Business & Tech

'Skimmin' the News in Minutes: There's an App for That!

David and Andrew Muench, two Avon brothers, tell us about their first smartphone app, Skimmin.

Do you have a busy schedule and need a quick way to keep up with the national and worldwide news?

There's an app for that thanks to two Avon brothers.

Andrew and David Muench, who co-founded their company Accessible Information, LLC in 2011, have launched their first smart phone application, Skimmin. 

According to the website, the brothers set out to make Skimmin the "fastest way to keep up with major events in the U.S. and World."

The brothers summarize major news stories they've chosen to highlight in a couple sentences and include links to the source articles and websites below. 

On Oct. 21, the top national stories featured on Skimmin were "Officials: 476,000 Obamacare Applications Filed" from USA Today, "Two Escaped Florida Killers Captured at Panama City Hotel" from ABC and "New Jersey Same-Sex Marriages Can Begin Monday, State's Supreme Court Rules" from The Washington Post.

In worldwide news, the top three listed Monday were "Baghdad Cafe Bombing Kills at Least 38, Relentless Violence Continues" from Reuters, "France Sumons U.S. Ambassador Over NSA Spying Claims" from USA Today and "US Releases $1.6 Billion in Aid to Pakistan" from CNN.

Users can peruse five different news categories –  "U.S.," "World," "Sports," "Business" and "Technology."    

Andrew is a University of Michigan alumnus currently working at start-up investment banking company Brasil Plural in New York. David, 22, is a senior at Northeastern University in Boston.

Their app is available to download for free in the iTunes app store and on Google Play. 

How does it work? We asked the Muench brothers to tell us about Skimmin.

Patch: How does your app work, what is it called and how did you come up with the idea?

David Muench: "Our mobile app, which is FREE on the iTunes App Store, is called 'Skimmin'. It's the fastest way to keep up with major news stories. Our goal is to inform you in 1 minute a day. Seriously, that's it. We accomplish this by hand-selecting about 10 need-to-know stories each day that we thought the average American should have heard about. We then present these stories to you as concise, 325-character summaries, not lengthy articles.

"Our primary goal is to better inform American society. We feel very strongly that not enough people know about current events (especially the younger generations). By providing a simple and easy way to keep informed, we believe more people will do so."

Patch: Do you have a business mantra you live by?

Muench: "
We believe in simplicity. We tried to make the app easy enough for a 6th-grader to use."

Patch: Can you tell us about your business background? 

Skimmin: "This is the first shot at entrepreneurship for both of us. 
Andrew is currently working on Wall Street with Brasil Plural, a Brazilian startup investment bank. He is a University of Michigan alumni who received his bachelors in finance and accounting.

"David currently works on Skimmin from his college dorm room in Boston, Massachusetts. He is in his senior year at Northeastern University. David majors in finance and marketing."

Patch: Finish the sentence. When I'm not working I'm... 

Andrew Muench:
"I enjoy building things! I've always been fascinated by how things 'work' and how to improve the status quo. I am a technology enthusiast, so you can usually find me at NYC tech meet-ups. I also enjoy watching the Detroit Red Wings and New England Patriots. I am also a newly-wed, so I'm getting used to the new lifestyle."

David Muench: "I am a big outdoors guy. I love to surf, play basketball and hockey, and enjoy a beer on the deck with my family and friends. I am a huge sports fan as well. My allegiances lie with the New England Patriots, Chicago Cubs and Detroit Red Wings."

For more information, visit www.skimmin.com, like Skimmin on Facebook or follow @skimmin_top on Twitter.  


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