The strategy appears to have worked, although it very nearly fell apart. Houseparty gained a strong following after Meerkat staff showed the app to college student groups, but it grew so quickly that connection problems soon overwhelmed the service. It's bouncing back, though, and now has close to 1 million users -- not bad for an app that couldn't lean on its developer's reputation to get a head start. While Houseparty probably won't get much help from Meerkat's name at this point (Periscope has long since eclipsed it in the livestreaming world), it might not need that boost to enjoy success.