[woman 1] Success to me just means doing what I'm really passionate about
and really having an impact on people's lives.
[woman 2] We may actually have a chance to do something huge.
To be accepted by one of the advisors
really validates all the work that we've really put in.
Just to have that moment would be amazing.
[man] As an artist, I'm very passionate about my product and the ideas,
but the thing I am most nervous about is that escalator pitch.
[Zane] You have four advisors down there.
It's about making sure they understand how passionate you are.
You have 60 seconds on the escalator
to get them to choose to be a part of your project.
You'll know because at the end of your escalator ride,
they'll either go green or red.
If you get four reds, you go home.
But if you have at least one green,
you'll get to continue your pitch and tell the story of your app,
in the hopes of partnering with one of the advisors.
If that happens, you'll spend the next six weeks honing your app
for a chance to earn a share of over ten million dollars
in venture capital investment
and featured placement on the App Store.
[pulsing techno theme]
[bell rings]
[man] Let's get started, guys.
[will.i.am] Wait a sec. We going for real for real?
[man] Yeah.
-[Zane] Jason. -Hey. How's it going?
We converge at the table up here in the developer's lounge. How are you?
-Good. Very excited. -Nice to meet you, man,
with your amazingly titled app, Giant Killer Robots. Unbelievable.
You've been on the cutting edge
of some pretty incredible, revolutionary technology.
Where are we going?
AR on head mounted devices.
Adding that digital layer into the natural world
is just a few years away.
-You're a dad. -I am a dad.
So how do you want this future that you're helping to build
impact on your children?
Because it's a world that you understand,
but it's a world they're going to inherit.
That's why we love digital and physical.
It's something that you can play socially
and not, like, in your own world in the corner.
My name's Jason Yim. I'm from Los Angeles, California.
Being raised in Hong Kong, watching all the giant robot anime
was a big thing for me as a kid.
So I started Trigger ten years ago.
We are the mixed-reality agency.
60,000 hours of augmented reality development.
We bring AR down to board games and toys.
And to see people have that, like, "Oh, crap" moment--
They're paying off all the imagination from childhood.
I have one daughter and I have another baby on the way.
Raising a child and running a company is pretty tough.
I feel this constant pressure of how much time do I have left
to get the stuff done that I want to get done?
[man on PA] Here we go. In 3, 2, 1, go.
Archaeologists have discovered
intact toy soldiers in ancient Egyptian tombs.
Play hasn't changed in thousands of years.
We still take two figures, put them on the table,
and imagine the battle in between.
Until now.
I bring you Giant Killer Robots, the augmented reality battle game.
So you take two collectible robots,
put them on the table,
look at it through our app,
and we will literally bring Hollywood special effects onto your table
and immerse the toys in it.
You'll be able to see a digital city appear.
You'll be able to battle your friends from around the world.
So to top it off, all your best moves will be recorded,
and you can share it all on social.
Who wants to play?
[tense, pulsing music]
[exhales] Okay. Cool. Thank you.
So tell us about Giant Killer Robots.
Been a collaboration with Weta Workshop for a few years now.
What's Weta Workshop?
Weta Workshop is a special effects house.
They're famous for Avatar.
-They did all of Lord of the Rings. -Right.
[Gwyneth] Will you show us?
Yes. I'd love to show you guys.
So basically, in the future,
the mega corporations are fighting,
but it's, like, celebrity pilots versus other celebrity pilots.
So--
You see the board, you see the mech,
you see the cities come up.
And you can see the--
[Jessica] In real time, this is happening.
-[Jason] Yeah. -[Jessica] Cool.
[Jason] And then you pick your battle cards,
and you start playing.
-Are you manipulating this war right now? -No, he's playing.
[Jessica] These are, like, physical toys you have to buy
and this map that you have to buy
and then download the app to play it, right?
This is one mode of play.
We donвЂ™t want the monetization to be locked behind the physical build.
So you can play physical against physical,
but also digital against digital.
So as soon as I download the app,
I can play kind of like PokГ©mon.
You could do fake AR in the room.
What's the point of having the physical if you don't need it?
We think the ultimate experience is going to be the digital and physical together.
Of course both sides, both players can play.
And we have all these kind of multiplayer modes.
So one that we're really excited about, and that has never been done before,
is I can be playing with my physical toy here
and then my best friend is in New Zealand playing with his physical toy.
-And we can still be connected... -Of course.
...into a single game.
How much are you trying to raise?
We'd like to raise a million.
And how much money have you already raised?
As of now, we've probably put in a quarter million.
Weta's probably put double that.
We've been doing this out of pocket,
just bootstrapping along the way.
So, Jason, what's the dynamic of who owns this company?
It sounds like this is a JV.
So Weta owns the story and IP, and we own the tech IP behind it.
But the IP is owned by Weta.
The story IP is owned by Weta.
So, you remember every Christmas,
-"I want Transformers." -Me, too.
They had the power to get in the kids' minds
to where the kids wanted it for Christmas.
And then they get that one game that's like, "What's this, Mom?"
Is this going to be like, "What's this, Mom?"
