How to Empower Communities Across the World with Your Mobile App

On this week’s episode of Masters of MAX, Tom speaks with Tessa Clarke, Co-Founder & CEO of Olio. Founded in 2015, Olio is a sharing app for local communities, making it easy to give away the things you don’t need to someone else who would value them. Since inception, Olio has now grown to over 7M users, with nearly 100,000 volunteers and more than 28M local neighborhood pickups. 

In the conversation, Tom is able to explore what inspired Tessa to start Olio in the first place, and the way it connects back to her early upbringing. Tessa also gives an inside look on how she and her early team built the first version of this product as simply a WhatsApp Group in order to test their idea.

You will hear just how fast Olio took off, where they are at now in 2023, and what Tessa has planned for the future. One of the biggest lessons to keep an ear out for is the impact that Olio’s community has had on growing a loyal user base and why this can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Hear Tessa give her advice on building your own community, and why it might not be for every brand.