Sonar

What did it do?

Sonar was a free mobile app that combined public profile and location data from Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter to show users how they were connected to the people around them. It ranked people nearby by mutual friends, accounts followed and shared interests. Its founder positioned the product not only as a way to meet people but also as a local customer relationship tool for businesses.

Why did it shut down?

Sonar was unveiled at TechCrunch Disrupt New York in May 2011 and, finishing the competition as runner-up, quickly attracted attention. When media interest shifted to its rival Highlight ahead of SXSW in March 2012, the team spent its energy responding to that competition instead of settling its own business model; events, agency work and side projects also scattered its focus. According to founder Brett Martin, the category of discovering people nearby cooled in spring 2012, and the company spent nine months trying to sell itself to a daily-deals company, without success. Although investment came from Microsoft's Bing Fund in February 2013, the app had not become a habit users opened every day. Its chief technology officer left in August 2013, and in September 2013 it emerged that the app had been taken offline and that Martin had walked away from the project a few months earlier.

The story

When Sonar took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt New York in May 2011, its promise was simple: open the app and you could see that the person at the next table was Facebook friends with your college roommate, or that an investor you followed on Twitter was in the same room. The app combined Foursquare check-ins with public information from Facebook and Twitter, ranking people nearby by their connections to you. Founded by Brett Martin, a native of Ocean City, Maryland, Sonar was the fourth start-up to come out of K2 Media Labs, a mobile incubator in New York.

Finishing the Disrupt competition as runner-up, Sonar soon made a name for itself. According to the team, on the day it reached the final the app was being used in 35 countries. The team, which started with three people, grew to nine within a year, and Sonar became one of the most talked-about location-based social apps at crowded events such as SXSW.

Ahead of the 2012 SXSW festival, however, media attention shifted to its rival Highlight. Martin later explained that the team had busied itself responding to that competition instead of establishing its own business, and had been scattered by events, agency work and side projects. When the category of discovering people nearby cooled in spring 2012, the company spent nine months trying to sell itself to a daily-deals company, but no deal emerged. In February 2013 Microsoft's Bing Fund invested; even so, the app had not become a habit users opened every day.

When it was noticed in September 2013 that Sonar had been taken offline, Martin said he had walked away from the project a few months earlier, having concluded that a fresh start was a better bet for everyone. One of its investors, ENIAC Ventures, said it was ready to back Martin again. Sonar remains one of the examples showing that early interest and conference applause do not translate into lasting use.

Lessons for founders

• Instead of reacting to the media attention a rival is getting, measure why your own users do or do not come back.
• If an app that takes off during conference weeks does not get opened on an ordinary day, it has not yet tapped into a lasting need; measure success by daily use, not by event peaks.
• Do not pin your hopes on a single acquisition talk that drags on for months; while that search goes on, the product stalls, the team drifts apart and the market window closes.

Sources

1. Sonar (mobile application) (Wikipedia)
2. Interview with Sonar: The inside story on the hyperlocal, realtime networking app (The Next Web, 2011-05-24)
3. From Disrupt Battlefield Runner-Up To Veterans Of Proximity-Based Social, Sonar Tells All (TechCrunch, 2012-05-15)
4. Social Discovery App Sonar Gets New Investment From Bing Fund, Announces It Via Vine (TechCrunch, 2013-02-28)
5. Yep, Social Discovery Startup Sonar Is Dead (And Its CEO Explains Why) (TechCrunch, 2013-09-17)

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