The App Store has changed that, right?
Like, the big winners right now
are not IP that have been on TV shows and things like that.
Well, hold on. Hold on.
-I totally disagree with you. -Me, too.
The big winners have been the IP.
PokГ©mon Go is the example. Because there was IP there--
That tech wasn't so much greater,
it was that the IP was so enormous that it created insanity.
You know, the biggest studios in the world
teaming up with the biggest toy manufacturers,
that's really what you're playing against, right?
-Yes. I mean, we-- -Okay, I just want to make sure.
Okay. You going to stay green or are you going to switch?
I wanted to get a sense from you that you acknowledged that.
You did that for me, so here we continue.
I actually love the creative IP
and I think that there's really something there.
But my biggest concern, honestly,
is that one of these big studios builds the same thing.
And so for that I'm going to change from green to red.
First of all, in five years this is how every boy and every hobbyist plays.
-Let's get to that. -Right.
Done. Two, there's a lot of competition around this.
And one or two are going to pop out
and become the new generation PokГ©mon and things of that nature.
There was nothing here in this presentation
that made me feel confident enough that that is GKR.
And for that reason, I'm out.
-[Gary] Good luck, man. -[Jason] Thanks for your time.
[Gwyneth] Thank you.
Somebody's going to build the IP that wins in that world.
It's just, there's 80,000 people trying to create the next Spider-Man.
[whispering] And my goal is to make that possible for everyone.
[Zane] Hey, Elle. Sorry to break your flow.
-[Elle] Oh, yeah. Hi. -Nice to see you.
-How are you? -So nice to see you.
So where did Mend come from? I mean, how did you get here?
-Came from a breakup. -Yep. Surprise, surprise.
I'm Elle Huerta. I'm from Venice, California.
And I'm the chief mender of broken hearts.
I was so taken aback
at how much a breakup had such a profound effect on me.
I felt like I was almost physically sick.
And so my first instinct, being a science major,
was really to try to understand what was going on in my brain
and why I was feeling that way, and then how I could feel better faster.
What I found is just like we track our finances,
just like we track fitness apps,
love is the next frontier for quantified self.
[man on PA] 3, 2, 1, doors.
No matter who you are, where you live,
how smart or successful you are,
heartbreak hurts.
And for many people, it's so debilitating that it derails their lives.
My app is a personal trainer for heartbreak
that guides you through a breakup day by day,
with daily training, activity tracking, and community support.
I know heartbreak can inspire incredible growth
and my goal is to make that accessible to everyone.
What we're doing has never been done before.
We're leveraging technology and data to reinvent the way we mend.
[tense, pulsing music]
-I loved your pitch. -Thank you so much.
I had a heartbreak in my twenties
that took me maybe five years to recover from.
So how does it work?
Yeah. Can we see the app?
All right. This first step is just getting to know who you are.
We're all about measuring and giving you insights
based on your data.
So we first ask you, "What do you think is the main reason that you broke up?"
I'm going to select "commitment." And then we ask you,
"How much is your breakup interfering with your ability to live daily life?"
Typically, they are at a ten: "Worst possible."
-It's true. -I mean, you downloaded this app, right?
And then we ask you, "How are you feeling?"
And typically people rank at the very bottom: "I feel depressed."
Once we have that information, we pull a training, which I'll play.
All of our trainings are one to three minutes.
[woman] Hi. Welcome to your first day of training.
I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a breakup because of commitment.
So you can also track your progress over time.
This is the part of the app that I get really excited about.
This is just a dot, but people who are using this over a period of time
start to see their own trends.
They can see it for their mood and for their Mend Wellness.
[will.i.am] It's great.
And then we also track activities that help you mend.
Um, things like getting outside, exercise, being social, self-care.
-[Gwyneth] That's great. -Are you aimed towards female only?
I am targeting millennial women right now.
So we're about 80% female.
-It's therapy. -[Elle] Right.
[Jessica] Putting on the business hat,
how do you plan on extending this into other verticals,
or do you want to keep it here?
-I'm so glad you asked that question. -Yeah.
So, the majority of Menders are going through a romantic breakup.
But there are Menders who are using it because they lost a loved one.
We have Menders who have been fired.
We have vets who have left the military and are feeling heartbroken.
There are really a million ways to be heartbroken.
Yep.
And this is very expandable,
but for right now, the market for breakups is big enough.
How big is it?
There are about 40 million millennial women.
Based on what we know about relationship patterns,
they're probably going to go through 12 breakups.
So that ends up being about 18 million breakups a year.
Oof.
How do you get paid? How does it make money?
We are a subscription model.
-From day one? -From day one.
Love that. How much?
So it's 9.99 a month.
If you buy for three or 12 months, you get a discount.
It's a lot cheaper than my shrink.
[all laugh]
I think you've given us a lot. What about the financial details?
How much are you looking to raise here?
So I am currently raising a seed round right now of 1.5 million dollars.
-Okay. -What I want to do with that
is really refine what we've built so far.
-Accelerate development. -Yep.
And take it to a real app, real product.
[Gary] And how many people are on the team?
