Lopeca Thoughts

By Muzaffer Selimbeyoğlu on February 13, 2015 6 Comments / 2872 views

Hi Everyone,

We launched a MVP of Lopeca a few days ago. www.lopeca.com. In short, people can discover places that they wonder about, live from a local person’s camera.

Lopeca is new way of discovering places. Connect a local person where you want to see and take a live walking tour from his/her camera. Ask what you want to local guide and get the best information. Discover where you want, make local friends online with your smartphone.

It’s for people who wonder and want to discover a place or an event live from their smartphone and who wants to make new local friends

We are inviting a few people to seed the community and get feedback .

1. What are your initial impressions?

2. What (if any) value do you see in something like this?

3. Would you recommend Lopeca to your friends?

4. Are you encouraged to (subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?

Thanks!

Muzaffer

Twitter: lopecacom

Facebook:lopecacom

Comments

Muzaffer Selimbeyoğlu

6 Comments

asha chaudhry February 17, 2015, 8:58 am

hi muzaffer,

just some really quick initial feedback – i think you mean WANDER and not WONDER. pls check the meanings. they are very different. and it really sticks out immediately so pls correct it!!

are these “guides” handpicked by you? how do you verify that they are genuine folks?

(i saw the form to fill etc)

what normally happens in a new city – if you connect with a “local guide” you sometimes actually end up meeting that person if you think he/she can help with something (eg shopping in delhi in case of a firang tourist)

we travel a lot and we invest a lot of time in our research – my only doubt is how do i know for sure the person at the other end is a genuine travel lover or not? very hard to trust “guides” nowadays – even virtually… how will you address this trust issue?
Muzaffer Selimbeyoğlu February 17, 2015, 9:10 am

Hi Asha,

Thanks for your feedback.

There is no restriction, anyone can be a local guide in Lopeca. To build up a trust in Lopeca, we guarantee your money back. Also, the first 2 minutes of the tour is free. If you want to continue to tour, then you need to pay money. If there is something wrong with the guide, you can end the tour and report to us.
asha chaudhry February 18, 2015, 11:17 am

hey muzaffer – you still haven’t corrected the WONDER part?

In short, people can discover places that they wonder live from local people’s camera.

it should be “In short, people can discover places that they wonder about, live from a local person’s camera”

OR

“In short, people can discover places they want to wander around, live from a local person’s camera”

if i was in your place, i would knock off the wonder and say,

“In short, people can discover places they have always wanted to visit, live from a local guide’s camera”
Muzaffer Selimbeyoğlu February 18, 2015, 12:53 pm

Hi Asha,

I really appreciate your interest and thanks for the recommendation. I corrected the explanation.

Best

Muzaffer
Akshay 'Backpacker' Chhugani March 11, 2015, 7:21 pm

Hi Muzaffer,

The idea sounds great when I hear it first but just the next minute as soon as i see its paid I feel (Plz dont get offended…its just a feedback) I have Youtube to see a video of any place i want for free.

Secondly Travel is all about experiencing a place and not looking at a live video…….the feel and touch is very imp when anything related to travel is mentioned.

Thirdly I feel a better way to monetise it might just be to make the tour free and the tour guide wears a Tee of a local sponsored Travel agent instead or anything similar

P.S….Plz excuse if you find my comments to be rude….just being honest about the feedback
Muzaffer Selimbeyoğlu March 12, 2015, 7:55 am

Hi Akshay,

Thanks for your honest feedbacks. These are important to improve our startup and I noted all of them.

If we make the tour free, will you guide people for free? or any other suggestions?

Thanks