How many times have you been at a party or crowded networking reception, and the introductions are coming so quickly that you forget people’s names almost as soon as you’re introduced to them? A Detroit-based startup called Spincard is trying to build a better mousetrap when it comes to the exchange of personal information. Spincard’s photo-friendly app, available free for Android or iOS, might be just the thing to help those of us who never forget a face but aren’t quite as skilled when it comes to remembering names.
Spincard’s high-tech alternative to the business card gives users a six-digit “spin code” once they download the app and fill out profile information, which can include the typical contact details along with a photo and links to social media profiles. The spin code, says founder and CEO Anthony Montalbano, becomes the link back to your business card profile. You can update your profile information, but your spin code remains the same. The spin code can also be included in email signatures or given over the phone, something that definitely can’t be done with traditional business cards.
Users can also tag the profiles of fellow Spincard members to help them remember where they met and other pertinent details. So, say you meet a slew of people while attending South By Southwest. You pull up the Spincard app, type in SXSW, and scroll though full-screen photos until you find the person you’re looking for. Though Montalbano admits that the idea of a digital business card isn’t new, he says what differentiates Spincard is this ability to emphasize people’s faces.
Montalbano says that in a few weeks, Spincard users will be able to order a physical Spincards with a photo of their face on one side and their personalized spin code on the other side. “We realized it needed to be more transitional,” Montalbano explains. “We wanted to go hardcore digital, but our users still wanted that physical card. Ten users are piloting the physical spin card now, and so far the reception has been great.”
Montalbano and Spincard co-founder Brian Ritter have a software consulting business called Ambr Detroit. One of their customers asked Ambr to build a business card app, so Montalbano and Ritter decided to join forces with the customer making the request and, as a result, launched Spincard in January. Spincard is self-funded at the moment, though Montalbano says he will look for seed funding in the near future.
Montalbano says Spincard’s goal is to make networking better and make the exchange of contact information more dynamic. “Most people don’t do much with business cards after they get them,” he says. “We’d like to improve overall networking.”
