Have you ever planned a large group outing to an event? It is one of the most mind-numbingly painful things to do. You have to find tickets, a ride or parking, hotels, food, and tons of other things. It is just a huge pain. However, on startup has come up with a simple solution to the problem. Wembli bills itself as the Expedia for Live Events. We had a chance to ask the team a few questions about their new platform.
What is Wembli?
Here’s the deal: Wembli makes it stupid easy to plan your next outing to a live show or sporting event with friends.
Just like what expedia does for travel (plane tix, rental car, hotel, etc..), Wembli does for live events (event tickets, online parking reservations, restaurant deals, hotel, inviting friends & splitting the bill, etc..). Wembli saves you time and money because our unique technology has already scoured the internet to compile the most comprehensive live events dataset. To you, that means: no more hopping from site to site comparing prices or trying to find the best deal – just use Wembli and we’ll do that for you!
Wembli is an active startup with a passionate team made in San Diego, California. Our mission is to provide cutting edge technology to make planning your next outing a stress-free (dare i say “enjoyable”) ordeal so you can focus on having an amazing experience. That means we’re constantly looking to improve our product and welcome your feedback. We are always looking to add new features to make your experience better. Currently with Wembli you can: find an event and secure tickets to it, reserve parking near the venue, get a discount at a restaurant or bar near the venue, invite your friends using email or social media and then get your friends to pony up for their share of the cost. We have tons of features on deck too like: book hotel reservations, planning non-ticketed outings like bachelor parties or camping trips, babysitting, hotel reservations and many more! If you have a suggestion for a feature let us know by contacting team@wembli.com.
Why did you build Wembli?
With an overwhelming amount of information at your fingertips these days, there is a tremendous need for technology to sift out the good info from the bad. At its core, Wembli is a technology company: we scour the internet for any data related to live events and then algorithmically sort out the good info from the bad. The world needs Wembli so we can get back to focusing on what matters: having an amazing live event experience with your friends and family.
Tell us your founding story. Was there an “ah ha” moment?
Wembli is founded by a husband and wife team with a passion for going to live events. The idea was spawned when we were planning to go to a John Mayer concert with a few friends. We shelled out money for all the tickets so we could sit together only to spend months chasing down our friends to get paid back! We started with the idea to build a site that allows friends to group-pay for tickets so 1 person doesn’t get stuck with the bill but the whole group still gets seats together. We accomplished that and so much more. Wembli grew into a full-featured site with a mission to use technology to make planning outings to live events with friends easier.
We are growing our user base now and have plenty of customers singing the praises of Wembli. Wembli is not only a time & money saver, but we are saving friendships too! If you are someone that cares about having the best experience possible with your friends, then Wembli is for you!
Tell us about your founding team and their backgrounds.
Kim Walpole
Co-Founder & CEO
Twitter: @kimbeela | Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/
Best live event ever attended: Needtobreathe at Birch Aquarium, La Jolla
Favorite sports team: Washington Redskins
Random fact about me: I have made 3 citizens arrests
Kim’s love of business began early when she turned a profit selling home-made ice pops to kids on the block from her grandmother’s stoop in the Bronx. A native New Yorker, the faster Kim walks, the faster she talks. After launching and successfully running a national management training & consulting company for over 10 years, she and her husband, Tom decided it was time to tap rings and pull a “wonder twin powers, activate! – form of Wembli!”. Their new company, like Expedia for live events lets you pick tickets to a concert, theater or sporting event then choose options like parking, restaurant deals and splitting the bill with friends. That may seem like a random choice for a geek and a management consultant but not so! Both avid event goers, this idea was born of their personal frustration with the archaic process of planning an outing and worse, trying to go dutch with friends. Kim is a focused ball of energy that can cast vision & talk strategy in one breathe, and have the team in hysterics the next.
Tom Walpole
Co-Founder & CTO
Twitter: @walpolet | Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/
Best live event ever attended: Pearl Jam in Hawaii circa 1992
Favorite sports team: San Diego Padres
Random fact about me: I secretly want to be a gold-miner
A keyboard cowboy, Tom brings over 15 years of web development experience and leadership to the team. When he’s not blazing new technical trails, or dreaming in code, you can find him guitar in hand singing the blues. A haole who hails from the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands he’s one of those rare geeks with stellar people skills. Toms new mission in life is to gentrify the term ‘code monkey’ so that no geek will ever hang their head again. In our book that makes him a modern day activist. For the win.
