When traveling the around the country, many frequent flyers have to prepare for the rigorous chaos that goes on at airports. Whether it’s a delayed flight or losing your luggage, there is always madness going on. One challenge that travelers have at airports is trying to find food places. Bigger airports that have new travelers can have them lost in airports like LAX just trying to find a quick bite to eat. That’s why Ryan Diew and his Trippie app is here to help travelers navigate through airports and get them access to food as quickly as possible.
It all started a couple of years ago when Diew was at the Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington D.C. going back to his home in the Bay Area. As he was preparing to board his flight, Diew was hungry with about three carry-on bags. With all the commotion going on at the airport, he was lost on where to find any food places in the airport. Diew knew that something needed to be done.
“During this time of despair and ravenousness I thought to myself ‘Why isn’t there a service that can show me airport food vendors, and deliver food to me?’ It was in that moment that Trippie was born. I made the decision right then and there to pioneer a service which would remedy a problem that far too many travelers face on a daily basis,” said Diew.
Trippie started as an airport delivery food service and has now evolved into a full mapping tool for airport information. Travelers can use the app to see all the food vendors in the terminals. With some major funding and the use of his computer science skills, Trippie took off.
“The development process has been seamless so far. We were able to win the Entrepreneurs of New York Fund and win first place in Colgate’s Entrepreneurship Shark Tank which gave us $21.9k in funding. I was able to use some of that money to help me develop the app. This summer I was able to develop the entire app for iOS in Swift. I am a self-taught iOS developer and I was able to use the skills I taught myself to build the app,” said Diew.
As the CEO of Trippie, Diew is also a full-time Student-Athlete at Colgate University in New York. Being a division one basketball player and a business man can be demanding but he knows the sacrifices he has made over his life have always paid off well.
“I have learned to really balance my time and to use the skills that I have learned growing up to push me through tough times. I attribute this to sports. Growing up playing competitive AAU basketball with my travel team Team Lillard (formerly the Oakland Rebels), taught me how to prioritize and balance my activities. I have no problem making sacrifices if they will benefit me in the long run,” said Diew.
With the need for better navigation through airports, Diew knows that Trippie will be huge in the future as people will see how valuable it can be.
“Users have overwhelmingly stated that the app is incredibly helpful and useful for their airport journey. People are excited for our expansion into other airports. I see Trippie expanding across airports worldwide. We have to potential to grow into something huge in a market that has extreme margins for growth. I cannot wait to see where we will be in a decade. The future is definitely bright,” said Diew.
To learn more about Ryan Diew and Trippie download the app, follow them on twitter @TrippieApp, Facebook, or email at ryan@trippie.co.
Black SOULutions 