We are a very scrappy team, so just in the last few months,
I've been able to hire one other developer.
-Okay. -But it's really just the two of us.
Awesome.
I am completely impressed by you.
I think you're an absolute rock star.
Thank you.
At this stage, I worry about securing VC funding.
And so for that reason, I'm out.
I think the combination of your IQ and EQ
-is pretty phenomenal. -[Jessica] Mm-hmm.
I genuinely believe that EQ, emotional intelligence,
meditation, all the brain stuff is about to explode.
And so I'm not scared of a niche within that genre.
I think that I can bring a lot of value.
And so I'm very interested, and I would love to be your advisor.
[Jessica] There is a real need for young women like you
to be at the forefront of business and technology.
I'm part of all of those conversations,
and that's why I think I would be a great partner.
Not only can I help you with marketing and branding,
but I can amplify you as an entrepreneur
and introduce you to everyone that I know.
-I can-- I can do that, too. -[Gwyneth chuckles]
[Gary] And a weird-- I'm in New York,
where the media, where these companies are.
[Jessica] It doesn't matter where you are.
-[Gary] Sure it does. -Okay, no fighting.
-It doesnвЂ™t. -[Gary] No fighting.
-[Gwyneth] Are you ready? -Adding context to the conversation.
[will.i.am] Who are you going to go with?
I also have humanity.
[pensive instrumental music]
Um--
Both of you are so incredible.
I just feel very, very grateful right now to be standing here.
Gary, I have no doubt that you can build big businesses.
And I feel like you would be such a great advisor and mentor.
And Jessica, you have such a skill for speaking to your audience
and you feel so authentic.
So this is a really hard decision.
Um--
Who I'm going to pick, um,
-is Jessica. -Yeah!
[Elle] And--
[Jessica] I thought for sure you were going to pick Gary.
Yes!
-[buzzes lips] -[Jessica] I love you so much.
-This makes me so happy. This is so good. -Oh, my gosh.
[both] Ohh!
-I'm so excited to work with you. -[Jessica] This is so great.
-I'm so happy. Thank you. -[Gary buzzes lips]
-Welcome to Team Alba! -[Elle] Whoo!
[exhales]
Wait, how do I download this app? I need it right now.
[bell rings]
Who's the PA in charge of vodka?
[chuckles] Good question.
-I'm Michael. -I'm Justin.
[Michael We're Incubate, from Atlanta, Georgia.
When I grew up, funny enough, I actually wanted to be my aunt.
My aunt had developed the switchboard
that every phone call in the world went through in the '80s and '90s.
And I saw that, and I always had entrepreneurial aspirations
because of her.
[Justin] I was a mechanical engineer from Georgia Tech.
Got my MBA and then went into startups to follow in my father's footsteps
and, you know, have my fate in my own hands.
You guys are making huge commitments.
How deep in this are you guys?
[Justin] I joined him in the beginning of this year,
and we've put, I think, way more blood, sweat, and tears into it
than we have in anything else.
[man] 3 seconds, 2--
Action.
-I'm Michael. -I'm Justin.
Using our app, Incubate,
Michael's sending that picture to me in the future.
I'll receive it one year today so we can relive this awesome moment.
With Incubate, users can send a picture, video, text, or voice message
to an exact moment, from one minute up to 25 years into the future.
It is the world's premier digital time capsule.
A military father can ensure
that his daughter is going to get a Happy Birthday message
while he's deployed.
Our users who are end of life can ensure that their loved ones
are going to get heartwarming messages after they're gone.
That includes my very own grandmother.
[Justin] In the age of instant gratification,
let's help the world connect
in a way that truly stands the test of time.
Together.
[tense, pulsing music]
[Justin] Oh.
It's just hard.
Because we're all entrepreneurs and we've all been through this,
where no one wants to move forward
with something that we're passionate about.
That being said, we won't be moving forward.
Understood.
I wish you all the luck. Thank you.
-Thank you all. -Appreciate it.
-[Gary] Good luck, guys. -[Gwyneth] Thank you.
[Zane] Like the founders of Incubate,
many other developers failed to secure an advisor.
We're on a mission to change the world for breastfeeding moms.
Pumpspotting connects breastfeeding moms
and highlights the places we nurse and pump.
Think of it as Facebook meets Yelp meets boob.
It's amazing what you're doing. I just think that it's early.
Imagine the last time you were at a social event, a party, or a game.
Was there a photographer there shooting photos?
Did you ever get those photos, if there were?
Leyefe is the future of event photography.
-Good luck, man. -[man] Thank you so much.
I hope you stick it to us.
Tycoon was created to help freelancers succeed financially.
Our ultimate goal is
to empower freelancers to take financial control
so they can succeed while they pursue their passions.
This space is super crowded. It is super competitive.
-Okay. -Thank you.
Thank you so much, guys.
-Deep in thought, Chandra? -I am deep in thought. How's it going?
-How are you? -I'm good.
-Good to see you. -Likewise.
So, why "Friendish"?
When you put "-ish" on something, it feels like,
"I'm willing to be friends with you, kind of."
