2013-05-01 | Samir Saberi Share this article:

Busy, busy, busy. Many people have hit crisis point in busyness. Being connected in the contemporary world of SOLOMO (Social, Local and Mobile) networks and apps for many means 24-7 connectivity. The sheer volume of the data and information we have to take in, is simply staggering. CheckZis, a YES!Delft startup, aims to alleviate this problem. It helps us to make life a bit more manageable by cutting through huge chunks of data and presenting them in a concise and to the point format: lists.

StartupJuncture spoke with Jeroen van der Ent, Co-Founder and UX designer of CheckZis, to learn more about the service and the startup’s plans.



StartupJuncture: When was Checkzis founded, and were did the original idea come from?

Jeroen van der Ent: It started (as many adventures do) on an evening in a bar. My co-founder Dennis Saaltink and I were writing down bucket lists. And then it hit us that making a bucket list together is much more fun than doing it all by yourself. So we immediately thought of making an online platform that would allow people to make a bucket list together. However, we were able to discern quite quickly that instead people love to use the lists to tackle every day problems and get inspired by others. This lesson laid the kernel for CheckZis. A platform where people can learn and share very easily and quickly and build lists together.

So how does it work?

It’s actually quite simple. You can start a new list yourself or add what we call ‘checkpoints’ to existing list. To the list ‘ways to finance your online startup’ you can for instance add a checkpoint on how you think an internet startup can be funded. But you can also check out list on tips for buying a used car or on how you can organize an unforgettable honeymoon.

Why should somebody use CheckZis?

I think the real value of CheckZis lies in the possibility to find and digest the information you’re looking for very quickly. You don’t have to search on three different websites for instance and read through a wall of text to get to the essence of the information you’re looking for.

How many users and lists do you have?

Our focus right now is on building as many lists as possible. Currently you can find more than 350 lists on CheckZis and that number is growing every day. The our site’s traffic is growing by 20% every month.

How do you plan to monetize the service?

Via contextualized advertisements. Because our lists are extremely specific we can target ads that are really relevant. I am convinced that an ad that’s relevant to a list or even a checkpoint will not be perceived as annoying. It might provide a member the solution she is looking for to tackle a problem or fulfill a need.

How is CheckZis different from similar platforms like Listly?

I think that there two things that really set us apart from the crowd. First, our user interface, the site looks slick and clean and is a pleasure to use. Second, this summer we are going to launch a new revenue sharing model with users. So from then on you can earn real money with CheckZis just by sharing your knowledge and expertise in lists.

What’s your biggest challenge as a business right now?

Increase the number of lists. This is quite a challenge as good contextual content is often also local. The subject ‘buying a house’ for instance delivers different results or lists for different countries. This in fact very good, because it makes the list really contextualized and specific. It only means that we have to get people from all those countries to use our platform. Therefore we envision is to expand the number of languages supported by the site.

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