Houstonians build website to let you gripe and air frustrations

Houstonians Steve Richey and Jason Hardy have been racking their brains for a new business idea.

"After a marathon stretch of absolutely nothing that was sticking to the proverbial wall the phrase 'Special Place in Hell' kept popping up," Richey told the mikemcguff.com blog.

Keeping the phrase in mind that sounds like something straight from Dana Carvey's lips as The Church Lady on Saturday Night Live, the two entrepreneurs kept thinking. Between the two of them, they've started 15 different companies. That includes everything from a garage door company, a web firm, all the way to a show called Huntingfreak.com.

Even with all of their past experience, no ideas were coming.  Then they returned to the phrase they had thought of earlier. They checked to see if TSPIH.com and the actual phrase had a .com registered. The answer was no, so they bought both and started developing the site. It would become a place where folks can come and air their frustrations.

"We decided we wanted to give people a place to complain, laugh at and editorialize the dysfunction in their lives," Richey told me. "Can we associate with these people? Sure. I think in someway we've all laughed at inappropriate times or gotten upset with the person who goes through the 10 items or less lane with 30 things in their cart. And yes they are always in front of you. So we thought if we could give people a fun outlet, we may be able to make a go of it."

To join in, all you have to do is register with the site and post. Other users vote to like or dislike your gripe.

Some recent entries include:

There is a special place in hell..
"...for the person who texts while I'm talking to them. Trust me I can handle your undivided attention."
"...for people who use song lyrics as their Facebook status."
"...for people who are really good at Words With Friends...no one likes you Mr. 87 points."
"...for the dudes that call you "Boss" when addressing you. Can't decide if that is friendly, strange or creepy."
"...for all web designers who add background music to web pages."

From there you can send someone you know to the place (complaint entry).  It's great for passive aggressive types.

Richey says the site launched two weeks ago and has already seen a decent amount of traffic. In fact, it has had visitors from as far away as China, Germany and the UK. The site makes money from ads and some premium features. To send someone to that "special place" costs you credits which you can purchase with real money. CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post here