Friendish describes this in-between period of getting to know someone.
I'm Chandra Arthur from Orlando, Florida,
and I'm the CEO and founder of Friendish.
I was inspired to create Friendish
because I personally feel alone sometimes
and struggle making like-minded friends.
I'm not looking to hook up. I'm not looking for a date.
I actually just want to find cool, like-minded people.
-Like, I'm already sweating. -[man on PA] Here we go. And, action.
For human beings, relationships are really the most important thing.
And I learned this when I lived abroad in Berlin,
where I had an amazing group of friends.
When I came back to the States,
I really struggled to make like-minded friends.
And I used all the social networking apps and platforms.
And I realized early on
one of the reasons we were all struggling to connect
is because we're making decisions about each other
based mostly on looks.
So Friendish is really different.
Our users swipe on interests, not faces,
and connect with other people that like the same things.
So advisors, let's be friends.
[chuckles]
[tense, pulsing music]
-[Gary] Ooh! -Yay!
-[Chandra] Awesome! -[Gary] Very nice.
-Can we see the app? -Sure, absolutely.
So this is our open beta.
So our algorithm right now matches people
based on 50% interests or more.
So the more you swipe, the tighter your matches get.
I do like latte art. I hope these load.
Of course I love eating local. Summer camp, yes. Um--
-[all laughing] -[Chandra] Oh, sure. Um--
Sh-- No, actually.
Yes. Um--
Of course, yes.
Um-- We can keep swiping, or we can also go to the friend searches to see--
-That's an interesting one. -Yeah. Feet is funny.
After you have interests, you can finally see the person,
-and you're like, "Oh, she seems cool." -After your interests.
And then I say, "Okay, I'm going to add her."
The majority of people that you have on it is females?
-Um-- Yes. We have a majority-- -How many users do you have?
We've got a little over 1,800 users.
In beta.
In beta. In an open beta, which is very exciting for us.
-So who's curating this? -Me.
So you're curating it for everybody?
Yeah. For now.
So this is like...
-a blog with social capabilities. -No! This is not a blog.
-This is a friending app. -Get him, Chandra.
-So it's a friending app. -Get him.
CouldnвЂ™t you do the same thing on Instagram, just looking at your likes?
I guess you could, but it's Instagram,
so if somebody sends you a random DM,
isn't it like, "Do I know that girl?"
What's the difference here? You didnвЂ™t know that person.
Yeah, but I downloaded the app to make friends.
I'm on Instagram to add my own curated--
-She's making a great point, Will. -[will.i.am] No, hold on. Wait.
The context of the room you're in is around friendship. That does matter.
What are you looking for from here?
Sure. We're looking to raise 500K
so that we can actually build out a team of people.
And how long would that 500K last you?
Um, I think it would last us a year.
I mean, I'm based in Orlando,
which is why we hope to take a local approach.
Orlando is really the perfect springboard for an app like this.
You've got all these big companies.
We've got Disney. We've got Orlando City.
Orlando's actually like a city in transition.
And so for us, um--
Yeah, while Nike's probably not going to sign up at 5,000 users,
you know, my local bakery that's all over Orlando Weekly
and every Orlando place, they might.
They might be interested in putting their content through our platform
to advertise to just people in Orlando.
-That's a great answer. -[Jessica] That's interesting.
Are they going to give you enough money?
I don't know if the money is the most important thing up front as the proof of--
-Concept. Proof of concept. -We can get--
Yeah. Even if it's a hundred dollars a month.
It's a proof of concept that says, okay,
this is something we can replicate and do again and again and scale it.
[inhales]
Oh, man.
I feel like you are at such the beginning of this journey
in really defining exactly what it is you're doing.
Absolutely.
And I would like it to be much more clearly defined and narrow.
And so that's why I'm out.
-Okay. -I agree with you. I think--
I think what I personally am not seeing here--
Mm-hmm.
The depth of the content and choices.
It's not even, like, "Who's your favorite poet?"
and questions about art and music.
And I think you'll get there.
I just-- I feel like it's just a little early for me,
so I'm going to be out.
Thank you very much.
500,000 is what you're trying to raise.
Yep.
What are you going to spend it on?
Um-- Definitely somebody to handle sales and partnerships.
Um-- A designer.
-Chandra? -Yes?
I have a funny, weird feeling even with the help that I can bring to the table,
this just might not be it.
But I think you need press.
We don't need sales yet.
Because we don't need to prove to anybody that we can make money,
because we don't have enough scale.
We need users and proof of concept.
Those are the things that a mentor can help you with at this time.
[pensive instrumental music]
I'm going to be the guy that does that for you.
Yay! Awesome! Thank you.
-[Chandra] Yes! -[will.i.am] That's awesome!
[clapping]
Thank you so much! I'm so excited!
-Thank you so much! Thank you. -YouвЂ™re welcome.
-He actually is soft in there somewhere. -[Gary] I have a heart.
[bell rings]
[Zane] After proving to an advisor that their app was worth taking a risk on,
the developers now proceed to an accelerated incubation phase.
