Pregame Your Launch Before Your App Exists (w/ Amanda Bradford) | E2355
This Week In Startups is made possible by: Odoo: https://odoo.com/twist G2i: https://g2i.co/twist Rippling: https://rippling.ai/twist Plaud: https://plaud.ai/twist Today’s show: Amanda Bradford’s “launch party” for her dating app The League actually extended for months. She “pre-gamed” the app’s formal launch with months of mixers, boat parties, and free events, where the only ticket required for admission was having the app on your phone. By launch day, she had a massive wait list, and still just let in 500 people, who ensure maximum buzz (and FOMO). At LAUNCH’s first-ever Tactical & Practical live event from San Francisco, Amanda walks the crowd through how she built a vetted, two-sided dating marketplace as a solo founder, eventually getting prominent enough to attract the attention of Match Group. (She sold The League for ~$30 million in 2020.) Hear exclusive tips you won’t get anywhere else, like how Amanda used a “fake paywall” to gauge willingness to pay for subscriptions, and how to time your rate of expansion into new markets. Plus, an all-new Flashback segment, featuring Alex and Lon looking back at a classic 2017 interview between Jason and Stripe’s Patrick Collison. Guests Amanda Bradford on X: https://x.com/amandabradford Book a Call with Amanda: https://intro.co/amandabradford The League: https://www.theleague.com/ Patrick Collison on X: https://x.com/patrickc?lang=en Stripe: https://stripe.com/ Relevant Links: The League was called "elitist." Its founder says that was never the case (CNBC): https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/20/founder-of-the-league-on-dating-ambition-and-that-viral-ad-campaign.html Alex Wilhelm’s Cautious Optimism: https://www.cautiousoptimism.news/ TWiST E723: Patrick Collison (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-NepiMQGvY Timestamps: 0:00 Amanda Bradford on building The League 4:30 Hand-reviewing early applications 6:40 Building an MVP with a rented co-founder 8:56 The VIP approach 13:10 Why Amanda only let in 500 people 15:44 The “Heavy Hitter” fake paywall test 16:44 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://odoo.com/twist 17:46 Why live events are the real unlock 21:35 Controversy as a hook 24:22 Flashback to Patrick Collison in 2017 25:13 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at https://plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off! 28:13 Stripe: Then vs. Now 30:53 G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to https://g2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks. 32:17 Why did PayPal stay PayPal? 37:50 Problem, not a product 44:33 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. 45:46 The outage nobody noticed 51:00 Why persistence beats pivoting 52:13 What’s left before a Stripe IPO? Subscribe to our newsletters on Substack: TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/ TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/ TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/ Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp Follow Lon: X: https://x.com/lons Follow Jason: X: https://twitter.com/Jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis Thank you to our partners: Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at https://Odoo.com/twist G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to G2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks. Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to https://Rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business. Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, m