Meet the frat boys behind Owl You Doin’

If you’re a Temple student you’ve probably seen Owl You Doin’ on social media, noticed students wearing their promotional blue t-shirts around campus and passed their blue banner hanging on the side of the AEPi house on the corner of Broad and Norris.

But what is Owl You Doin’ and how did it get started? The Tab sat down with the creators of the website to find out.

Junior finance major Andrew Kapel and junior advertising major Garrett Love met each other through their fraternity and joined forces to help fill a void they felt was present at Temple.

Andrew said: “We saw the need for a centralized location where Temple students could find everything they needed. Socially, there was nothing besides Twitter to keep kids in the loop.”

Owl You Doin’ is a website created by Temple students for Temple students made up of two parts: a student marketplace where items can be bought and sold and up-to-date information about upcoming events in the city.

But as for who actually came up with the idea, they have Andrew’s mom to thank.

Andrew said: “Credit where credit is due. At the time she talked about having a website for students to find housing off campus/ link up with potential roommates.

“From there Garrett and I formulated a Temple based community type website and we ran with it, throwing ideas back and forth.”

In the store portion of the website, Temple students have the ability to buy and sell their belongings. Though the store is mostly filled with textbooks, students have bought and sold various other items.

“It really depends on what students have,” said Garrett, “Someone posted an Xbox One, there was a Michael Kors bag, a bike and concert tickets.”

The catchy and clever name didn’t just come to the frat boy entrepreneurs, though.

Anrew said: “We threw some brutally awful ideas before this one. I love how people can see the logo and even if they don’t know what we’re about, it’s clever and catchy enough for them to ask!”

All transactions for the store are handled through PayPal, which provides students with a reliable way to transfer funds as well as a safer experience overall.

Andrew said: “Going through Paypal is nice because when students actually meet up on campus to do the exchange there is no cash involved.”

Another portion of the website is called “The Hoot,” where Temple students can read about events happening on campus and in the city of Philadelphia.

Andrew said: “It’s basically an extended version of TU Confessions. People anonymously submit stories and we post them. We partnered with them so all their twitter confessions run through us.”

“When you’re an incoming freshmen at Temple they preach this whole city thing,” Garrett said. “But I haven’t gone into Philly much because I don’t know what to do. We’re hoping to change that and give Temple students something to do.”

Garrett, who has a background in web design, did most of the designing for the page and Andrew handles the promotional side, however Owl You Doin’ is truly a joint effort. The two recently hired two new staff members to work on the “The Hoot.”

“Garrett and I have a lot to do administratively so we don’t have a lot of extra time to write for the ‘The Hoot,’” said Andrew, “We want the Hoot page to be extremely up-to-date and that is what the new people will be doing.”

The Owl You Doin’ website went live on August 17th and received over two thousand views in the first week, which Garrett and Andrew largely consider a success. Since the launch, the views on the website vary depending on the material advertised.

“As we push certain products in the store or promote certain events, our views go up,” said Andrew, “It’s on us to keep the site exciting.”

The duo have been advertising for the website since before the launch, racking up over 1,600 followers on Twitter and over 500 on Instagram. As far as other avenues of advertisement, they were featured on WHIP, Temple University’s official student-run radio station.

But as with any startup they have run into some bumps along the way, especially when it comes to managing inventory. Occasionally multiple people will buy the same product and have to be refunded.

However, more often than not the experience had been rewarding for the two juniors.

Andrew said: “Definitely when an exciting story pops up and we can go through the back end and track click-throughs. We’ve had days with well over a thousand viewers and in such a niche-market like Temple, we’re extremely satisfied with how things have gone.”

So what is the future of Owl You Doin’? Garrett and Andrew are working on several ideas including a page where students can live stream music and a real-estate page which would help Temple students get connected with off-campus housing, though both of these are still in the works. As for an Owl You Doin’ app, that could come down the road.

As for Garrett and Andrew, they are continuing to promote the website in hopes more Temple students will begin to use it.

Garrett said: “In the spring we hope Owl You Doin’ will be more of a household name – that’s first and foremost.”