i_amtemitope
New member
The product (what is it, use case, who would want it)
A dating app that generates a first date suggestion, at a real physical location, for users when they match with each other. The date location is based on both user’s mutual preferences (for instance, if both users have checked ‘Bowling’, then a bowling alley within the two users’ vicinity will be a candidate place).
It also has a mode for people already in a relationship, or for friends, where both people can create an account, set their preferences and the app generates date/place suggestions within a specified vicinity, for indecisive couples or friends who can never decide on a date location.
The market (size, competition, dynamics that we should be aware of)
At the time of writing, most people due to the two modes we provide: single users for the dating mode, couples/friends for the date planner mode (we are looking to make it more generically support throuples+ and groups of friends beyond two, but currently date planner mode only supports 2 accounts linked). Competition would be any other dating app, which is very tight nowadays, but I offer a feature that no other dating app I have seen does.
Product analysis / comparison against competition
As a former dating app user, I would often get burned out thinking of an ice breaker for my matches. To fight this problem, many dating apps have included the ability to add blurbs or Q&A style responses to one’s profile, but I think what we offer make ice breaking even easier and as a bonus helps you discover new places. Even if users don’t actually intend to go to the location we suggest, it offers a nice ice breaker to talk about.\
Some other unique features of the app:
• We try to show you users who frequent the same places as you (if you specify your favorite places, this is entirely optional), as we will select two users’ mutually favorite place if it exists. At the least, we try to prioritize showing you users who have the same preferences for a date in your area if they exist.
• We also offer the ability to schedule a date with the other user through the app, and a ‘Check-In’ feature. The check-in feature allows both users to ‘check-in’ to the date at the scheduled time, if they are within the vicinity of the date location. We offer incentives to do this in the form of our in-app currency which unlocks additional features (e.g. the ability to “re-roll” or generate a new date idea if you don’t like the first suggestion) and hopefully, in the future, be able to offer coupons at participating locations for your date.
• After checking into a location, users are able to rate the place from 1-5 stars. This makes my app the only platform I know that offers curated reviews: there is high probability if a user rated a place that they actually went there, as we check their proximity to the place at the date check-in time.
• Finally, the app also features a ‘Badge’ system. Users are able to acquire badges through using the app. Badges are icons that show up on your profile when being browsed by other users that highlight certain aspects of your personality based on your in-app behavior. For example, if you typically get a lot of ‘funny’ reactions when chatting with other users, you earn a funny badge to showcase on your profile which lets potential matches know that other users find you funny. If you message most of your matches, you earn a ‘chatty’ badge, and etc. as a means to showcase who you are beyond your photos before a user decides to swipe left or right on you.
Customer conversion strategy (where do you find them, and how do you make them buy shit from you)
The acquisition of users is what I am struggling with. I am currently running ads on a couple of platforms (AppStore, Instagram) and it has been a very slow trickle. The only major complaint I have gotten regarding the app is that there are very few people on it, and that is of course the butter to the bread of any dating app: its userbase. The date planner mode does not have this issue, but I find that mode harder to market alongside the fact that the app is a dating app so I have mostly just been advertising the single mode.
As far as monetization, we have an in-app currency that unlocks or adds a greater quantity of certain app features. For example, if users do not like the initial date suggestion, they have the ability to "re-roll" the date and get a new suggestion. Beyond that, they have to unlock re-rolls through our in-app currency.
There's also the possibility of promoting certain businesses as a sort of advertisement for the business in the future once we grow.
Why you? Why are YOU the best person for this job? (experience? good team? what?)
I'm a software developer with 10 years of experience, have developed and supported a mobile app prior to this one for an employer, and (humble brag in) am the sole developer and developed it under a year (sacrificing any semblance of a sleep schedule), while working a fulltime day job, and lastly its my idea
Ultimately I created this app as a solution to a problem I personally struggling with using dating apps, that I noticed other people were having as well. I want to make it easier to connect to the people you match with while dating online, and also help curate/filter those you obviously would not connect with to save everyone’s precious time and energy! For that reason, it is something I am passionate about and want to see its successful delivery to those currently struggling with modern dating like I was.
My team consists of my long time close friend who manages the business and financial side of things (of which I'm personally ignorant, but learning), another friend (who I ironically met on another dating app years ago) who is responsible for social media / marketing, and another long term friend who is responsible for the UI design and aesthetic of the app.
Here is my app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/latch-dating/id1505543664
and website: https://www.latchdating.com
*For anyone that actually checks it out, our userbase is primarily concentrated in NJ/NYC, and a sprinkle of Miami FL. Any other territory will yield very few if any users.
