On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2015. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Kyle ↗
In their words
uber has kind of flourished and shown the world that people are willing to pay a premium for on-demand experiences and mobile payments are somewhat acceptable
figure out a free way to make your app valuable to users and then focus on getting users and then go after the merchants because you're a lot more valuable to a merchant when you have like 100 million people
I have an app that'll tell you how popular every night club is in toronto in real time and how popular it'll be before you get there
Quick answers
What was Eve Tab?
A Toronto app launched in 2014 where users bought a $50-plus tab in advance to skip the line, get free entry and redeem the full value at the bar. It raised $150,000 from private investors and was co-founded by Kyle Collier with Brian Troy.
What did Kyle Collier tell the TechTO room about marketplaces?
Solve the users' side free first, because a merchant will only care once you have the users — then use influencers with large followings and referral codes to bring users in cheaply. He put Eve Tab's user acquisition cost at about $50 against a lifetime value over $1,000.
What did he do next?
He founded Phaze, a Toronto company working on making cryptocurrency spendable at merchants by converting it to fiat at the point of purchase, and co-led the Blockchain Founder Syndicate at Toronto's Founder Institute chapter.