Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sydney and Rodney Harp. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sydney and Rodney Harp, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Our company, 4té is a new mobile social media app. The name 4té is a play on the word forte, meaning “a thing at which someone excels.” Our app is dedicated to showcasing an individual’s specific talent(s).
Sydney Harp and Rodney Harp, 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?
The history behind the creation of 4té goes back more than 10 years before mobile apps were developed. We thought of a similar website idea: users could share their talents by posting videos. This was precisely what it was, an idea, something we tossed around but never acted upon. Fast forward to when the pandemic started, we had that “ah ha” moment and thought, “hey, remember that website idea we had years ago? Now would be the perfect time to take the chance and develop it, but instead of a website, let’s take advantage of the popularity of mobile apps.”
The development of 4té allowed us to utilize our individual strengths from the creative side as well as the technical side. Sydney having a background in marketing and advertising, and Rodney being in technology, lent itself to establishing a good partnership. Furthermore, we just happen to be a father-and-daughter team.
What sets 4té apart from other social media apps is we put the process of decision-making directly in the hands of our users which allows them to decide outcomes, as opposed to other apps that utilize algorithms.
4té is an app dedicated to showcasing users’ talent(s) by allowing them to post videos of what they do best. What makes 4té different and fun is that users can opt to be ranked, and/or accept challenges from other users. Our app contains genres that allow users to categorize their videos. The genres are Arts & Crafts, Beauty, Culinary, Entertainment, Fashion, and Sports. The videos with the highest ranking each week in each genre are featured on the Top 4te’ers page for that week.
We are most proud of the fact that once we decided to move ahead with our app idea, nothing stopped us. We came up with the business model and design and financed the entire development ourselves. We are a proud black-owned family business.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
We’re working with a marketing firm that runs our Instagram account. They develop the content, post daily, and run monthly giveaways to attract followers and build up our user base.
We are in the process of starting a gorilla marketing campaign.
We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.
As we mentioned, we are a father/daughter team :)
Contact Info:
- Website: whatsyour4te.com
- Instagram: @4teapp