Runpee.com solving problems you didn't know you had
Have you ever been in the theatre, your really enjoying the movie, but you also really enjoyed that extra large drink you got and now your bladder is making it’s presense known. You don’t want to leave, wishing you could know in advance when a quiet non consequential window of a few minutes would open so you run to the rest room and not miss anything. Well worry no more! This most first world of all first world problems has been solved by Dan Florio creator of Runpee.com. I recently caught up with Dan to chat to him about his creation.
So Dan, could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a freelance software developer based in Orlando, Florida. I never intended to be a software developer. My degree is in history and philosophy. But after returning from Europe – Swansea, Wales – where I spent my senior year of college I was broke and couldn’t make it back to Northern Arizona University to start work on a doctorate in philosophy. So I took up a job doing HTML/JavaScript work – which was just a hobby while in college. One thing lead to another and eventually I was working at Microsoft. Who knew? 🙂 After a few years at MS I quite to do freelance work where I can set my own hours. I don’t make nearly as much money but it’s a lot more enjoyable. I’m a philosopher at heart so what’s the point in working hard if you don’t enjoy it, right?
So what is Runpee?
It’s quite simple really: RunPee is a mobile app and website that tells people the best time to run and pee during a movie without missing anything important. Me, my mother and sister go see all of the wide release movies that come out so that we can pick out the peetimes. It’s not as easy as it might sound. Watching a movie, taking notes, and looking for a 3-5 minute gap that is easy to sum up without missing anything essential is hard work.
There is a phone app too right?
Yes, there is the Android and iPhone app that I built as well as a Windows phone app that a friend of mine built.
What inspired you to create Runpee?
RunPee was an idea I had after watching the movie _King Kong_ – about 3 hours long. By the end of the movie I desperately needed to pee and couldn’t enjoy the ending. It occurred to me afterwards that I could have gone to pee during the scene with the big bugs. It was long, gross and largely unconnected with the rest of the movie. That gave me the idea of creating the website that eventually became the mobile apps. That was right before I went to work for Microsoft so I just put it on the back burner. After I became a freelance developer I needed some _portfolio projects_ so I thought about building RunPee. It was never meant to be successful really. I just wanted something to build that would give me some valuable experience.
Runpee has gotten quiet a lot of media attention, did you ever expect it to get this big?
Not even slightly.
Any plans for the future of Runpee.com?
First I need to try and make some money off of the app. Currently it is free and has no ads. While it will always be free I’m working on ideas for adding ads that don’t obstruct the user experience. I think that location based ads might be lucrative for myself and possible helpful to some of the users. You could imagine that watching a movie and then seeing an ad for a discount at a nearby restaurant might be useful information. We’ll see how that goes. At the very least I can use RunPee to help get my other projects off the matt when they come out. I’m currently working on a word game that my friends like quite a bit. When it comes out I can advertise it from within the RunPee app and hopefully get a nice user base to start with. The game is free but will have some in-app purchases that will hopefully make a few dollars. I’m not really looking to _strike it rich _with any single app. If I can make a few a year that bring in a few hundred dollars a month then over time those apps will add up to a significant income. But at the very least it’s fun to work on.
So that was Dan Florio, be sure to check out Runpee.com and download the app for your device. It’s become part of me regular movie going experience. I know wouldn’t have made it all the way through Avengers without it.
