

My new startup: split-the-bill.com - Rabidgremlin
http://blog.split-the-bill.com/

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riordan
It really reminds me of BillMonk (<http://billmonk.com> \- sort of defunct
since they haven't renewed their SSL certificate), a project that was the
genesis of Obopay back in 2006. It was very similar to split-the-bill and had
a strong emphasis on mobile (ahh - remember when having SMS apps was cutting
edge). It had notifications, long-term tracking between parties, and several
ways to split it for registered users, but also provided easy service for
unregistered users. I used it pretty continuously for about a year but ran
into two big issues. One - it was difficult enough to SMS in a bill to split
evenly, and a pain to itemize the bill even online. I imagine that even as a
web app optimized for different mobile devices, this could still be a problem.
When you're at the table and trying to figure out the bill, time is key - that
means a quick UI and fast latency. The other issue was getting other people to
use it. I convinced maybe three friends to use it over the course of that year
and none used it for more than two days. It's difficult to get people to use
and stick to.

That said, structuring it as a longterm balancing solution for financial
"partners" like roommates might be a better model.

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Rabidgremlin
Interesting... Thanks for the feedback.

First up, no sign up is required to create the bill. Check out the mock-ups:
<http://blog.split-the-bill.com/split-the-bill-the-mock-ups>

Also there are no emails notifications (yet). You are free to IM, tweet, SMS
or Facebook the link to the bill.

Of course we are looking at mobile phone apps and an API for other systems to
integrate with (How cool would it be for a POS to include a link at the end of
your receipt ?).

Integrating a payment method would also be a possibility.

Nonetheless I do like the idea of supporting more formal agreements and larger
costs... will add it to the road map :)

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philwelch
My girlfriend and I have an ongoing problem where we are trying to split
living expenses fairly. I can see this as a partial solution, but definitely
not a complete one.

I can see myself using this if there were an iPhone app or a good mobile site.
It would be a quick step in the process if I could just note a bill and who
owed me whenever I ate out, read a bill, or anything else.

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yosho
I think this idea had been done before and didn't work. I think signing up for
a website to split a dinner tab is a bit excessive, especially with the email
notifications and everything.

Maybe a better focus would be on larger costs such as rent payments and room
subletting that actually requires a more formal agreement between parties.

~~~
Rabidgremlin
New to HN so messed up the reply: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=917473>

