As a golf startup, Deemples Golf App was invited for a radio interview in Singapore last month with Money FM 89.3, the very first and only one business and finance station in Singapore. We were very happy to get the opportunity to share our story.
We think we are different than any other golf startup app out in the world, our app is all about to connect golfers so they can golf more. In the interview, our CEO David Wong talked all about Deemples, our journey so far and future plans.
This article is for the people who love to read and wants to know more about our golf startup journey. If you have a few minutes to listen to the entire podcast, you can listen to the whole interview below:
Golf Startup: Deemples Interview On Money FM 89.3
Good afternoon and welcome to Coffee With Claressa. Deemples, an app which is available for free download from either the Apple App Store or Google Play aims to make golf more accessible for everyone and break the elitist stereotypes surrounding the sport.
Money FM 89.3 welcomes David Wong CEO and co-founder of Deemples to tell us more about this app, its impact on golf and the future of the game from his professional perspective. Welcome to the show.
Claressa Monteiro: Thank you David for coming on the show. Let's talk about golf. It was on the decline?
Deemples: Yes it is still on the decline.
Q: If you don't have a club, and if you're not a member, it is hard to find "golf buddies" to play. So where does Deemples come into all of this?
Deemples: So I wouldn't say that's the case (the need to be a member) in a lot of countries that we're in. In Malaysia where we're actually strongest, you can walk into almost any course, pay and play.
For example TPC Kuala Lumpur. It's a private club and the membership expensive, but it’s open to the public. It’s expensive but you can still play. Lots of people think it’s always the membership cost barrier to get into clubs.
If I get my statistics correctly, in the world only 30 percent of golf clubs are private. 70 percent of them are public. Unlike in Singapore, where it's mostly members' courses, in Malaysia, there are only three member-only clubs. The rest you can walk in.
Q: What do golfers use Deemples for?
Deemples: So I always think from the perspective of a golfer what are the things that are stopping golfers from golfing more. I narrowed it down to two things: Money and Buddies.
So the money I can’t solve, go work more and make more money. Or the clubs can reduce prices, it's up to them. I can't solve that problem.
But the buddies part can be solved with technology. Previously there wasn't technology so you don't have that wide reach that we can have today.
Previously we were only limited to the taxis that we see in front of us right. Right now we have access to all the cabs and all the cars around because of Grab. Same for food (GrabFood), as well as dates (Tinder).
So why can’t there be a platform for golf as well? So that's where Deemples came up. If I have all the money in the world, but no one to play with, I still can't play.
Claressa Monteiro: Right. Because you can't play by yourself.
Deemples: Well you can.
Claressa Monteiro: But it's not fun.
Deemples: It's like going to the movies. You can go alone, but you normally wouldn’t.
Claressa Monteiro: Golf is a social game. It's a game where you know you can hang out with people that you don't know and make new friends every time you play. So that's where you come in with Deemples.
Deemples: Numbers of golfers are declining. So when these numbers are declining, there's less and less golfers around and is hard for people to find another golfer. And even when I do find another golfer like you Claressa, I might not be free when you are, and when I'm free you're probably busy. So we'll never be able to play. So that's where Deemples comes in to help.
Claressa Monteiro: So you connect golfers.
Deemples: We connect golfers. That’s correct.
Q: So you connect golfers not just locally but in these countries: Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. If I download Deemples do I have to sign up?
Deemples: It’s free to download and free to sign up.
Q: Okay. It's free. I download it. I want to use it if I'm going to Brunei. Can I connect to golfers in Brunei?
Deemples: Yeah. You can create a game and other Brunei golfers can join you, or you can see whatever games are available in Brunei, and you can join them.
Q: So it's like a dating app for the golfers?
Deemples: Kinda. So people always ask me like how would you describe it in like three words, and I say "Tinder for Golf". Tinder is a little bit inaccurate, because in Tinder, after you match, you still have to decide when you can meet up for a game.
So there's no point connecting if there's no game. The more accurate term is like the "Uber for Golf", because you can put a time and place, and then other golfers can join if they find that it fits their schedule.
Q: OK but if I wanted to play more, this would definitely be something. So walk us through.
Deemples: You download the app, register for an account. To register, you can just use your Facebook or Google account to get in. Once you're in then you can see a bunch of games that are already happening.
See whichever that fits you, it's all in chronological order, then you can join them. Once you join you're in the game, you can chat with the other players to understand more.
Q: Okay. You recently received funding. What are you using that for?
Deemples: So as any tech company, we'll always use the funding for two things. One is product development, features, anything to make the app easier to use, perform faster, that kind of stuff.
And the other is for marketing. Marketing is about how can we get the message out to communicate with more golfers. To let them know about the games available, so they can join in.
Q: On a macro level what's next for Deemples?
Deemples: So this year is going to be a very important year for us. We've run for two years now without monetizing and that's typical in all B2C kind of tech business. So this year we are going to prove that we can monetize. We raised a little bit of funds from angel investors that believe in the business plan. The business plan is still all theory, not proven yet.
So this year we're going to prove our theories, and show that we can generate revenue. Then we can go on with the next phase of expansion.
Q: So what are some of the (golf) clubs that you are working with now?
Deemples: We don't work with clubs on a commercial level. The clubs that work with us now use Deemples to organize games for golfers to join in easier, saving resources on the front desk/customer service side of things. Clubs that use Deemples include: Kinara Golf Club, Monterez Golf Club, Seri Selangor Golf Club, Danau Golf Club, and Bukit Unggul Country Club.
We're not engaging a whole lot of clubs at this point, but working only with a select few so that we can fine tune our product before we roll it out more to more clubs.
Claressa Monteiro: Well, this all sounds like fun, and we wish you all the best. I will even download the app now. It sounds like you are definitely going to be a guest back at some point on Money FM 89.3 as you pursue some of these plans that you have for Deemples. Good luck since this is your big year where you monetize it. Thank you.
Deeemples: Thank you.
Summary
Starting something new is always scary and even though you are unsure of the outcome, it should not stop you from trying. Like any other startup, Deemples also faced a lot of ups and downs as golf startup but we think we are on the right path to help more golfers to golf more. Just click here to download and see for yourself!!!
We also got featured on a Malaysian radio station. You can check out that article here: - "Golf Startup: Deemples Interview on BFM Radio 89.9".
