Robert are brand new co-founder out of Cuddli, a dating application having geeks. The latest startup was found in the Us nonetheless they got its innovation group in Croatia. Media features grew the new application so you can 100k users however, a combination of a tiny industry and their inability so you can monetize the brand new software pressed the new startup to shut off.
Hey Robert! What exactly is your history, and you will exactly what are your currently doing?
I invested thirteen ages at Microsoft, doing work my personal way-up from a scientific copywriter so you’re able to ultimately running It to own, and you will reporting into the direct of, Microsoft Browse Asia if you are traditions and working during the Beijing.
In the event it is actually time for you get off Beijing, I thought i’d get-off Microsoft and choose for an international MBA regarding the Netherlands. For area of the program, I became a transfer college student at INCAE for the Costa Rica in which We took a course for the entrepreneurship and you can venture capital. Throughout one class, I had very excited about the potential for leveraging my personal application knowledge with the a startup, additionally the agreements to own Cuddli began to take shape. I handled Cuddli with the people before stop from 2016. We had been significant bootstrappers and you may leftover Cuddli live through absolute push off usually, nonetheless it never ever found a massive adequate business.
We currently behave as a senior guidance coverage designer for the Condition regarding Washington. As it ends up, We read a great deal about cover keeping users of our own application secure. However, this is a restricted date concert, it’s all in all, together with economy enjoys appear to simply folded amid a beneficial Coronavirus pandemic. I have my personal next character in-line following this (theoretically), but ask myself once again in 
certain days if it panned aside or if or not I am even still live. Plus, if for example the flight world previously will get operational once again (when i produce this, worldwide air-traffic was going with the an entire surface stop), I assist anyone book travel with the kilometers and facts during the my personal company AwardCat.
Just what driven one start Cuddli?
I was not unmarried when i gone to live in The netherlands first off my MBA, nevertheless the relationship concluded immediately following I relocated to European countries. We come using relationships software plus the consumer experience was (and remains) extremely hard. The fundamental business design from freemium dating applications (which is the bulk of your sector) is always to establish rubbing and you can fees profiles to eradicate they. Which in the course of time sets this new key attract from pages (fulfilling some one) at the possibility on relationships app’s business model.
I was thinking there can be a better way to create a dating app and you can started out-of a business direction towards state (incidentally, so it audio analytical but is a basic error). Let’s say a matchmaking app, within its very construction, got aimed hobbies towards pages? Which had been the essential principle during the doing Cuddli: it started with a business tip (that we nevertheless think is a good that) and you may did backward regarding one on seeking a market, as opposed to you start with an empowered group of profiles and selecting a workable enterprize model after that.
I additionally needed viewpoints out of investors. They elevated all kinds of (valid) issues with relationships software, including the listeners constantly altering, member write (somebody had no cause to keep playing with an app once they met), etc. We fixed for nearly all ones throughout the app structure.
Just how did you construct it?
I went along to visit my pal Steve into the Croatia. The two of us was born in brand new Seattle city however, the guy fell in love with a beneficial Croatian woman and you will wound-up swinging here. We had been speaking of my matchmaking frustrations, the organization suggestion, additionally the explosive development of Tinder and we also decided that individuals have been browsing build this topic.