Their goal for the next six weeks will be polishing their pitch
before heading to the VC to ask for funding.
If you're going to convince me that this is even a problem
that is not being solved by forums, by DM, by living life, the coffee shop,
having two friends, going to a party, meeting another friend,
text messaging, GroupMe--
There's a million ways--
The world has found friends without you for a long time.
I'm in massive belief that you're in high risk
to not even be in business when this airs.
-Right. -You're a one-woman show.
-Your-Your capital has gotten super tight. -Right.
There's not a lot of people in Silicon Valley and New York
running around easily running checks for early stage.
-Absolutely. -Let alone in Orlando.
So, like, I know what I signed up for, and I can help you.
But you need to be real with me to help you.
[Gary] I took a bet on a jockey.
When you make a bet on the jockey and not the app,
the first thing that usually happens is when you look under the hood,
you don't like what you see.
Watching the process of the journey
and getting to that realization and getting to that practical place?
That's my dream. I love that.
I love getting to that place in a business and an app,
because then you have a chance.
You stay in Dreamville,
you're always going to lose.
I reached out to my friend Sean,
who is the chairman of Tinder.
Then I was going to go to lunch with him and catch up.
I think it might make sense
for you to maybe just join us and just, like--
-That would be awesome. -You know-- Would that be fine?
That would be great, yeah.
[Zane] Elle arrives to The Honest Company, where Jessica and Sophia Rossi,
co-founder and CEO of HelloGiggles,
meet to discuss Mend's branding strategy.
[Elle] So, this is, like, a very stripped-down view.
-This feels like a very techy site, right? -[Sophia] Yeah.
And that's because, I mean, I come from that world,
but I know that there's so much potential to, like, really lighten this up.
So the really exciting part is that I feel like,
for the first time since starting Mend,
I have a chance to kind of step back
and think about the brand and the identity and the messaging.
What is the Mend brand?
What do we stand for and what do we believe in?
And so that's what I'm really excited to talk to you guys about.
We were as basic as, like, we made vision boards.
And my vision board for HelloGiggles is literally magazine scraps.
It's in my office.
And it looks like my office now. The bookshelves--
I was just, like, "This is cute! Like, I like this vibe. It's minimalist."
-I do vision boards, too. -[Sophia] Yeah!
-So maybe I need to do a vision board. -[Sophia] Because it gives, like, a--
-Do a Pinterest board. -Okay.
I think as much as you can describe your language of the site.
The framework, the aesthetic that you like will drive that.
You already have such good style.
I feel like Elle has an opportunity
to do something really interesting and as therapy
in a space for people
to get that custom experience that they want.
She just has to really figure out how to build a brand.
We had someone in-house design a whole brand design
to create kind of, like, three or four different...
-Versions? -Versions.
And we went onto Third Street Promenade and we polled random people.
-What does your audience say? -Right. What do they like?
-And let them tell you. -Right.
Speaking with her and Sophia was a really good reminder
that the brand and the story is so important.
But I am definitely feeling unbelievably nervous,
because I don't have a lot of time
to really think about design before this pitch.
You have a vision, right? So I want to hear what that vision is.
Because what's in the app right now,
I can give you a million reasons
and little itty bitty things that I would do different.
But that doesn't matter.
Friendish should be the next big, you know, friending app,
and I think that we really want to serve
a different group of people that are not being served.
When I look at the marketing even for Tinder and for Bumble, it's like--
It looks beautiful, but it's like,
there are a lot of people that aren't 23 and in college
and, like, on some great excursion that are white and beautiful.
They need friends. Seriously. Real talk.
And I think that now we are in a moment
where people want to see themselves represented in media, represented in apps,
anything that they use.
So we want to be that next big, diverse, amazing friending app, and--
It's like the party you happen upon.
And you're, like, "Oh, my God. How long has this party been going on?
It's so much fun. I have to bring all my friends and come back."
For you to break out, I think you need to build something
that is ten times better than the alternative. Right?
Tinder was light years better than the other modes of meeting.
People probably-- I would even argue better than the real world.
Because the real world had so much anxiety.
I was constantly getting rejected.
I was shy. I didn't want to walk up to people.
The question you have to ask yourself is--
You're saying the execution has to be remarkable.
-Remarkable. Look-- -Compared to solidly.
Him and I have been super successful over the last ten years in this world.
It's harder now.
The swipe for Sean Rad that he had
or the news feed that Facebook had--
These features come along once in a while that change everything.
She's looking for this genie in the bottle,
and hopefully she can make her app stronger, deeper and grow for the future.
So it was really great to get to meet Sean Rad from Tinder.
Obviously, Tinder has been super successful
in capturing the market that we hope to be able to also capture.
We really are trying to rethink our entire platform,
and this is definitely going to be a pivot for us.
I don't know if it's a pivot conceptually.
I don't know if it's a design pivot.
I don't know if it's a little bit of both.
But we're certainly facing a crossroads.
Naturally, being the CEO of Friendish
and being the person in charge, it all falls on me.
