We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justin Moss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, thanks for joining us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

Breaking into new markets was a big challenge. Early on, there’s no momentum when you launch in a new city—you’re starting from scratch every time. And what worked in one location isn’t guaranteed to work in another.

Nightlife communities are surprisingly tight-knit, even in bigger cities. Over time, we learned that the best way to gain traction in new markets is by building the right relationships. Bar owners, promoters, and local influencers shape the nightlife scene, so we’re intentional about who we partner with. Showing them the value that we bring is the secret sauce.

We also had to get creative with marketing and advertising. As a grassroots startup, guerrilla marketing becomes the default. Over the years, we’ve done everything from renaming WiFi networks to sponsoring fishing tournaments—and just about everything in between.

Justin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Justin Moss, Founder of BarGlance. We’re a technology startup that’s focused on consumer-facing nightlife.

Like most startups, BarGlance began with a problem.

After college, a buddy and I moved to Savannah, GA. Being new to the city, we wanted to explore the downtown scene. Savannah isn’t a big place, but it has a ton of bars. We quickly realized that we had no idea where to go. In college, this wasn’t an issue—we knew where the best spots were and the best nights to go. But in Savannah, it felt like we were freshmen all over again.

We eventually figured it out, but not before wasting a lot of time and money barhopping. That was when I first noticed the information void in nightlife.

While driving home from work one day, an idea hit me. I was sitting at a red light, and just happened to notice a traffic camera. I remember thinking: what if you could see what was happening at bars before going out? Then you’d know which places were busy ahead of time.

That one thought became the foundation for what would become BarGlance. “Know before you go” became our tagline.

Today, BarGlance is a nightlife platform that connects bars and bar-goers through real-time data. Our mobile app lets users barhop virtually before going out, showing them the best bars nearby, their current crowd levels, and the overall vibe.

The thing that sets us apart is our focus on real-time information. Nightlife activity is dynamic by nature, so capturing that data at scale is both the opportunity and the challenge.

As a company, we’ve always leveraged the best technology available to help people find their ideal bar scene. With the recent advancements in AI, we’re now able to offer personalized recommendations, current occupancy levels, and crowd forecasting. These types of features and functionality weren’t possible even a few years ago.

I’m especially proud of how we’ve been able to embrace change over time. What started as a simple idea at a stoplight has evolved into a technology company that serves nightlife markets across multiple states.

Beyond the platform, I take a lot of pride in the community we’re building. Nightlife is more than just bars and clubs—it’s about people, experiences, and connecting. At the end of the day, our job is to help people have a great time when they go out.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Once I had the idea, I couldn’t let it go. There was just one problem—I had zero experience in technology or business.

But I knew the concept had potential, and I needed someone who could help me bring it to life.

I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a business partner. People always laugh when I say that, but back then, Craigslist was the go-to for job listings. Plus, you could post in multiple cities at once.

Out of the seven cities I posted to, I received exactly one response. Just one. The email began with: “Hi, I’m Jason, and I’m the person you’re looking for.”

Somehow, he was right. We ended up becoming business partners.

Jason was the perfect fit. He’d spent several years working for ADT Security but left to start his own software development business. Not only did he have experience installing cameras, he could also write code.

We worked out of his home office for the first two years. I spent countless hours there—his family practically adopted me.

When we weren’t assembling cameras or working on the app, we were beating the streets, trying to convince bar owners that our idea wasn’t crazy.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When we first started, the concept was simple: put live-stream cameras in bars so people could see how busy they were. We were pretty scrappy in the early days. Consumer-grade cameras weren’t that good back then, so we were buying parts off eBay and assembling our own.

As we grew, it became obvious that hardware was not the answer. Cameras required installation, maintenance, not to mention buy-in from bar owners. The business model worked well enough to prove the concept, but we knew we needed a more agile solution to really scale.

We made the decision to pivot from hardware to software. Instead of physical equipment, we leaned into user data to provide the same insights, rolling out features like heatmaps and geofenced check-ins. That shift allowed us to onboard more venues and sidestep the logistical hurdles of hardware.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.barglance.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barglance/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmoss1/