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eHub Interviews CafeSpot

Thanks to Will, creator of CafeSpot for this email interview posted October 10, 2005.

eHub: What is your web application/service about?

CafeSpot: CafeSpot is all about finding those great little independently owned cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants that are often hidden and word-of-mouth only.

eHub: Why did you start this project?

CafeSpot: I started CafeSpot because most of the existing restaurant guides do not allow community input, and have too many advertisements.  They are also packed with chains, so if you search for “coffee” you get 100 Starbucks which obscures the good places.

eHub: How much time do you devote to its growth?  Do you have a day job?

CafeSpot: I try to dedicate an hour or two a day to the project, but with my day job and school that is a bit difficult.

eHub: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

CafeSpot: CafeSpot is a solo project for me.  My background is primarily programming, which I’ve been doing for about 14 years.  Lately I’ve also been trying to improve my visual design skills, which may or may not show on CafeSpot =)

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

CafeSpot: My goal is to capture the meaning or intent of a design without adding unnecessary frills. I like open space and successful use of highlighting techniques to draw the viewer’s attention.

eHub: What technologies are you currently using?

CafeSpot: CafeSpot is written in Common Lisp and uses a number of open source Lisp libraries.  The database is PostgreSQL 8.0 with the PostGIS extensions to handle geographic data and searching.

CafeSpot also integrates with Yahoo! Local and displays Google Maps showing the location of places.

eHub: If your project is live, what are the most requested features from your users/community?

CafeSpot: The most requested features have been navigation related, originally you could only find places by doing a location search.  Today CafeSpot allows you to browse all places by geographic hierarchy, and also to search for places with specific ratings, tags, and distances from a point.

eHub: Does your user base reside in a primary geographic location or is it distributed?

CafeSpot: The primary user base is in the United States, at least going by the number of places added.  However CafeSpot is aimed at a worldwide audience and currently has places located in 16 countries.

eHub: Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months?  The next 2 years?

CafeSpot: In the short term I hope to see a lot of new places added.  Looking forward, I would like CafeSpot to become the first place people check when they want to go out for food or drink.

eHub: What is the greatest challenge to your success?

CafeSpot: The greatest challenge has been marketing, which was a big surprise to me.  The web is a huge place, and there is so much going on that getting a project noticed is quite difficult.

eHub: What is the one thing you need to get to the next phase of the project?

CafeSpot: More active users. Today CafeSpot has almost as many registered users as places, but only a few users have added more than one or two places.

eHub: Do you have a business model?  If so, what is it?

CafeSpot: There isn’t really a business model today because CafeSpot’s content needs to be free and I am not a fan of ads.  Content syndication is a potential model, but not one I am actively pursuing.

eHub: If you’re able to disclose this information, how much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

CafeSpot: CafeSpot sees about 1000 non-robot hits per day.  Google is the top referrer, but MSN and Yahoo are close behind.

eHub: What is the one thing you’re most proud of about the project?

CafeSpot: The whole project came together very quickly, and exactly as planned. It only took a month and a half to launch the first version, and new changes are very easy to implement and deploy.  CafeSpot is probably the best web application I have built so far.

eHub: How would you describe the shift that’s occurring with the web right now to future generations?

CafeSpot: Wow, well I guess I’d classify the shift as a fundamental movement from consumable content to participatory content. People want content customized to their interests, and the ability to communicate with other people having similar interests.

eHub: What site(s) do you visit everyday other than your own?

CafeSpot:
http://fresh.homeunix.net/delicious.html - This one is mine, but I have to say that I check it quite frequently to see what people are talking about.
http://slashdot.org - “News for nerds”
http://engadget.com - Lots of emerging technology and neat stuff.
http://planet.lisp.org - Meta-blog with interesting content from lisp programmers.
http://lambda-the-ultimate.org - Fascinating and detailed discussions of programming languages and features.
http://threadless.com - Maybe not daily, but where else can you get such great clothes?
http://cssbeauty.com - Lots of really beautiful web sites.
http://urbandead.com - Die zombies!

eHub: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

CafeSpot: Usually between seven and eight hours.  My goal is eight which leaves me feeling very well rested and eager to get started.

Thanks to Will, creator of CafeSpot for this email interview posted October 10, 2005.

Visit CafeSpot
Originally added to eHub on Sep 17, 05

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eHub Interviews is a series with the creators of Web 2.0 applications and services by Emily Chang, author of eHub, designer, and co-founder and principal of Ideacodes, a strategic web consultancy in San Francisco that she co-founded with Max Kiesler.

Also see eHub Interviews in Japanese at CNET Japan