Reccs is an AI dance platform designed to help beginners learn the fundaments of dance. It is focuses on the mind-body coordination and scientific methods to improve a users dance skills.

The lore...

Next36

During summer 2023, I was accepted into Next36; a startup accelerator for students and new grads in Canada.

I tried exploring several startup ideas I was passionate about and eventually came up with Reccs; an AI dance app.

I wanted to design this app because I personally struggled learning how to dance and it was a project I saw myself using which made the concept very exciting to work on.

Through reccs, I learned the ins and outs of building a startup from 0-1

Lets start at the beginning...

I interviewed over 25 users who were all interested in dancing or had been dancing for a while. The responses we received were all indicating that the process of breaking into dance is difficult and relies on a lot of self learning. It was time to fix this...

How do people learn dance right now?

Each of these solutions come with disadvantages. A more efficient and cost effective way to learning dance is much needed.

We dove down so many rabbit holes...

I read several research papers and spoke with dance teachers so I could better understand the needs of a beginner dancer

I started envisioning what the MVP could look like

I designed and developed a website to showcase exactly what reccs was about. I was inspired by Spotify wrapped 2022 for my design inspiration and used vibrant colours and shapes to bring life to the design!

I also did a 30 days of dance challenge...

I learned a dance choreography every day for 30 days and posted it on instagram to share my story of being a beginner dancer learning to dance. I wanted to better connect with the users and create a narrative behind reccs.

The Hustle...

Pitch competitions

Getting reccs off the ground was no easy feat.

I pitched at several pitch competitions and showcases to get people excited about reccs.

At velocity, I was a semi-finalist out of 100+ applicants that applied. I also pitched at the socratica symposium with an audience of over 400+ people!

Pilot programs

I ran a pilot program where my friends and I recorded 4 dance lessons and charged a program fee of $5 for users to try our lessons. We did this to validate our idea and receive initial feedback on how the classes were going.

Some examples of lessons we sent (kpop, hip hop fundamentals)

My Learnings

Reccs was the most incredible learning experience. I learned how to wear so many different hats as a founder. For example being a designer, a PM, leading marketing, making pitches, speaking with users etc.

I learned that for startups, its most important to focus on building fast and testing with users to see their interaction with your product. At the start of reccs my team and I were moving quite slow; waiting to create the perfect design and product. However, in the world of building a company from the ground up we should have built the bare bones MVP to see how people like it and if it fulfilled their needs.