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When the Product You Want Doesn’t Exist, Build It: The Story Behind QR Mapper

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By Kevin Brady

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As an entrepreneur and car enthusiast, I've always believed the best ideas come from solving real problems—especially your own. While building AutoFame, a platform that connects car lovers with the rich stories behind the vehicles they admire, I found myself facing one of those problems.

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I envisioned a simple but powerful tool: place a QR code on a car, let someone scan it, and deliver a story—an immersive, digital connection to the vehicle’s history. Sounds easy, right?

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Not so fast.

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QR Codes: Dumb by Default

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I started researching QR code solutions, expecting to find a suite of smart tools ready to go. What I discovered was disappointing. Most QR codes, even the flashy designer ones, are fundamentally dumb. They do one thing: encode a URL. That’s it. Scan the code, and your phone passes the link to a browser. Mission accomplished, sort of. But for what I needed? Not even close.

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I didn’t know what story to attach until a car owner linked their vehicle to a unique code. I wanted dynamic QR codes, each with a life of its own, ready to be paired with a car story after the fact. I wanted to create permanent signage—on windshields, show placards, even billboards—without locking myself into one destination.

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And I wanted options. What if the URL should change before, during, and after an event? What if I wanted to collect an email address before revealing content? What if I wanted QR codes to behave like smart, adaptable gateways, not static one-trick ponies?

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From Frustration to Innovation

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No existing tool offered that kind of flexibility. So I did what any frustrated builder does: I built it myself.

The result is QR Mapper—a dynamic utility that turns static QR codes into intelligent, trackable, and permanent tools for storytelling, marketing, and interaction.

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With QR Mapper, you can:

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• Assign a unique QR code now, and link it later.
• Change the destination URL at any time without reprinting the code.
• Create scheduled redirects—ideal for events where you want to display a countdown before the show, a welcome page during, and a recap afterward.
• Require email capture or other inputs before granting access to valuable content—creating a form of built-in qualification or two-factor logic.
• View scan analytics—where, when, and how often each code is used—all from a clean, intuitive dashboard.

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And the best part? No bolt-on tracking software needed.

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From AutoFame to QR Mapper

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What started as a small technical hurdle in a niche project became something much bigger: a platform that solves a problem for marketers, event organizers, museums, educators, small businesses, and yes, car fans like me.

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AutoFame still does what it was meant to—bring car stories to life. But QR Mapper is the unexpected byproduct of that pursuit. It’s a utility that didn’t exist before and now fills a gap I didn’t even know I’d be stepping into.

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So, if you’ve ever found yourself wishing “I just need a tool that can do this”—pay attention. That might be your next innovation waiting to happen. QR Mapper was mine.

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Give it a try. You might just discover your own story along the way.

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Let me know if you’d like this repurposed as a landing page, a Medium post, or a video script—I’d be happy to tailor it.

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