What2Do is an app developed by sophomores Ameen Raissi (Chief Operations Officer [COO]), Rushil Khadilkar (COO) and Arad Sadaghiani Tabrizi (Chief Executive Officer [CEO]). Recently, the platform has received a barrage of media attention, with the group’s Instagram Reels reaching upwards of 500 likes. The News-Letter interviewed the founders of What2Do to learn more about the creators behind the app.
What is What2Do?
At its core, What2Do is meant to ease boredom amongst the students. Through a centralized event feed and real-time updates, the group simplifies how students at Hopkins discover what’s happening around them. Additionally, the platform encourages users to both attend and create events within their own community.
“So basically, What2Do is a platform that we’re trying to make to give people live events happening around campus and, eventually, we’re going to branch out in a way that’s like TikTok style — like a feed of events just like the same way that you scroll through any other platform [that] you’re used to,” Tabrizi explained. “We’re basically eliminating the question of ‘What should I do today?’ Instead of having to search or dig through different sources, [we can have] everything presented in one feed.”
This approach prioritizes convenience and accessibility, mirroring the design of platforms that students are already familiar with. By adopting a familiar scrolling interface, the app lowers the barrier to entry for new users.
The team’s goal is to streamline event discovery into one seamless experience. Ultimately, the app is designed to make social planning effortless. In doing so, What2Do aims to increase participation in campus life.
“What2Do is a real-time platform that helps people discover and create nearby events, solving the common issue of not knowing what to do, from pickup sports to book clubs and networking events,” Raissi elaborated.
When asked why What2Do has decided to devote heavy efforts toward social media promotion, the team emphasized visibility as a key factor in early growth. The founders explained that consistent posting assists in building their credibility, highlighting how short-form content drives engagement.
“Social media is where people already spend their time — on Instagram, TikTok, even LinkedIn — so it’s the best place to meet them where they already are,” Khadilkar said. “The goal [isn’t just] promotion, it’s also to build more awareness and create a recognizable presence — and also a brand name that really sticks.”
The team expects the application to begin like the current popular app “Sidechat” — a discussion platform where anonymous students can engage with others across their college campus — having it start off as only present on the University campus, where users would have to be verified using their school email.
The application will consist of three methods for event hosting: a setting for “Everyone,” which will show up on the public feed for all account holders, “Friends,” which will only appear to those who have a mutual connection and “Custom,” which is an “Invitation Only” option.
The group emphasized that as Hopkins students, academics must come first and that discipline is needed to make their passion project a success.
“It definitely takes discipline,” Tabrizi explained. “We try treating What2Do like a full-time job because we want to consistently keep posting and making sure that we stay relevant [and] on top of things. But, you know, academics still have to come first.”
Who is behind What2Do?
The What2Do team is comprised of various developers, a social media team and the leadership unit. In addition to Raissi, Khadilkar and Tabrizi from Hopkins, students such as Cam O’Neil — who is an undergraduate from Cornell, What2Do’s fellow cofounder and Chief Business Officer (CBO) — and coders Krishnam Jhalani and Souham Tekriwal also assist in building and refining the app’s technical structure. Furthermore, students Tori Gordon and DeeDee Golla are prominent in the group’s social media promotions, aiding in creating engaging promotional content.
In the interview with The News-Letter, Raissi emphasized the importance of creating a well-rounded team who are passionate about the development of the platform.
“We selected people who we know would be interested in this. We also asked many people and filtered throughout whether we felt they were a good fit for us or not,” he elaborated. “For example, DeeDee is a good friend of mine. She’s very social, she’s very well connected on campus and she’s not afraid to put her face out on social media, so it was a very good fit.”
For those who have further questions regarding the application and would like to be involved in the platform, the team requests that they message the What2Do Instagram (@joinwhat2do) or email them at teamwhat2do@gmail.com.
Why should we care about What2Do?
“We noticed that people just often don’t know what’s happening around them. I remember — more than just on campus, [but] more off campus — the summer coming to Johns Hopkins, I remember I was so bored and I was like, ‘Man, is there an app on the App Store literally called ‘What To Do,’ because I just had no idea,” Tabrizi said.
Moments like these highlighted a clear gap in the market for social events; even though there may be many events to attend around campus, many students still struggle to find specific ones that they are interested in. Moreover, the founders established that maintaining a centralized hub for various functions can ease the process of socializing and allow users to connect to one another in real time.
“I think our generation is always experiencing social media,” Khadilkar added. “I think having an app that really takes us off our phones and connects [us] in real time and [allows us] to meet different people [...] is super important, especially over the next few years.
The success behind the What2Do team is closely tied to user engagement and feedback. In order to measure it, the developers track user behavior and engagement patterns, analyzing retention rates and interaction frequencies.
Together, these metrics help define what success means to the team. This dual approach ensures that user satisfaction and growth are taken into account. By approaching feedback in this manner, the team is able to continuously refine the app based on user behavior and satisfaction.
“I mean, honestly, it really comes down to two things, right?” Tabrizi explained. “One is basically how our users and the people who [we] are trying to reach really interact with this application — if they really love the events they see. The other is the statistics of it, which is like how many times [people are] really coming back to this app to see what’s going on around campus. If we see that in a week they come back to this app 4 or 5 times, that’s amazing metrics for us.”
Unlike Hopkins Groups (the University-wide platform for students to discover and register for organizational events around campus), What2Do aims to offer a more dynamic and user-friendly alternative. The application focuses on real-time updates and introduces a more engaging experience.
“The main thing is just the fact that [there is] a global feed,” Tabrizi said. “We’re trying to be spontaneous with more live events as well.”
The app emphasizes real-time interaction, encouraging users to act on events as they appear. Informal gatherings are promoted in addition to formal events, and their privacy settings allow for tailored experiences.
Additionally, its design — which is built around user participation — makes browsing intuitive and keeps content fresh. Raissi explained how these features reflect the platform’s upcoming potential.
“I’m in contact with all [of] the fraternities and sororities on campus. Our eventual hope is that [we can] provide many different services, and one of them is a ticketing thing for fraternities — so our hope is that eventually everyone uses What2Do instead of [Facebook invites],” Raissi detailed. “A big feature of What2Do that I think is unique is that every event that you go to gets tied to your profile, and every event you go to, there’s a group chat made, and people can text in that chat, and all the photos that are sent to that chat also get tied to the event in your profile.”
Another idea for the app that the team is intending on implementing is a “Month in Review” feature — which would be similar to the popular app BeReal. With this, users would be able to see everything that happened within a month on What2Do.
In the future, as the launch of the app draws closer, the What2Do team will be engaging in more promotional and television-style events, such as giving away free merchandise and Speed Dating. For anyone who wants to help the group, they encourage students to show up and tune in for more information.
Moreover, ambassador programs will also become available for those who would like to be even more engaged. Currently, the What2Do team has ambassadors at more than 25 universities across the United States. When the application launches at Hopkins within the next few weeks, these ambassadors will begin working to integrate the program into their own campuses.
