Grilled Cheese, Beer, And Other Awesome Stuff: An Interview With GroupMe At SXSW

Jason Kincaid

Jason Kincaid worked as a writer for TechCrunch from April 2008 through 2012. He grew up in Danville, California and later relocated to UCLA in Los Angeles, California, where he studied biology with a minor in ‘Society and Genetics’. You can reach him at jkincaid@gmail.com → Learn More

Sunday, March 13th, 2011


There are few things better than free beer. Mix that with melted cheese and toasted bread, and you have a combination that satisfies even the deepest of human desires. And they’re available just outside the main convention center at SXSW, both free of charge.

The food is being provided by GroupMe, the group messaging app that, along with competitors like Beluga and Fast Society, has received plenty of buzz in the buildup to SXSW. We swung by their food stand for an interview with cofounders Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci (and to grab some food for ourselves). Tune in to learn how things have gone for GroupMe so far in Austin, why they chose to give away grilled cheese sandwiches, and adventures in Phish concert parking lots.

Oh, and sorry for calling it “South by”. I hate when people do that.

Company: GroupMe
Website: groupme.com
Launch Date: May 2010
Funding: $11.5M

GroupMe helps people stay connected and get together better with their friends. GroupMe’s two core offerings are: GroupMe, the group mobile messaging service, and Experiences, a service for finding, planning and purchasing group activities. GroupMe is based in New York and was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci in May 2010 at the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon. In August 2011, GroupMe was acquired by Skype, which was subsequently acquired by Microsoft in October 2011. For more information, please visit...

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