Anari Sengbe, self-taught software developer
San Francisco, CA — Ideas are free; Everyone has them. Some people have good ideas, some have bad ideas. Software/ mobile app developer Anari Sengbe has a lot of good ideas – so much that major brands are turning to him for ideas on what’s next. Mercedes Benz is currently building a way to pay for gas, parking and more directly from your car using bitcoin. Where did they get that idea? From BenzPay, a prototype that Anari and his team built for Mercedes Benz. Watch the BenzPay prototype on YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToprLAL7VDg&t).
“If she’d used my app, she would have won,” says Anari, when discussing GoVote, an app he built for the Hillary Clinton campaign. GoVote allowed volunteers to wait in line for voters and it also allowed donors to cover the ride share cost of voters unable to make it to the polls for health or other reasons.
“If only 3 people volunteered to wait in line in Pennsylvania… then we know something is up in Pennsylvania,” Anari continues. DirectTV is another major brand implementing his prototype of allowing pay-per-view gifts (www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOZeK2Bf0I). This feature would allow DirectTV subscribers to gift a friend or family member with the next MayWeather fight or other pay-per-view specials.
When he’s not generating idea’s for major brands, Anari works on his own idea of a daily deals game called Grabbit (www.grabbit.deals). “Grabbit is a more fun Groupon, shoppers compete for coupons and gift cards from local businesses. Businesses easily create a Grabbit game that can be geo-fenced to the businesses location. This creates stampede foot traffic opportunities for the right promotion. If folks would rush to a park for a rare pokemon, I’m think shoppers will rush to their favorite local business to win or redeem a 50% off coupon.”
Grabbit players can also compete against global players for bitcoin and other awesome prizes including black owned products.
“The ongoing Buy Black movement needs more buyers,” says Anari. “I buy art, african fashion and products from Black entrepreneurs to offer as prizes in the Grabbit game. I do this because I understand creative cross promotions are needed to compete for the Black dollar. The ‘Buy Black’ sentiment is not enough to compete with Amazon, a company that has algorithms to predict what you want before you want it. We need fun, engaging platforms with matching or better price benefits to compete with these behemoths.”
This isn’t the 1st time Anari has used his divine gift of ideas to the benefit of black society. In the past he launched “Good Cop, Bad Cop” a ratings app for cops. “It was a Yelp for cops,” says Anari. “We can use data to reward good law enforcement and identify problematic law enforcement long before they shot someone.”
“Any Silicon Valley investor will tell you it takes more than an idea, it takes something special in the founder to execute that idea into a job creating, profitable company. That can be a bit more of a challenge for products targeting black society,” Anari explains.
He adds, “I would argue that Black techies are the most discriminated against demographic in black media, for the most part no one knows we exist. No black media talks tech, not ebony, essence, vibe, bet you name it. In the last 8 years, a revolutionary technology like bitcoin has been the most profitable investment asset, yet you’ll find nothing about it in Black media.”
Anari continues, “You can ask 100 black folk reading this article to point to one app on their phone by a black developer and you’ll likely get 0 out of 100. Out of sight out of mind is a real challenge that’s costing American black society thousands of high paying tech jobs and billions of dollars. By paying attention to the free games/apps you download, you can play a part in shifting millions of dollars in ad revenue to job creating startups in Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, etc…”
For vendors who want to sell their art or products for the Grabbit game, Anari asks you to be tech curious and open.
“I firmly believe bitcoin and cryptocurrency are the leg up black startups need to compete both in price and engagement with Amazon, Walmart etc, and we have to be 1st in making it a casual web experience. If you are not open to new tools to gain a competitive advantage it may cost you a good long term partner. If you are, reach out to us on the Grabbit facebook page and we’ll give a look at your product,” he says.
Consumers looking for awesome deals and discounts are encouraged to head over to www.grabbit.deals and try this fun way to great discounts and awesome prizes.
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