[Zane] Having taken Jessica's advice, Elle returns to The Honest Company,
where she conducts a focus group
to get feedback on her three brand identity concepts.
Hi, guys. I'm Elle, the founder of Mend.
And my app is a personal trainer for heartbreak.
I am feeling nervous.
But I'm really excited to just get feedback
and see what they have to say about Mend.
I'd love to start with design one.
So we're calling that "To mend is to transform."
-Yeah. -I like the whole transform aspect of it.
'Cause it's like turning a new leaf, on to the next.
Like moving forward. So I like that.
What's interesting about that one
is the language is "To mend is to transform."
But then also, if you actually look at the design,
it's one color turning into another color.
And then the heart has two different halves.
So it's all about transformation.
The second design is "Time to move on."
So this is, like, our playful, cheeky design.
To be honest, it kind of reminded me of Midol.
I don't know. It's just, like, that color scheme.
It's so interesting how we associate colors with brands, right?
Like, red and white is Coca-Cola.
Teal is Honest.
Uh-- Pink for you is Midol.
Like, we all have these associations, right?
And so we're thinking through all of that
when we're designing these things.
How does the third design make you guys feel?
[woman 1] Yeah, my first thought was clinical.
-[woman 2] Yeah. -[Elle] Yeah.
[woman 3] We kind of thought that it looked like
a CVS Pharmacy bag.
-[Elle] Okay. -You know?
[Elle] Okay.
I feel like it's a very fair point.
Red is very medical.
Any other thoughts on design three?
[man] That line "Let's mend"
and "Whole heart" make me feel like
the app is here to support me.
-[Elle] Yeah. -But also... I'm not on my own.
[Elle] Cool.
All right. So...
Now we're going to vote,
and I'd love for you guys to pick your favorite design out of the three.
I think, as any entrepreneur, you're sensitive about what you've built.
But you do always have to stay true to what you know
based on your users.
What was really interesting about the focus group
is that they all kind of gravitated towards direction one.
-This part. -[Jessica] Okay.
Is it close to another design?
It was pretty much a landslide.
Okay. So that's the one you've got to go with.
I think it was, like, over 75% of people chose direction one.
Great.
But what's interesting is that the direction three,
"Whole hearts for everyone," really is our mission statement.
-Okay. -But the question is, like,
is that our brand?
You have two very specific concepts.
[Elle] Right. And I really liked both of them.
-Yeah. I mean, they're both legit. -Yeah.
[Jessica] Elle has that magic.
I think she doesn't trust her swagger yet.
And when she does,
she's going to, like, be a friggin' powerhouse.
Went back to Florida, after you gave us this feedback.
Started reading some psychology
on how human beings make friends as adults.
And apparently the second stage of establishing relationships
is sharing confidential information.
So went back, incorporated this idea of secrets,
so that users can share secrets and swipe on secrets
as this kind of sticky mechanism to see if people really enjoy doing that.
[Chandra] I have been working very, very hard.
[sniffles]
It's just-- It's just stressful. Um--
[Chandra] Just very emotional. So...
Yeah. I don't know what's going to happen,
but I know I have to recalibrate and get ready either way.
Everyone that I'm talking to thinks that we're totally insane
trying to do all this brand stuff in such a short amount of time.
More professional, more bold, cleaner.
We have completely rebranded and redesigned
the user experience of Mend.
But do I have enough time to test the product?
Uh-- I donвЂ™t know.
[Zane] After six weeks of intense incubation,
Friendish and Mend head to one of the world's premier venture capital firms,
Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Lightspeed was the first investor in Snapchat,
and currently has over four billion dollars under management.
[woman] Okay, I'm just going to move you guys right here.
3 seconds, 2, 1, action.
[tense, pulsing music]
-[Aaron] Hello. -[Alex] Hello.
Hi. How are you?
-[Jeremy] Hi, there. -[Nicole] Hello.
I am so excited to stand next to Elle Huerta.
She is an incredible entrepreneur.
She has the brains, she is a developer,
an engineer, and she's a marketer.
And she understands business acumen.
She is the entire package.
So I'm excited for you guys to see her presentation.
As Jessica said, my name is Elle,
and I'm the chief mender of broken hearts
and founder at Mend.
My app is a personal trainer for heartbreak.
Our mission, quite simply, is "Whole hearts for everyone."
And I'm raising a million dollars
to continue product development and to test marketing.
This is what really works, according to research and science.
And I put this long list in front of you because the reality is
there are a lot of studies and research articles that we know, um--
There are certain solutions of heartbreak that work better than others.
So what I know to be true is that people want a program,
and they want something that's personalized to them.
And that is why I developed a personal trainer for heartbreak.
So this was our MVP we launched to users,
and we were answering key questions around
what is the best user experience. Um--
-And-- -There are no numbers on this chart.
And so January MAU was roughly how many?
January MAU is about 3,000.
So the subscriber activity is on the chart there.
75% retention after three months on a subscription.
-So those are paying subscribers. -Correct.
So that's about a nine percent per month churn.
How would you contextualize that nine percent?
Is that good? Is that bad?
-I think we could do better. -Uh-huh.
