Good People Everywhere: a platform for people who want to better the world

Since December 2021, the Good People Everywhere app has been available in Hungarian, bringing together people, companies and organisations who want to do something for others and feel good to be in touch with. The co-founder CEO, Gábor Nemes, said in an interview he gave to Computerworld that even the app’s font has an underlying content on theplatform that heavily builds on and showcases Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR.

How can we get people to be more accepting, to trust each other more, and to believe that the world is a much more pleasant place than it sometimes seems? This was the fundamental question for Gábor Nemes and his cousin Drew Schiff. In 2019, the London-based youngsters decided to develop a project to showcase all the good things people do for others, their immediate or wider environment, or even the world. They will also connect people who do good for others. That’s how the start-up Good People Everywhere was launched in 2020, followed by the development of an app.

“Available in Hungary since December 2021, the Good People Everywhere app is an expression of what we want to achieve. The aim is not to develop a smaller version of the existing social media and other apps. We wanted to create a platform where users can find the most suitable contacts for them. People who are like-minded, who want to do something for others, and with whom it feels like we are in good company” –explains Gábor Nemes.

They keep a high level of user experience in mind, but it is even more important that every activity users do in the app makes a positive difference in their real lives. This is the case for litter picking, fundraising, dog walking or even volunteering in an earthquake affected area, which can be remembered by users and can inspire others to do the same. In this sense the app is just a tool to build and nurture real-life relationships, to promote good deeds, Gábor Nemes says in an interview given to Computerworld.

What does the image say in Good People Everywhere?

There’s a nice story behind the choice of font used in the app. The graphic designers chose the ubuntu font based on its appearance. Ubuntu is a philosophical movement that believes that human beings only become human through others. When Gábor Nemes, an ardent follower of this philosophy, made this known to his colleagues, they laughed together at the coincidence. “There was no question that this font would remain, as we believe that the platform will have a more coherent message if everything it contains or can be directly linked to has an underlying content” – adds the co-founder.

The Hungarian-language app, which is in test mode, has been downloaded by more than 7,500 people so far. Major changes were made to it over the summer. They want to make it as interactive and playful as possible, encouraging users to interact with each other within the app and in real life. As the web application is planned to be rolled out, not only individual users but also organisations will be able to join. This is important, according to the founders, because there are millions of organisations around the world that are doing something for others and the world, and the main purpose of the platform is to showcasejust that.

Good People Everywhere: making the world a better place small steps at a time

At the start-up, a lot of thought has gone into whether to make the app available to the whole world at once, or whether to go step-by-step/country-by-country. In the end, they decided to extend the use of the app after the Hungarian test period, with the release of the first non-beta version, and to make it available for download in the UK from February. They would then expand further to the locations of their UK partner organisations, according to where the most content and therefore the greatest demand is coming from. In this, they plan to follow the example of Uber and Airbnb, i.e. if relevant content from new countries can be added to the feed through organisations and CSR companies joining as new users, it makes sense to make it available for download and thus join in new territories.

Advertise freely – on moral grounds

Whatever the type of start-up, the fundamental question is how founders can secure the capital needed to take off, expand internationally and pay staff. This is key even for an app that aims to ensure people’s mental health.

“Of course, in addition to the moral contribution, we had to figure out why employees and partners would join the project, and how to make the app highly attractive to investors. We had five financial investors when we started the company, in 2022 we will have seventeen and we have thirty partners” – says Gábor Nemes.

The partners have taken ownership by joining, but Gábor and his cousin Drew are still majority shareholders of the company.

Good People Everywhere the place of Corporate Social Responsibility

Part of the business plan is to get as many companies, institutions and other organisations that are constantly doing something for others and the world, and have a strong sense of social responsibility, to join and provide advertising space for their products and services through the app. They would like to see companies who take pride in advertising to people who help each other and want to connect with them. In their view, profit should not be their goal, it should be a consequence of their actions. It is about making a positive impact on the world. Gábor Nemes says: “We all use hundreds of products and services, but the relationship between companies and their users can be much closer if they share the same principles. We are more connected to those who believe in what we believe in. If I take my own example, I buy products from companies that never experiment on animals and do not use animal ingredients. I am loyal to them because they also believe in non-violence. This is just one example, but building this kind of customer engagement would be the goal through the app as well.”