Iminlikewithyou Interview

I recently did an interview with Charles Forman, the founder of Iminlikewithyou about the site and their plans for the future. Here it is:

What was the inspiration for iminlikewithyou?

We wanted to make something fun for people do while they should be doing more important things. I really like peoplewatching. I want to make an experience similar to people sitting in cafe windows and watching people walking down the street. It’s a fun spectator sport. You can just sit back and watch most of the time, however, if you see someone really interesting, you can go up to someone and strike up a conversation if they seem available.
We hated the openness of most social networks. We definitely hate dating sites. They are mos def retarded. If I’m a guy with the M.O. to meet girls on a social network or dating site, I just join, send out 10,000 messages to everyone, and get my 1% response. No one wants that; no one benefits.
We want to make something super fun and entertaining.

How often do you have to explain the name?

I’ve never had to explain it to a woman. They think it’s cute! Guys mostly get it.

What’s the iminlikewithyou business model?

We are in the process of relocating our offices to the rain forest. We are prepared to bring battles to the end of rainbows for the gold. Us vs. the leprechauns.
We are also thinking about new forms of fuel. Mouse click powered cars would be neat.
I’d like to sell our intern. However, I don’t know how much he would fetch. I would only pay about $7. I guess that business doesn’t scale.

Why so much flash and ajax?

I have a vision of how the experience should be. I think it’s nowhere close to what I want. We released quickly that we were doing things a little too heavy with the javascript and css. We are going to make people happy by splitting the site into two parts. We are going to do a complete flash site, and a html site that is much more lite (less javascript, no flash, etc). We are excited about both projects!
Hopefully they will be out soon.

Do you have any other ideas for winning games, besides just winning contact information?

So we are introducing the concept of betting on people. We are also thinking about something that is mega crazy. We have too many ideas and not enough time.
Along the same lines, any new ideas for gaining points, and stuff to spend points on?
Stay tuned! :)

Do you think the exclusivity of invite-only has helped build the buzz around the site?

I think it built some buzz. The primary reason for invite only is accountability. If someone uploads a bad photo, that person is deleted. Furthermore, the person who invited him/her can never send out another invite. It’s important to keep in mind that invite only also very limiting in terms of growth. I think it’s important though.
It’ll stay that way.

Do you have any features you plan to roll out in the near future?

In the future, all backgrounds on the internet will be bubble wrap. When you pop them all, you get 5 points. That shit is so web 3.0. Shit. Did I just say web 3.0? Shit. I did it again.

The issues we are tackling now:

Privacy
International Support
Better Communications
Rich Flash Site
Lean HTML Site
Kickass Mobile Site
More stuff for passive users to do

What else do we have to look forward to?

Well, we just want to make a really fun site. People have been great by submitting feedback with their thoughts, bug sightings, hatemail, love letters. It’s all good and it really helps us out! I try to respond to all feedback myself!