(Photo courtesy of Jacob Jorgensen)
Three ASU students are looking to improve on Craigslist with their newly developed application, which will allow users an easier way to publish classified ads.
Computer science seniors Jacob Jorgensen, Dana Johnson and John Lillyblad developed Mochi, a mobile application that provides users with an easier medium to sell and buy items while protecting personal information.
Jorgensen was given an assignment to submit a proposal for “Spark Tank,” a mock competition based on the show Shark Tank, through one of his entrepreneurship classes and brought Johnson and Lillyblad on as partners.
A longtime user of the classified website Craigslist, Jorgensen said he was inspired to create the app after noticing inefficiencies with the website.
“I’ve used Craigslist and eBay for over 10 years,” Jorgensen said. “eBay continually improved, but Craigslist hasn’t changed much over the years. People get on Facebook groups and post stuff, because they know there are people close by who they can trust.”
Echoing Jorgensen, Johnson said the process it takes to set up a classified ad on Craigslist is too lengthy and needed improvements.
“Jacob thought of the idea," Johnson said. "He uses Craigslist and OfferUp all the time. He was sick of how long the process takes and noticed the missing features, so we figured why not fix it and do it ourselves?”
The app blends the concepts of Craigslist and Instagram together, offering users a clean, simple interface on which they can sell and buy various items based on their location.
Users can take a photo or use a photo in their library, post it on the app with a title and a price and post it to their account. Users looking to buy items can communicate with sellers through a messaging system built into the application.
“The process is simple,” Lillyblad said. “We wanted to utilize the smartphone to be able to download the app and begin posting within a minute."
The students entered their capstone project into the Sun Devil Igniter Challenge, nicknamed "Spark Tank," an entrepreneurship competition hosted by the W. P. Carey School of Business. Mochi came in first place out of 70-plus entries, winning $50,000 to fully develop the application.
Thomas Cowen, one of the investors involved in the competition and the CEO of modomodo, a mobile application development company, came up with the idea for the competition that won last year ago with W. P. Carey dean Amy Hillman and three other entrepreneurs.
With the heavy integration of mobile devices in society today, there needs to be an efficient way to communicate, Cowen said.
“Mobile devices are the most common thing people keep with them most of the day,” Cowen said. “We need to think of the best way to communicate with someone in a smart way using the device they carry with them all the time.”
Cowen said the competition had a heavy influx of applications and choosing a winner was no easy task.
“We had a tremendous response in the first year,” Cowen said. “We ended up with five finalists where we could’ve easily awarded the prize to everyone. I’m looking forward to the ideas next year.”
Mochi is expected to hit the public on iOS devices this May and will be available on Android shortly after, free of cost.
Reach the reporter at Jlsuerth@asu.edu or on Twitter at @SuerthJessica.
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