Iqram and Andrew were randomly paired as college roommates their freshman year. Little did they know that—within a decade—they’d make an app together that would revolutionize the way you settle IOU’s with your friends... During the summer following their senior year, Iqram and Andrew were still roommates—subletting an apartment and building websites for people to pay the bills (apparently, they would even accept food as payment). Around that time, they coded software for a friend that allowed her regular-old laptop to plug in a USB cable and accept credit card swipes. They weren’t passionate about the software and decided not to do anything with it. Eventually, they ended their stint as roommates and moved out. Years later, Andrew and Iqram reconnected and went to a concert. During the event, they had an idea for an easier, cashless way to buy concert recordings and tip musicians after performances. What if you could send a tip or purchase an album (this was in the Stone Age: before Spotify) simply by sending a text? So they got to work. Then—one fateful weekend—when Iqram visited Andrew to work on the concert idea, Iqram forgot his wallet at home. Andrew had to spot him for the whole trip. At the end of his visit, he wrote Andrew a check (never heard of 'em) to make it even. And that’s when it hit them. Forget just tipping musicians—why not create a way where all people can send money back and forth over text? They ditched the concert idea and quickly coded a prototype. It worked. Except one thing. They got rid of the whole “over text” part, and just made an app instead. Enter Venmo. **Read more using these sources: this video, and this article. **Read more FS Stories here. If you liked reading this article, you might also like The Wedge: a quick-to-read weekly e-mail newsletter with awesome business stories that'll increase your creativity and resourcefulness just by reading them. Learn more and sign up here. Comments are closed.
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