The last of the four location based social networks I had a chance speak with at SXSW Interactive 2010 was actually one of the early services into the space. You may remember seeing Loopt on one of the many iPhone television commercials to dominate the airwaves in the last year or so. Loopt’s original broadcast model was a bit different than the more pervasive check in model we see trending nowadays, but the company’s soft-spoken and articulate Co-Founder/CEO Sam Altman was quick to note that Loopt actually offers both broadcast and check in methods for communication with friends. See Sam’s reactions to the same 5 or so questions I have asked each company and standby for part 2 of our conversation soon.
Also check out some more sweet shaky-cam moments and my awesome bit-o-redundancy in the differentiator question – (hey, it was Tuesday in the a.m. and fatigue was definitely setting by then).