TalkieWalkie is a new way to experience your surroundings. It's a simple thing, yet it's a full new medium. It's not just a podcast, it's the old bland museum audio guide, finally being released into the wild!

What if all around you existed trails of audio, some fun and entertaining, others focused on history, and others simply stories, tied to a place - allowing you to be here, and there! Wherever you go, a new city to explore, the life path of a novelist you like taking you around, the places of a film you enjoyed...

Everywhere you go, others have gone. Some famous, some fun, some full of knowledge, they all have something to share about where you're standing right now.

While visiting Venice's San Marco Basilica in early 2020, my partner and I took the available audio guides. They had such poor content that I've been thinking about audio guides since. They're such a boring, mundane object, they never spark joy.

I would confess that I was not expecting much to begin with, but I should have, we all should have better standards for these. We should expect that they push us into the mystery, bring us at the center of the stories that took place where you stand, etc.

The Pokemon go enthusiasm showed how powerful mixing here and there is, how broad its apppeal is.

With the COVID crisis, we are all longing for meaningful experiences, experiences that take us outside and re-enchant the real. Bringing them the means to create these walks, share them and enjoy them, either alone or with friends is a tremendous opportunity!

There are multiple open questions for the realization of the TalkieWalkie vision. In line with the YC philosophy, I don't want to spend to much time figuring out the business model yet. But I also can't ignore it, because much of the shape of TalkieWalkie is yet to be determined.

From the talks I've already had I gathered an alternative: TalkieWalkie can be two things: a YouTube, with user generated content, bringing its creativity to the new medium and its moderating challenges, or a Netflix, with managed productions. It can be a YouTube with a production arm, and it probably should.

I still have no idea what's best - if you have an idea or an opinion, shoot!

If any part of this appeals to you, I'm always happy to discuss! I've set six months to myself to find co-founders to launch this exciting prospect - do reach out if you think of anyone who would even simply be interested in the discussion.