John Legend’s new food and travel app will tell you if ‘It’s Good’

Understanding the power of word-of-mouth marketing, John Legend is entering the tech space with a new startup called “It’s Good,” designed to share food and travel recommendations.

“My friends always reach out to me for ‘my list’ of restaurants in the cities I’ve visited,” said the EGOT winner, according to the app’s website. “With ‘It’s Good,’ we sought to create a trusted community for food lovers to recommend their favorite spots and discover new ones through a user-friendly platform that’s easily shareable and beautiful.”

Following a similar format to popular recommendation sites like Yelp, ‘It’s Good’ operates under the ethos that “a restaurant rec from one trusted friend is more valuable than recs from 10,000 strangers.” Accordingly, the app will allow users to review and explore their social media friends’ favorite spots. In addition to gathering recommendations from users’ mutuals, the app will also feature suggestions from high-profile celebrities. 

“Our mission is to be your go-to place for saving [and] sharing your most favorite places to eat and drink,” the website explains. “Trustworthy recommendations for you, by you — from the people you know or admire, all in one beautiful space.” 

Legend is venturing into tech with the help of friend, co-founder, and tech entrepreneur Mike Rosenthal and the help of $5 million in raised funding from investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners, which has supported other brands and entrepreneurs like Jessica Alba, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The idea behind “It’s Good” stemmed from a conversation Legend and Rosenthal had during lockdown. However, what distinguishes the platform from other recommendation apps is the absence of negativity. Inspired by the saying, “If you don’t have something good to say, don’t say it at all,” “It’s Good” removed the classic star rating system and will only allow users to say whether or not it’s good. 

“It’s actually not even built for negative comments,” said Legend, per The Wrap. “Either you recommend it or you don’t.” 

So far, the only way to join It’s Good is through invite. To join the waitlist, visit www.itsgood.life.

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