ezWake is a youth-driven company that aims at an extremely simple problem: waking up. The company creates apps that activates the mind enough to make it difficult to fall back into sleep. Eventually, with enough uses, the app being personalized – adjusting its own difficulty and duration to the specific needs of the user.
Who started the company? Do you/team members have tech background?
Alannah Zhou, an executive of Illuminate Vancouver’s Tekathon, started the company. Her position gave her connection to a lot of figures in the Vancouver tech scene as well as the team’s developers with tech backgrounds. Her, as well as the marketers and designers, do not have as much tech background but do have a knack for what they do.
How are you being financed?
We currently have a Kickstarter accessible at http://kck.st/2iq85AE .
What do you think will be / is a big obstacle to overcome?
Starting our project in July, and aiming to launch our app in the fall of 2017, time is our biggest obstacle as we hope to launch sooner in order to more quickly help those in need – those who struggle to wake up, and get out of bed in a timely manner, our mission. At ezWake, that, is what we strive for.
How do you go about finding good developers / IT guys for your company?
ezWake tries to use each marketer’s social media network to spread the word of our hiring applications. This gives ezWake a larger pool to select from.
Who is your biggest competition?
Time is our biggest competition. We don’t see other companies (that exist currently) as reason to worry.
How are you intending on taking your company to million dollars in revenues? In what markets?
An area that a lot of small-team apps fail at is marketing and design. We have a passionate team with marketers who have large access to our target market – high school and postsecondary students. Moreover, the app’s unique spin – individualized wake ups with differing durations and difficulties – will help steer in clients who are looking for something fit for them. ezWake has already started a research journey into how people wake up and interact with alarm apps.
What is the big lesson you’ve learned (success or failure) with this project.
Hard work works when talent stops working. When a large group of teenagers dedicate themselves to a large project at the heart of summer break, the individuals who are truly driven to make ezWake succeed shine through. Those who prove their passion for the project become the best kind of executives – willing to risk great amounts for the team.
