing.

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Programming Director,

(To be hired prior to launch)

• Responsibilities include:
• Oversight of app development.
• Assist in hiring of back-end data collectors.
• Maintenance and update of application in accordance to consumer feedback.

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Outside Consultants

In order to gain professional insight into areas in which they were not particularly familiar, LiveView founders enlisted the guidance of outside consultants. These consultants are knowledgeable experts in their respective fields whose guidance and input helped shape the information, estimates, and plan put forth in this deck. The group of consultants was comprised of the following:

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• UI/UX Designer.
• Web Design Professor at Quinnipiac University.
• Aided LiveView team in back-end explanation.

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Brandon Carey

JiaLu Zheng

• PhD in Computer Science at Yale University.
• Aided LiveView team in back-end explanation, cost estimates, and hiring advice.

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• Professor of Computer Information Systems at Quinnipiac University.
• Provided LiveView team with sources for app creation costs.

Guido Lang

Mark Macchiarulo

• 20 years of experience in marketing and brand management.
• CEO of Amplitude Marketing Group 2011-2016.
• Advised LiveView team in marketing strategy and granular deck creation.

Financials

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Assumptions

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• Membership Subscriptions:
• 15 percent monthly growth in premium user memberships.
• Spike to 30 percent growth in the months immediately following sponsored events, addition of sales employees, and entrance to new geographic markets.
• 2 percent loss for restaurants and 10 percent loss for users in premium subscriptions every month.
• After year one, five new sales employees will be hired, with five additional hires every six months thereafter. Each of these employees will secure 15 new premium restaurant subscriptions a month.

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• Advertisements:
• Beginning in month two, with 15-20 percent growth depending on ad type.
• Spike of 30 percent in the months of LiveView food festivals.

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Assumptions (Cont.)

• In-app purchases:
• Consistent growth rate of 20 percent, spiking to 25 percent in months coinciding with new hires in the sales department and increased usership.

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• Beginning seasonal food festivals at start of year two.

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Revenue Streams

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Stream 1

• Monthly Premium Subscription
• $7.99 initial fee followed by $4.99 per month.
• Lets the user:
• Earn double points and redeem them for promotions and exclusive access to participating establishments.
• Access the LiveView Blog.
• Receive push notifications from select establishments regarding special, time-sensitive promotions.

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• Monthly Premium Subscription
• $22.99 initial fee followed by $19.99 per month.
• Lets the owner:
• Earn and redeem points for search result optimization.
• Send promotional push notifications and participate in the exclusive access rewards program.
• Send direct messages for guest recovery.

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Stream 1 (cont.)

Stream 2

• Advertisements
• Introduced at the beginning of month six.
• Paid stories priced at $2 CPM (Cost per 1,000 views).
• Reference to delivery services on restaurant page
• Beginning month three.
• Priced 1 cent cost per click and $2 cost per order.

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Stream 3

• In-app purchases
• Digital coupon booklet
• $9.99 offered once a month.
• 20 percent rate of growth.
• Personal account customization art
• $1.99 per feature.

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Stream 4

• LiveView Food Festival
• Host seasonal food festivals in NYC starting in year 2.
• Estimated 150 vendors at $100.
• Attendance of 5,000 people at $40 per ticket.

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Company Location and Business Type

• LiveView will begin as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), headquartered in Southbury, Connecticut.
• Southbury offers a location in close proximity to the initial target market of New York City, as well as other large metropolitan areas such as Boston.
• After year two, LiveView could relocate to a major metropolitan area.
• Note: The Southbury location will not require rental fees, as it is the current residential property of one of the company’s partial owners.

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Expenses

• Fixed:
• $99 a year to host app on the iOS app store, $25 one time fee for Google play store for Android.
• LLC: $160 filing fee, 20$ annual report fee, $250 annual tax.
• $200 per month for server space on AWS.
• Startup:
• $85,050 for iOS app development.
• $81,900 for Android app development.
• $80,000 salary for programming manager beginning month six.
• Variable
• Employee salaries and insurance costs.
• Bloggers to be paid $50 per article.

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Investment

The LiveView founders and co-owners are investing $25,000 of their own capital, with an additional $350,000 from friends and family.

LiveView will break even in month 10 and is seeking an outside investment of $130,000 to ensure it remains cash positive until this point.

Investors will be paid back a sum of $260,000 (double their initial investment) in two years.

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!

GRIFFIN, XIAOBIN, AND COLTON