Dennis Crowley is the co-founder of foursquare, a service that combines social networks, location awareness and game mechanics to encourage people explore the world around them. Previously, Dennis founded dodgeball.com, one of the first mobile social services in the US, which was acquired by Google in 2005.
He has been named one of Fortune’s “40 Under 40″ (2010, 2011), a member of Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” (2011) and has won the “Fast Money” bonus round on the TV game show Family Feud (2009). He is currently an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).
Dennis holds a Master’s degree from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and a Bachelor’s degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
Here is the english version of the interview:
MW: How do you keep yourself inspired and/or motivated?
DC: NYC inspires me… specifically walking around and trying to try new things, notice things I haven’t noticed before. I really like talking long walks that wind thru different parts of New York, hitting a bunch of art galleries, shops or restaurants on the way. Click here to see what The NYTimes wrote a few months back.
MW: What do you see as the next revolution in social networking technology?
DC: Mobile. And specifically mobile phones that are aware of context and history. “Have you been to his neighborhood before? Have you been with these people before? Are you in a familiar setting or are you out of your element?” The devices are carry in our pockets are already constantly connected to all the social data online (foursquare, Twitter, Facebook) – what’s next is that they’ll be able to listen or sense to our current context and react appropriately. This is what foursquare is starting to get really good at doing.
MW: What current project is most exciting to you at the moment?
DC: Foursquare’s recommendation engine. We have over 2 billion “check-in” data points from our 20m users and we’re putting this data to use in making a recommendation engine for the real world. The science (and team!) behind it is amazing: link.
MW: You do so many interviews! Is there a question you wish were asked?
DC: Ha, no one ever asks about the “best part of the job”… for me, it’s standing next to someone in line, or sitting next to someone at a restaurant and to see them using foursquare on their phone. It’s so rewarding to see people using the things we’ve been working so hard to create.
Read the exclusive interview (in Japanese) by Matthew Waldman from Openers.jp by clicking here .












