January 31, 2015

Gimlet 13: Fake It Til You Make It

by StartUp

Background show artwork for StartUp


The Story


Episode 13 addresses a question that has been dogging us since the company’s beginnings: Are we a technology company or a content company?


This question led to months of debate. Many voices weighed in on either side, including Marco Arment, the lead developer of Tumblr and creator of Instapaper, who came in surprisingly anti-tech.


A few weeks back, we had a breakthrough when one of the most successful tech companies in the world paid a visit to the Gimlet Media headquarters.


SPOILER!


Here is a video demo of the app prototype we built with Google Ventures on this week’s episode of StartUp. We should caveat that this is not a real app, it’s just a prototype- a series of images stitched together to give the appearance of an app. You can’t download it in the App store, or anywhere else. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqGLrMjBLZ4[/embed] After you watch the video, we’d love your feedback. Fill out our survey about the prototype 

here. For more about design sprints, how they work, and how you can do one yourself check out this tutorial from the Google Ventures team. 


The Facts Our theme song was written and performed by 

Mark Phillips. The special ad music, Microliters, was written and performed by Build Buildings. Other music in this episode: 1. Magnus Ringblom - Sneaky Snapper 3

Where to Listen