Innovation prevents damaging effects of drunk texting
Raj Beri, WG'07
Issue date: 2/19/07 Section: Perspectives
Wharton's Venture Initiation Program (VIP) today announced their latest recipient of seed funding, NoText, started by two MBA students to combat the growing epidemic of Drunk Texting in the US. For those not familiar with the term, Drunk Texting, an offshoot of the more widely known Drunk Dialing, is the act of text messaging friends, loved ones, ex-girlfriends/boyfriends, strippers, etc. after a night of heavy drinking.
"It's out of control," commented co-founder and habitual drunk texter Harry Kubiak, "It's like a disease. I'd be out at Pulse or Byblos for some late night action and the next thing I remember is waking up in the morning and seeing that I had texted my ex-girlfriend and another girl I'm interested in at 4 a.m. looking for a booty call. When I read the 'I want you now and often' message I had sent, two things crossed my mind; One, I'm an alcoholic and two, that's not good for anybody. I got to thinking there has to be a way to prevent this from happening every Wednesday to Saturday night." Well, like many go-getter Wharton students, Harry and co-founder Roger Barry did more than just think, they acted. They have a prototype of a new cell phone add-on that prevents the owner from texting certain numbers after a prescribed time. "This could be a lifesaver", says Barry, "If this was around last week I would never have got back together with my ex. Dude, she really annoys me, sleeps around and we always fight, but I woke up one morning and saw that we had got back together over text messaging because I was horny. I think I may have proposed as well. Crap!"
Sadly, there are thousands of other stories just like this and many of them are here at Wharton. Says Kubiak, "With the level of inebriation at B-Schools like Wharton, especially among 2nd years who have officially said 'screw it' and now openly drink while conducting admissions interviews, we thought what better place to pilot the offering?" And the results have been nothing short of amazing. An anonymous 1st year female said that NoText saved her from some major embarrassment last week. "Before I went out for the night I just programmed these three numbers in that I wasn't allowed to text after 2 a.m. and boy, am I glad I did! I'm pretty easy when I'm hammered so I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything I regretted. There's these two guys in my class I normally hit up late at night and then sometimes when I'm really desperate, that Marketing professor who's into younger Asian girls." Score one for NoText (and one less for the Marketing Professor).
"It's out of control," commented co-founder and habitual drunk texter Harry Kubiak, "It's like a disease. I'd be out at Pulse or Byblos for some late night action and the next thing I remember is waking up in the morning and seeing that I had texted my ex-girlfriend and another girl I'm interested in at 4 a.m. looking for a booty call. When I read the 'I want you now and often' message I had sent, two things crossed my mind; One, I'm an alcoholic and two, that's not good for anybody. I got to thinking there has to be a way to prevent this from happening every Wednesday to Saturday night." Well, like many go-getter Wharton students, Harry and co-founder Roger Barry did more than just think, they acted. They have a prototype of a new cell phone add-on that prevents the owner from texting certain numbers after a prescribed time. "This could be a lifesaver", says Barry, "If this was around last week I would never have got back together with my ex. Dude, she really annoys me, sleeps around and we always fight, but I woke up one morning and saw that we had got back together over text messaging because I was horny. I think I may have proposed as well. Crap!"
Sadly, there are thousands of other stories just like this and many of them are here at Wharton. Says Kubiak, "With the level of inebriation at B-Schools like Wharton, especially among 2nd years who have officially said 'screw it' and now openly drink while conducting admissions interviews, we thought what better place to pilot the offering?" And the results have been nothing short of amazing. An anonymous 1st year female said that NoText saved her from some major embarrassment last week. "Before I went out for the night I just programmed these three numbers in that I wasn't allowed to text after 2 a.m. and boy, am I glad I did! I'm pretty easy when I'm hammered so I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything I regretted. There's these two guys in my class I normally hit up late at night and then sometimes when I'm really desperate, that Marketing professor who's into younger Asian girls." Score one for NoText (and one less for the Marketing Professor).
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 11
Laur
posted 2/19/07 @ 3:04 PM EST
does No Text work with Cingular?
Avinash Misra
posted 2/22/07 @ 10:30 AM EST
Can this idea be carried forward to emails?
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