The retention numbers here I take with a grain of salt
because when we launched, we only launched with the Heartbreak Plan.
So, we donвЂ™t have it broken down perfectly.
We used free tracking for our MVP,
and we weren't able to separate out subscribers from free users.
This is not hard to work out.
You've got how many installs since the beginning of time?
We've had a little over 6,000.
6,000. And you've had what sort of conversion rate?
It depends widely, but probably around seven percent.
Seven percent. So 6,000 times seven percent
means there's 400 people who've ever paid you.
Yeah.
And you could put them in an Excel spreadsheet,
and you could literally see which months they paid you,
and you could calculate your paid churn.
But what I am able to see, which I think is helpful to know,
is our stickiness.
And our stickiness for four out of seven days' usage is over 50%.
So for people who are actually subscribers, paying subscribers,
what is their monthly churn?
So I actually have a graph where I can look at monthly churn.
That would be great.
These numbers may look low to you, but if you look at our conversion rate,
these numbers are not low.
Our conversion rate--
We've tested a lot of different variations,
and what we've found is
that the more personalized the training program is--
And we learned that one of the most important metrics
to divide people up is breakup reason.
The more personalized, the higher the conversion rate.
What's the average period that a user will use the app for?
Uh, we ask upon onboarding.
We ask when the breakup happened
and the last time you saw your ex.
One thing that really surprised us
is that the average time since breakup is over 200 days.
And we're seeing people that are using the app, um,
up to two years after a relationship ends.
Okay, but the average is 200 days,
so you expect people to stop using the app
after the personal training session finishes 200 days later.
My heart is mended. Do I stop using the app?
Exactly. And so what we've found is that people kept using the app.
So, while we initially launched as a personal trainer for heartbreak,
what we realized is that
people really wanted a personal trainer for their love life.
For us, heartbreak is sort of the way in.
That's how people meet us.
But they continue using the app because they like the way that it's structured.
As a team at Lightspeed, we often talk about what are the inflection points
when a habit starts to be formed.
So, moving house or having a child.
So you're saying that one of those inflection points
when a new habit is formed here could be breaking up.
There are a million ways to break your heart is what weвЂ™ve learned.
We have people of all ages, all genders.
We have people from over 160 countries using the app right now.
I'm curious to know how your users, uh, grok the benefits of Mend.
-For measuring their success. -Sure.
So, one of the ways that we measure it
is by looking at how your breakup is interfering with your daily life.
And so we capture that when you first onboard into the app,
on a scale of zero to ten.
And then we continue to capture that on a daily basis,
so that you can see your progress over time.
It's self-reported.
-[Alex] It's self-reported. -Self-reported.
I went into this pretty negative.
I thought that an app for heartbreak--
This has a limited life and a limited customer offering here.
But then listening to some of the data,
five to 12% subscription rate,
that made me think that actually this could be something that people love.
And talking about love, I donвЂ™t think this is a heartbreak personal trainer.
This could be a love personal trainer.
And that could potentially have a much bigger market size.
Finding a wedge into the market is always, like, really difficult.
And the breakup wedge is one that I don't think has been exploited.
And there's a bunch of really great mindfulness apps out there
that have built large businesses.
Could this be a way to get into that market?
As to the point of this discussion, we just donвЂ™t know if it's working.
So, Elle, how much have you raised so far?
So, I raised 150,000 when I got into my incubator, MuckerLab.
And then I raised 650,000 on a SAFE.
-When did you raise that 650,000? -That was in November.
So it's just 60 days ago.
-Correct. -And what were the terms?
So the terms were 650,000 on a SAFE
with a 5.5 valuation cap and a 20% discount.
So given the fact that was just 60 days ago,
what we would like to offer you is $200,000,
and we'll do it on the same terms as that note.
How does that sound?
Wow.
[pensive instrumental music]
I would love to accept the offer.
So, thank you guys so much.
-Elle, we're so excited to work with you. -[Elle] Thank you.
-[Nicole] Congratulations! -Thank you!
-[Elle] Thank you! -[Jessica] That's awesome!
[Elle] For Mend, this investment means that we now get to work with Lightspeed.
So every additional investor that we bring on,
we think about very carefully.
And Lightspeed is an incredible firm.
-Thank you so much. -Thanks so much.
-[Nicole] Bye, Jessica. -[Alex] We'll see you soon.
So, right now I'm feeling grateful
and very excited.
Oh!
I'm just excited to get back to my team and celebrate with them.
Are you kidding me?
-Oh, my God! -Yeah!
[tense, pulsing music]
-[Chandra] Hi. -[Alex] Hey.
-[Chandra] Hey. How are you? -[Gary] Hey, guys.
[Aaron] Hello.
Guys, this is Chandra, and she's with Friendish.
In my career, and probably yours as well,
sometimes you bet on the horse, sometimes you bet on the jockey.
This was a very special moment for me when I got to sit in these seats,
so I'm excited for you as well.
Friendish is an app that helps people make friends
based on shared interests.
We're raising 500K. We've not had any outside funding to date.
