As some of you may know we got featured on TechCrunch last year (Nov, 4, 2010) when we launched Mentaway, right after being rejected by YC 2011 Winter funding program. 

Mentaway, for those who are not familiarized is a web app developed to track every step a person take on a trip. From Foursquare checkins to geolocated tweets and geolocated Flickr photos, we organize everything in a map for you. 

After the thrill of appearing on TC and after checking out every comment and feedback about the service we notice that several people wanted Mentaway to take care not only of trips but also daily checkins and other geolocated info. Users also wanted the service to be more social and easy to use/check/understand. 

As we always wanted Mentaway to take a step further and also had the idea of making it more social, easy and usable, we decided to do a complete redesign... and when I say complete  redesign I'm talking about looks, means and purpose. 

We had a whole new round of whiskey shots and endless conversations about what we wanted for Mentaway... the result is getting pretty cool and we hope you will like it as much as we did. ;)

Mentaway is now open to everybody so just go to http://mentaway.com and join now.

Yes, we applied to Y Combinator's Winter 2011 found program. We did that and we were super excited about the chance of being funded by YC, not only because of the money (that would be handy to allow us to really work exclusively on this for a while) but we were really thrilled with the possibility of get to know people that would possibly be interested in our service and in helping us out. 

During the time from sending the application - which we did in October, 07th - and the awaited reply day - November 02nd - we were pretty anxious. We did plans, we discuss what would be our pitch, we read that if you are not from Silicon Valley or if you don't have a Harvard/MIT or other 'strong' University in your background you have no chances and decided not to worry about that cause our idea was awesome... and yes, honestly, we really believed we would have a chance. 

So in the anxiously awaited November 02 we received the rejection email from YC stating in some almost friendly words that we were not picked...that they didn't like our project that much to fund it. 

First reaction? Sadness, frustration and a thousand different thoughts going through your head. Second reaction? Get some whiskey shots... 

You first think that you were not chosen because you are from Brazil, far away from Silicon Valley. Then you think no, that is not it, everyone seem to love Eduardo Saverin - the Brazilian guy from Facebook, so the fact that you are from Brazil is not why you were not chosen. So you think that this happen because the University you got your degree is not even among the best ones in Brazil, so you are not even close to be recognized in the US as a 'smart one'. 

After all that, you think that the idea may not be as good for other people as it is for you... but then you realize that again that is not the case. You did some research, you put you heart, effort and knowledge into this, you worked you a** off to put the service together because you do believe in the idea.

So what went wrong? Not sure... just know that as we have our great idea, many other people have their great ideas and in this particular case their ideas were better to YC.

After recovering from the 'sadness, frustration and a thousand different thoughts going through your head' moment you decide to forget about the whole 'YC rejection' and get even stronger to go on, because now you need to show YC and many other people that you idea is worth it. 

So now we are in the final adjustments to launch the Beta version of Mentaway... we know that we still have some milestone to cover, but with or without YC, here we go. ;)

If you really believe in your idea, go for it, keep focused and go on with your hard work. Don't give up on it because you don't get the support you waited for. 

We really like to travel and we also love technology and its wonders. Nothing better then going around with your gadgets, 'checking in' into places you visited, posting instant photos of what you are seeing/eating/doing, writing about your experiences... keeping track of your steps. And honestly, sometimes we asked ourselves why there were no services to help travelers in a different way - different then buying tickets, suggesting places to go or organizing the trip for you - helping in a way that you could remain using the services you like (such as Twitter, Foursquare, Gowala, Facebook, etc), going places you want to go, doing your own stuff, but having all of that in a single place, 'all together', something like a trip concept... easy, beautiful and useful. 

So thinking about all that we decide to develop Mentaway, a web app that will be pretty handy for those who like to travel and also like to keep track of what is happening while 'on the road'.

Like the idea? Stay tuned for more details. ;)  

The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.

Besides being a really beautiful place, Mentawai is famous for its waves, attracting surfers from all over the globe. 

For us these islands are really inspiring... not only for the surf vibe, the beauty and the hypnotizing blue water. The island's name, Mentawai, makes us think about all the places we want to visit, all the places we want to go to, it makes us think that we were meant to be away... to travel and explore the world. 

So thinking about all that and combining our passion for traveling and our aim to launch a cool service to the web community, we are developing a new web app called Mentaway... 

We will soon reveal more details about it, so stay tuned. ;)