Where is Foursquare Going? Dennis Crowley Reveals The Latest...

Foursquare usage is not really that different in the U.S. than outside the U.S. says Dennis Crowley on the Web 2.0 Summit stage this week in San Francisco.

Apparently 50% usage of this growing-in-popularity location based network is outside the U.S. They plan to focus on building out a European team next year.

"The bigger we get, the bigger the opportunities that come to us," he says in response to whether they plan to stay independent or get acquired.

Dennis doesn't seem to be wedded to either one as long as they can continue to build a product the way they want to build it. "The only thing that we want to do is build a product to where we want it to be in a year from now, three years from now.....We want to build tools that change the way all the people in this room experience the real world."

Of Foursquare's growth, he says that they're launching new features every few weeks and as each new feature gets launched, the pieces of the puzzle comes together more and more. In other words, those who may not necessarily understand the value of what Foursquare can bring to them personally today, may see new "nuggets" that make it worth their time.

With more than 10 million downloads, Foursquare remains the category leader in LBS (location-based services). 

A new addition called RADAR for the iPhone which was announced earlier this month, could either be perceived to be a cool new feature or scary.

They're trying to make it less painful to check in or rather have to "think about" checking in when you arrive somewhere. So, rather than having to check-in to see what’s happening at a venue, Radar uses the technology introduced in iOS 5 to provide you with notifications when you are close to a location that might be of interest to you.

If you find yourself close to a venue where your friends may be hanging out or a place on you go to frequently, Foursquare now sends you a notification to let you know.  

When looking back at the past innovations he has worked on, starting with Dodgeball, Dennis says he doesn't understand when people ask him what kind of start-up they should do. He says, "focus on your passion, what you love, what you want to build that no one else is building or doing and go from there." Hear hear.

I'd add this: at the end of the day, if you wake up years from now wondering why you're doing what you're doing, you've made the wrong decision. Do what matters....to you....no one else.