Most of us who enjoy taking road trips and vacations know how important it is to have a basic understanding of the destination. A must-have travel necessity is the ability to learn about history, tradition, culture, and popular tourist attractions while on the road. The tedious process of conducting exhaustive online research is time-consuming, but it also significantly diminishes the fun of a road trip. Woody Sears, Bill Werlin, and actor Kevin Costner had the concept for an app that would provide users all the details about a location in the US they were visiting so they could enjoy it while on the go.
Autio, formerly known as HearHere, is a travel storytelling app that informs users about the past and present of the destinations they are visiting. The entrepreneurs presented their unique product on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ season 14 episode 17, trying to get the Sharks on board with their idea to receive big investment to increase sales. Now that we have your whole attention regarding the app, let’s examine the company’s development and current location.
Autio: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Entrepreneurs Woody Sears, Bill Werlin, and actor Kevin Costner founded the app in 2020 under the name HearHere. The business changed its name to Autio in 2022. At the University of Colorado Boulder, Woody Sears earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Environmental Studies. In the future, he graduated from Pepperdine University with an MBA in Entrepreneurship. He is also an alumnus of the Acceleration Program from Yellow. Woody began working for AT & T as an Account Manager soon after receiving his MBA.
Woody held prominent roles at numerous organisations, including Regional Sales Manager at Vettro Corp, Chief Revenue Officer, iStoryTime at Cupcake Digital, Inc., Board of Advisors at Desk Yogi, Board of Advisors at WAMI, and Board of Advisors at ArtQ. He serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of Autio in addition to being the Accelerator: Travel & Hospitality at Plug and Play Innovation Center. The entrepreneur has prior startup experience. He founded Y Combinator’s Startup School and zuuka’s flagship brand, iStoryTime.
The Colorado State University awarded Bill Werlin a degree in industrial administration in 1971. He has since concentrated on making a solid reputation for himself. As President of The North Face in 1993, he got off to a fast start. Since then, he has also held significant roles with several businesses. He has held positions at Patagonia Japan, Burton Snowboards – Japan, Keen Footwear, Yokohama International School, Chairman and Board of Directors, Member Board of Directors at GRAYL, and Member of the Advisory Board at Looptworks.
Bill has been employed by The Peregrine Fund since 2021 in addition to serving as the Co-Founder of Autio. Kevin Costner, a well-known Oscar-winning actor, is the third co-founder, who must be well-known to viewers of the programme. Over the years, he has made several cameos in well-known movies. The Postman, Dances with Wolves, The Bodyguard, Yellowstone, Hidden Figures, and other of his best works are just a few examples. The founders of the business just wanted to share the untold tales of the places people travelled to. Each tale provides the readers with a thorough overview of the location in the best style of narrative while also being entertaining and instructive.
Where is Autio Now?
An app called Autio, which has its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, gives the tourist the history of many locations throughout the United States. This app has more than 10,399 stories from coast to coast across the country. The user will be able to investigate the stories of the neighbourhood using the app. All of the tales in this app have been told by accomplished storytellers including Kevin Costner, Phil Jackson, and John Lithgow. The culture, history, insights, music, natural wonders, and sports of the region are the focus of every single tale in Autio.
After downloading the app, users can listen to five stories for free, but after that, they must pay for a 30-day, 1-year, or 3-year subscription. In this format, stories can also be downloaded and listened to offline. The Autio app for iPhones has been downloaded by more than 500k people. The app’s Android version is still being developed and will be released soon. By collaborating with The Moth, a non-profit storytelling organisation that recounts the tales of underrepresented communities and groups, the firm is also aiming to represent communities.
The company donates $1 from each download (paying subscription) to The Moth. You may access the universe of limitless stories and limitless downloads from any location in the world for $36 by purchasing an annual subscription. Good Sam, an organisation for RVers, offers a discounted rate of $19.99 a year. We hope the app opens its android version soon, so everyone can hear stories from across the world.
