Today is Valentine’s Day and while many of you will be going out with your partner or spouse of many years, some of you out there will be going on a first or second date. Google, Facebook, and Twitter will probably tell you a lot about this new person in your life. But there’s one thing those channels won’t give you information on: sexual history. Qpid.me to the rescue!
This week, I interviewed Ramin Bastani, founder and CEO of Qpid.me, a service that helps people make better decisions before having sex by verifying their HIV/STD results via text messaging. Qpid.me’s About Us page lays out the company vision: “We believe that if people have more (safer) sex, the world will be a happier, healthier place. A place where Qpid.me will be the norm: a paradigm shift in what people do before having sex, where people trust… but verify before having sex.” We’re all for a happier, healthier world, so let’s see how Ramin plans to make that Vision become a reality!
Andy Smith: Your company was born as the result of a particular experience. What inspired you to start Qpid.me?
Ramin Bastani: A slap in the face was the inspirational moment. And that story is better seen on my video (above) than read over text.
Qpid.me uses text messages to exchange STD information. Why did you choose this form of technology? Did you research your audience before deciding on which media channels you were going to use for this service?
We didn’t do any formal research, but knew that people always have their cells phones & that most people use text messaging. At our core, we empower people to make better decisions by having the information they want at their fingertips…and carrying around a paper with your latest HIV/STD results is awkward and can easily appear promiscuous. So text messaging made sense.
Furthermore, people flirt using text messaging and we encourage our users to play a modern, flirtatious version of “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours” with their results. And we’re working on improving what I call the *sharabilty* of the results (i.e. via an iPhone app, an icon and or link on your dating profile, Facebook app, etc) to make it easier and more a part of your normal behavior.
Qpid.me is still in beta. How are you creating buzz about your product?
1. It’s viral! Not the best choice of words to use, but true. If you use our service, you’re likely sharing it with a potential partner and or others (people have been sharing them on online dating profiles).
2. Sex sells and we’ve been fortunate to get a lot of attention from tweets, blogs & conferences including Health 2.0, Mobile Health at Stanford, Sex::Tech and the Centers for Disease Control STD Prevention.
3. Forward thinking public and private health clinics have been getting the word out to their patients to sign up because they not only see the value in what we’re doing, but they also see us as a way to disseminate the HIV/STD results via text messaging (which they aren’t able to do because of HIPAA and tech-wise).
Aside from utility, qpid.me also has an underlying social goal: to reduce the risk and spread of STDs. What are your thoughts on the relationship between for-profit companies and social initiatives?
It’s a broad topic. How I think about it is that the big winners of the future will be companies who provide something that dramatically improves lives in a meaningful way.
Specifically, I subscribe to Umair Haque’s Awesomeness Manifesto that, “Awesomeness happens when thick — real, meaningful — value is created by people who love what they do, added to insanely great stuff, and multiplied by communities who are delighted and inspired because they are authentically better off.”
That’s exactly what we’re trying to do with Qpid.me. and I have never thought of us specifically as a socially minded company, just a company that see’s tremendous value (socially, emotionally and financially) in helping people make better decisions before they have sex.
Aside from Qpid.me, what is your favorite example of a company that combines a social goal with a for-profit business model? Why?
PatientsLikeMe.com is a good example. Their tag line is “patients helping patients live better everyday.” They enable their users who suffer from the same diseases / conditions to connect in an online community. I especially think what they’re doing is great, because they also crowd source information on what the drugs work best, what treatments were most effective, etc which enables their users to make better health decisions going forward.
6. Today is Valentine’s Day. Any words for all the lovers out there?
Spread the love, nothing else!