How Yo inspired the Jonas Brothers to create apps

Remember that silly app, Yo, where you could ping someone with just a tap?

Well, Kevin Jonas does. At the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York, the Jonas brothers talked about why they are creating apps.

After seeing the Yo app raise over $1 million in funding, Kevin said it made launching startups look easy.

“If they could do that, look what I can do,” said Kevin, about what motivated him to make the Yood food app a few years back.

That venture didn’t pan out, so Kevin devoted time to Blu Market, a marketing company for “influencers.”

And now he’s focused on a new a series of gaming apps that he’s working on with band manager, Phil McIntyre. Called PhilyMack Games, the team recently launched games centered around musician Demi Lovato and also one inspired by Joe Jonas’ new band, DNCE.

“We wanted to be fun enough that the fans” use the apps, but also “have people who could just come in and play,” regardless of whether they follow the music, explained Kevin.

It’s too early to tell if the games will have lasting success, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a superstar leveraged their brand and created a popular app. Kim Kardashian partnered with Glu Mobile to launch a viral game.

But McIntyre claims it’s not the possible financial windfall that’s motivating him in this venture. “Whenever I don’t focus on the money, I end up making the most amount of money.”