Q&A with züm co-creator Andrew Ramirez

Ever had one (or more) of those “Last Friday Night” moments where you woke up, opened your computer and found mortifying videos of yourself from that crazy party yesterday plastered all over Facebook and Twitter for the world to see?

If so, there is still a way to save your reputation. Züm, an iPhone app that allows users to send and receive “no regrets” videos to friends, is now available for download in the app store. Andrew Ramirez, a USC alumnus and one of the guys behind this ingenious and college-friendly app, gives a more in-depth look at züm and its future plans.

Daily Trojan: What is your role in the development of the züm app?

Andrew Ramirez: Myself and a few other guys at the studio have been mainly involved in debugging and testing the app, giving our programmers plenty of feedback ranging everywhere from the overall experience of it — how to make it more streamlined, more user-friendly, addictive — down to the color scheme and “look” of that little icon sitting there with all your other apps.

DT: What inspired the creation of züm?

Ramirez: Züm was borne out of that terrible, terrible Drake YOLO movement. Despite hating the acronym, we loved that “you only live once” attitude. And we started thinking: what does it mean to be regret-free in 2012? How do you adopt a loose-and-quick attitude when every silly thing you do is documented and researched by family, girlfriends, boyfriends and bosses? What we discovered was YOLO means not leaving a trail. Nothing to trace back or bring next-morning embarrassment. So voilà, züm. These little five-second videos that get messaged among zümmers can only be watched once and then forever erased. Users are free to be as funny or wholesome or naughty as they want, it’s completely up to them. But if they wanted to be a little edgier, züm isn’t a bad place to start …

DT: What are some of the craziest things you’ve heard about or witnessed people using züm for?

Ramirez: People flaunt their creative side when alcohol is involved. Bar zümming is getting very popular because it’s a good way to let your friends know all about the massive amounts of fun you’re having … Any examples? Let your imagination run with it …

DT: What words of advice would you like to share with up-and-coming mobile app developers?

Ramirez: Your users are key, especially when you’re small. Word of mouth is very potent, and if someone’s friends are digging it, naturally they’ll want to dig it too. Inversely, if someone’s friends are really not liking something, that person might become a walking pundit trashing something they haven’t even tried.

DT: What’s next for züm?

Ramirez: Currently, we’re touring the app at bars and clubs all around LA — more specifically in the USC area although we also just hosted an event at TigerHeat and Public House, too. And next? We’re gearing up for the züm U.S. tour.

Updates, photos and the schedule for züm’s U.S. tour for can be found on Facebook and Twitter.