Pro Snowboarder Founds Social Network

Slovenian startup team is based in Santa Clara Mallory MillerTHE SANTA CLARAFebruary 27, 2014[dropcap]P[/dropcap]ovio, a communication application that allows users to engage in a conversation with a simple press of a button, is gaining interest among students.The social network was originally developed in Slovenia, where it quickly earned a large amount of traction throughout Europe. Y Combinator, the prestigious startup accelerator that has helped companies like Dropbox and Reddit make it big, noticed the app’s growth in Europe and recruited Povio.The startup company, comprised of two Slovenian professional snowboarders and a group of Slovenian software developers, is now based in Santa Clara, Calif.Povio provides a social media service that allows users to interact in a less intrusive way.“I wanted to make a social network that’s not so much about pushing your content, but actually makes it feel like a real conversation,” said Matevz Petek, founder of Povio. “And it has to be that simple, just one button.”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=636Si-0itYsThe conversation begins with a “Ping,” a button pressed to request a photo from a friend. When a user receives a Ping, the app allows the user to take a quick snapshot in three seconds from their point-of-view, hence “Povio.”From there, the user has the option to share their point-of-view photo with just the friend who Pinged them, or to share it on a public newsfeed for all of their friends to see.“The idea for the startup came from my career when I was traveling around the world, when I was competing,” said Petek, four-time champion of the Snowboard International Ski Federation World Cup. “Every other weekend, I was in a new city like Moscow, Barcelona, London, New York, but I didn’t want to share as much on social networks.”Petek felt like he was bragging whenever he posted pictures of himself competing around the world on Facebook, but when his friends personally asked him about his experiences, he was excited to share because he felt like he had permission to do so.The women’s basketball team and dance team have been working with Povio for the past few weeks, providing feedback on the app’s features and increasing exposure throughout campus.“I feel like, with technology, our generation creates the reality they want with filters and stuff,” said sophomore Piper Thomasson, a member of the dance team. “But I like that Povio communicates reality as it is and takes us away from altering it.”One of the goals of the app is to quickly capture reality as it is so friends can share what they are up to with their close friends in an instant without the pressure of having to post something that everyone will “like.”“Povio is an exciting, new and simple app that allows you to communicate with your friends instantaneously,” said junior Joey Harpstrite. “Because of its efficiency, I seriously can see the app rivaling Facebook and iMessaging as my main tool of communication.”Povio will be present at the Startup Expo fair on March 5 in the Locatelli Student Activity Center. Contact Mallory Miller at memiller@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4825.