Poggled Serves Up Local Deals for Drinkers This social network says it's more than just 'Groupon for nightlife.'
By Jason Ankeny •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Ingredients
For a growing number of Chicago-area nightspots, Poggled is the straw that stirs the drink. Poggled (a synonym for excessive drunkenness first popularized in the late 19th century) mixes a shot of local deals services like Groupon with a dash of social networking interactivity to quench the thirst of consumers looking for new places to drink--or old haunts to revisit. Users access the Poggled website or the startup's smartphone app to purchase exclusive drink deals and party packages redeemable onsite at nearby taverns, sports bars, live music destinations and dance clubs. Bargains can be filtered by neighborhood, day of the week, category and venue name, and shoppers can share offers via Facebook and Twitter.
The Mix
Co-founders Joe Matthews and Sean Strother, who first met in high school, started Poggled as a social network for drinkers before they embraced the deals model. "Bars want people, but they don't want just any people--they want the right type of person for that bar," Matthews says. "We try to bring them the people they want, and we do that by offering deals. Most consumers don't just buy our package and leave. They end up sticking around. And if people love the place they go to and get treated well, they go back."