So before we dive into the app,
I'd like to tell you a little bit more about myself and how I ended up here.
2009, my best friend and I decided to book one-way flights to Berlin,
where I thought I'd stay for the summer.
Ended up staying there for four years.
So I moved back to Daytona in 2013,
and right away I felt this absence
of this really incredible friend group that I had built in Berlin.
So I did what I think a lot of people my age do or have done,
is I started using dating apps.
And not because I wanted so many dates, but really in my mind, it was just
-the easiest way to access... -[all laughing]
...the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time.
-Just on that point-- -Yeah.
I think that some people, when they do move to a city,
do use lots of dating apps.
-Absolutely. -And then get friends from it.
I think we can all agree
that friendship is really the foundation of solid relationships.
But do you think we need a separate app for that?
I do. I really do.
And so this is kind of the friendship chart that I came up with
after reading about how we as people really make friends.
Right now, Friendish is just addressing shared interests.
But in the long term, as we grow and build out our application,
we can now use the secrets features as well.
So that was what led us to our most current version of our MVP, which is here.
Conceptually, we all get how Friendish works, right?
You log in, you pick some categories,
swipe on interests that are relevant to those categories,
and find friends that have 50% or more interests in common with you.
Now, so I'm from Orlando--
Not really the best-known tech place in the world,
but Orlando's really interesting as a city.
We've got tons of people coming in, going to the attractions.
UCF has more than 60,000 students.
Focus on Aaron. He built a really big company in Washington, DC
when that was crazy.
It's hard, but it's possible.
I'm learning that. It is super hard.
He hired everybody from Washington, DC.
Everyone and their sister. And their brother.
Well, I hope to do that in Orlando. That would be awesome for us.
Um, but we really want to take a hyper-local approach
to grassroots marketing,
to really start to build out some buzz in Orlando and Central Florida
about how cool Friendish is.
Now for us, because we have our users
telling us right away in real time their likes and dislikes,
it makes perfect sense to show them ads of things around them
that are relevant to their interests.
So that's the most obvious way for us to monetize our platform.
I also have a really, really key concern here.
-Sure. -Which is--
If Friendish works, and if you are successful,
then people will find friends through your app,
-and they will stop using it. -Right.
So your very success leads to people no longer using the app.
It's a valid point, and I think for us,
thatвЂ™s why our target demographic at this point
is really people in transition.
Move somewhere, I completely agree with you.
That is a key use case.
So I move to a new city, I want to find friends.
-Absolutely. -But then I find my friends,
and I stop using the app.
So then what?
Absolutely. We have to figure that out.
For us, we really, really would love to create content
that's very specific to our industry,
that come exclusively through a Friendish channel.
What happens next is what you guys know as well,
which is first you help people make better pictures through their phone,
'cause you've given them filters,
and then you become the biggest social network in the game.
Right? I mean, the reality is-- I think there's a valid point.
If you're able to-- If this problem is able to be solved,
it becomes a big opportunity, and then how you layer on top of it,
whether they're gone forever or what it evolves into
or does it become the incumbent that plays within the dating space
becomes a interesting variable.
And we've see time and time and time again people take a run at real life friends
and, like, no one's been successful.
-Yet. -No. Well, you know--
Like, in the Middle Ages, they used to draw these maps of the world.
I'm excited right now. Keep going.
And, like, there would be some coastlines that were kind of sketched out.
You see them, right? And it sort of looks
kind of like what you think Europe should look like.
And then there'd be these big, blank sections
and they'd just say, "There be dragons." Right?
And those are the bits where the ships went out
and they never came back.
-[Chandra] Right. -And maybe there were dragons there.
But, like, I donвЂ™t want to find out.
Like, all I know is that all the ships that went out there never came back.
And all the ships that went trying to build a find-a-friend thing?
-None of them ever came back. -Right.
This is not a real problem that you can build a business around.
Chandra, I loved your honesty and transparency.
That is great to see in a founder.
But I fundamentally just donвЂ™t like the idea here.
'Cause your very success leads to churn.
Unfortunately, we're going to have to pass on the opportunity to invest.
-Sure. -But we certainly wish you the best
as you throw yourself into this new adventure.
Thank you so much.
And we hope to see you back sometime soon
when things are working, and we'd love to take another look.
Sure. Thank you guys so much for the opportunity.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
[Chandra] As an entrepreneur, I've heard "no" a lot of times.
I'm sure I'm going to hear "no" more times.
And so I didnвЂ™t walk away feeling like I failed.
-Look, I think the best thing is-- -Yeah.
-When you're dealing with reality-- -Sure.
-It's not smart for them. -It's early.
-Exactly. Absolutely.
-They really did appreciate the candor. -Oh, sure.
And that gives you another at-bat.
-Yeah. Absolutely. -I think thatвЂ™s all we can do.
-Yeah, so, thank you so much. -I love you.
-Thank you for the help. -I'm so proud of you.
Thank you. I'm proud of me, too.
[Zane] You've heard Elle's story.
Now's your chance to get the Mend app.
You can also download Friendish
and all of the other apps featured in this episode
on the App Store now.