Punch’d
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Punchd was a mobile loyalty app for Android and iOS - the digital equivalent of the 'buy 10 get one free' punch card. Customers scanned QR codes at participating stores to record punches and received a ping when a loyalty reward became available; small business owners used it to track purchases and reward repeat customers. It began in 2009 as a senior-year Android class project at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo by Reed Morse and Grantland Chew, was turned into a company in 2010 by Morse, Niket Desai and Xander Pollock, and joined 500 Startups' first batch.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
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03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Class project
Reed Morse and Grantland Chew built the first Punchd app (originally 'Punch'd') as a senior-year Android project at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
- Company formed
Morse, Niket Desai and Xander Pollock formed Punchd Labs; the company joined Dave McClure's first 500 Startups batch.
- Acquired by Google
Google confirmed the acquisition of Punchd in July 2011 (reported price over $10 million) to boost Google Wallet and Google Offers; the team moved to Google in Mountain View.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
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Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
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