Interview with Will Muirhead (Fanatix)
Fanatix is a social discovery and fan messaging network allowing fans to create private messaging networks around live events. 
I interviewed Will Muirhead, Fanatix founder to find out more. This interview is the fifty fourth in a series of DW interviews. Big thank you to Will for the interview!
How would you describe Fanatix in under 50 words?
fanatix is a social TV app for sports fans. It automatically groups your friend network around specific sports events so that you can share the content and opinion in groups.
What made you decide to found Fanatix?
I’ve been working in sports media and technology for many years and the next logical step was to make sports media social and mobile.
What was technically the most challenging part of developing Fanatix?
The platform is built around our core Intelligent Group Messenger technology. Deriving real-time relevance from users’ social graphs is tricky. Even trickier at scale.
How long did it take to put together Fanatix?
It’s taken a year so far and we’re a long way from being finished….
Do you have any new features in the pipeline?
Loads :)
How many users does Fanatix have currently?
Just shy of 100,000 registered users.
Has Fanatix got the feedback and growth you expected since launch?
It’s starting to. Didn’t get the growth at first, so we made some changes and, with each change, you see increased traction, which keeps us motivated.
Where do you see Fanatix in 5 years time?
We think that every sports app, sports media app, sports betting app, etc… will all require an intelligent group messenger technology so we’d like to think that fanatix will be the platform of choice in five years time (currently, there is not a single sports app in the marketplace with one-2-one chat, let alone group messaging or intelligent group messaging).
What events are most popular on Fanatix?
Premier League football matches. Nothing else comes close.
What do you wish you’d have known 5 years ago that you know now?
Life goes on past the age of 29.
What is the biggest hurdle you have faced or are still facing?
Keeping people motivated when shit hits the fan.
What are you most excited about at the moment?
The phoenix like re-emergence of the England Team following their pre-emptive self-destruct button hitting :)
What football team do you support!?
Chelsea and North Adelaide (Roosters).
Can you convince the reader to start using Fanatix in under 50 words?
fanatix is the first real attempt at delivering a social experience around sports television. It makes sharing opinion and match related content quicker, easier and more fun. If you don’t try it, you will never know….
Finished reading? Check out Fanatix!