A dating app that generates a first date suggestion, at a real physical location, for users when they match with each other. The date location is based on both user’s mutual preferences (for instance, if both users have checked ‘Bowling’, then a bowling alley within the two users’ vicinity will be a candidate place).
It also has a mode for people already in a relationship, or for friends, where both people can create an account, set their preferences and the app generates date/place suggestions within a specified vicinity, for indecisive couples or friends who can never decide on a date location.
The market (size, competition, dynamics that we should be aware of)
At the time of writing, most people due to the two modes we provide: single users for the dating mode, couples/friends for the date planner mode (we are looking to make it more generically support throuples+ and groups of friends beyond two, but currently date planner mode only supports 2 accounts linked). Competition would be any other dating app, which is very tight nowadays, but I offer a feature that no other dating app I have seen does.
Product analysis / comparison against competition
As a former dating app user, I would often get burned out thinking of an ice breaker for my matches. To fight this problem, many dating apps have included the ability to add blurbs or Q&A style responses to one’s profile, but I think what we offer make ice breaking even easier and as a bonus helps you discover new places. Even if users don’t actually intend to go to the location we suggest, it offers a nice ice breaker to talk about.\
Some other unique features of the app:
• We try to show you users who frequent the same places as you (if you specify your favorite places, this is entirely optional), as we will select two users’ mutually favorite place if it exists. At the least, we try to prioritize showing you users who have the same preferences for a date in your area if they exist.
• We also offer the ability to schedule a date with the other user through the app, and a ‘Check-In’ feature. The check-in feature allows both users to ‘check-in’ to the date at the scheduled time, if they are within the vicinity of the date location. We offer incentives to do this in the form of our in-app currency which unlocks additional features (e.g. the ability to “re-roll” or generate a new date idea if you don’t like the first suggestion) and hopefully, in the future, be able to offer coupons at participating locations for your date.
• After checking into a location, users are able to rate the place from 1-5 stars. This makes my app the only platform I know that offers curated reviews: there is high probability if a user rated a place that they actually went there, as we check their proximity to the place at the date check-in time.
• Finally, the app also features a ‘Badge’ system. Users are able to acquire badges through using the app. Badges are icons that show up on your profile when being browsed by other users that highlight certain aspects of your personality based on your in-app behavior. For example, if you typically get a lot of ‘funny’ reactions when chatting with other users, you earn a funny badge to showcase on your profile which lets potential matches know that other users find you funny. If you message most of your matches, you earn a ‘chatty’ badge, and etc. as a means to showcase who you are beyond your photos before a user decides to swipe left or right on you.
Customer conversion strategy (where do you find them, and how do you make them buy shit from you)
The acquisition of users is what I am struggling with. I am currently running ads on a couple of platforms (AppStore, Instagram) and it has been a very slow trickle. The only major complaint I have gotten regarding the app is that there are very few people on it, and that is of course the butter to the bread of any dating app: its userbase. The date planner mode does not have this issue, but I find that mode harder to market alongside the fact that the app is a dating app so I have mostly just been advertising the single mode.
As far as monetization, we have an in-app currency that unlocks or adds a greater quantity of certain app features. For example, if users do not like the initial date suggestion, they have the ability to "re-roll" the date and get a new suggestion. Beyond that, they have to unlock re-rolls through our in-app currency.
There's also the possibility of promoting certain businesses as a sort of advertisement for the business in the future once we grow.
Why you? Why are YOU the best person for this job? (experience? good team? what?)
I'm a software developer with 10 years of experience, have developed and supported a mobile app prior to this one for an employer, and (humble brag in) am the sole developer and developed it under a year (sacrificing any semblance of a sleep schedule), while working a fulltime day job, and lastly its my idea
Ultimately I created this app as a solution to a problem I personally struggling with using dating apps, that I noticed other people were having as well. I want to make it easier to connect to the people you match with while dating online, and also help curate/filter those you obviously would not connect with to save everyone’s precious time and energy! For that reason, it is something I am passionate about and want to see its successful delivery to those currently struggling with modern dating like I was.
My team consists of my long time close friend who manages the business and financial side of things (of which I'm personally ignorant, but learning), another friend (who I ironically met on another dating app years ago) who is responsible for social media / marketing, and another long term friend who is responsible for the UI design and aesthetic of the app.
Here is my app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/latch-dating/id1505543664
and website: https://www.latchdating.com
*For anyone that actually checks it out, our userbase is primarily concentrated in NJ/NYC, and a sprinkle of Miami FL. Any other territory will yield very few if any users.
