Thai whiz kid launches location-aware Twitter-like service

January 10, 2008 | David Adewumi | Comments |

letsprovelogo.pngA 23-year old programmer in Thailand has launched a Twitter-like service that lets users add location-based information to their Facebook profile, website, or blog.

The Thailand-based service is called LetsProveWhere, and Peerapong Pulpitpatnan (aka “Pete”) developed it almost single-handedly in just three months. After a few days, he’s reporting about 100 registered users.

letsprovephoto2.pngPete says he got the idea for the service from films like Deja Vu and Minority Report, because technology in those movies was able to record people’s movements automatically. He sought to create a program that would let users to do just that, especially from their mobile phones.

Right now, but for a couple of features (uploading pictures from mobile to LetsProveWhere as well as entering a location), Twitter may not have anything to worry about, because it enjoys plenty of momentum with its service, launched earlier and used by more people. But Pete has big plans: He envisions a real-time travel log service that lets you update text, pictures, video, and voice from mobile or computer — all formatted into embeddable maps. He says that people’s travel/location logs will be the new way to find travel information, potentially pitting him against the likes of Dopplr and ImThere.

Pete started work on LetsProve in November 2006, and his first creation was a project management tool, which he quickly left due to the product’s lack of differentiation from its competitors. After that, he launched LetsProveTV, a Thai-language video-sharing site after only three months of development. The site, which according to Pete receives 3,000 to 4,000 unique visitors a day, was a response to slow bandwidth in Thailand that cripples access to foreign sites as well as a government censorship that blocks most foreign video sites.

letsprovescreen2.pngThailand is still stuck in web 1.0, he says. And the few start-ups that are entering web 2.0 are, for the most part, Thai-language clones of foreign web apps. His LetsProveTV service falls into this category. But he has other directions for LetsProveWhere; his main focus is the U.S. and European markets (his servers are located in the U.S.), yet he’s partnering with a Thai telecommunications company to co-promote a package with lower rates for sending text messages.

Pete invested $3,000 of his own money in LetsProveWhere, money raised from a profitable investment in a document outsourcing company. He also generates revenue through AdSense on LetsProveTV.

For now he’s counting on viral growth spurred by tech blogs and friends sharing with friends, but he’s looking for $1 million funding to build a team and further develop his ideas to expand the service. If funded, he plans to move to the U.S.

David Adewumi, a contributing writer with VentureBeat, is the founder & CEO of http://heekya.com a social storytelling platform billed “The Wikipedia of Stories.”

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About the Author, David Adewumi

David Adewumi, Founder and Chief Storyteller of http://heekya.com, leads the overall vision and product strategy for the start-up dubbed the ‘Wikipedia of Stories.’ For the past year, he has been a contributing writer for VentureBeat, with a focus on digital music and social start-ups. Previously, he led sales & product development for Lomic, Inc. an oil & natural gas software firm. David has served in the US Army as an Airborne Infantryman, before being appointed to the US Military Academy at West Point. He attended the Pennsylvania State University, where he pursued a degree in Economics.

  • Hey! how amazing are you pete :)
    congratulations na
  • Cool, congrats whiz!

    nhick
    http://www.itrush.com
  • "$1 million funding to build a team and further develop his ideas to expand the service"

    A mil for a service with 100 or so registered users? Letsprovewhere might have to first prove from where and how it intends to generate revenue. I don't think even Twit generates a whole lot at this point with their current user base...

    OK..OK, I know YouTube got bought for a few billion even before they had any decent revenues but it doesn't work that way all the time unless we really are in the biggest bubble.
  • worawisut, ITrush - Thank you very much :)

    Startups - Thank you for your comment. Of course, We have only few registered user but it's just beginning. I believe the words from Jimmy Walses "Release early, release often" I would like to launch it and learn some useful feedbacks from users.

    I believe this is only the begin of what I imagine and the best is yet to come. :)

    Btw, thank you very much David for your article. :)
  • I forgot to answer somethings :)

    Startups - Yes you are right. We have to prove ourselves first about the future plan and the way to generate revenue.

    Please be patient, It will come.
  • Great website you've got there Pete. It’s simple, seamless, and easy to access. And you prove it right your site is definitely cool! I hope one day, your site will overrun friendster, facebook, or myspace.. hehe great post!