43
Safer than Facebook and Twitter, says Drund
Photo
John Mela of Boardman, a mobile software engineer, left, and Adam Magana of Boardman, lead mobile developer, work at Drund’s Boardman office Thursday. Magana said he was the first to be hired, and has been with the technology company for almost five years.
By ROBERT CONNELLY
BOARDMAN
“Safer than Facebook and Twitter.”
That’s the new slogan of local tech company Drund as it launches its own social media platform.
Drund founder Lee Yi and engineers said it was customers who led them down a path from offering school districts a closed social media to branching out nationally.
Drund is featured on Forbes website with its new product hitting the national market.
“We look at our features and what we have to offer, and it just seems superior to a lot of companies that have ex-Google employees and millions of dollars of funding — and we’re just the underdogs,” said Aaron Womer, 25, lead Android developer. “We’re a bunch of guys from Youngstown State University [who] have put something together that’s incredible.”
On Drund’s “frequently asked questions” page, the company has provided links to media reports about how bullying on social media has led to criminal activity and suicides.
“There are a lot of people [who] have problems with Facebook and Twitter because the things you share are not concealed in any way,” said Womer. “If you’re going to be using our product, then you can share anything you’d like.”
There are four tiers for setting up a Drund community on an application — all include a one-time community setup fee of $100, which for a limited time is $10: standard, $10 a month; branded, $50 a month; branded plus, $100 a month; and enterprise, the highest tier, for a custom price.
“We make the apps instantly now,” Yi said. “It’s not about privacy; it’s about control.”
He also pointed out the unique part about Drund’s pricing: 50 percent of the one-time setup fee goes to Make-A-Wish Foundation, YMCA, National PTA, Boys & Girls Club and Meals on Wheels.
All tiers include unlimited members and administrators, pages, groups, both public and private; messaging; a store — think an Ebay for a group — and content removal. Those branded and up even have the option to pre-approve content before it’s posted.
More specifics on setting up an application for a Drund community can be found on its website, drund.com.
Drund still has an open work space at 945 Boardman-Canfield Road, now with more standing desks than a year ago and a ping-pong table and video games for workers to take a mental break at times.
“We have a lot of pressure because people compare us to big companies like Facebook and Twitter. ... That’s a lot of pressure because we’re a team of a very small staff, like 15, trying to meet the same standards as those large companies,” said Adam Magane, 26, product leader. “The relaxed environment is necessary because there’s so much pressure coming from ourselves, our customers and time management.”
Yi said his employees produce content at all hours. Software engineer Kevin Krpicak, 26, said his best work is done between midnight and 4 a.m. He specializes in what people see on the website, or the front-end work.
“We’ve just been adding features and adjusting features over the years, and it got us to where we are now,” Krpicak said.
Drund has added a few employees since last year, but still features many Mahoning Valley residents and YSU graduates. Engineers scroll through code while wearing headphones or drinking energy drinks or coffee as sunlight pours in through the glass front walls in its Parkside Place strip-mall location.