The Dating App Renaissance
Is the bubble about to burst?
Hello hot people- if you are receiving this, it is because you signed up for/attended a Drinks First event. If you’re lucky, I send this out once a month (it’s been less recently)… Give me a chance before you choose to unsubscribe, and if you do- I’d love to know why you hate me and want to see me fail xx <3 p.s. you can pay to subscribe xx
CONTENTS:
Monthly Musings
Drinks First Recap
Upcoming Happenings
Behind the paywall:
Rapid Fire Recommendations
Monthly Musings
I am adding this section to the newsletter to wax poetic for a second- if you don’t care, feel free to scroll down.
As we roll into the end of Q1- I can’t help but notice how many new dating apps have suddenly appeared. I know I am in the center of this universe, and it is my job to have a pulse on what is going on, so I might as well tell you.
These are new apps I’ve seen come up in the last 3 months. There are more, I know. I will be censoring their names bc hello??? no free promo… If you do want to pay me tho, you know where to find me :)
Let me break it down by theme:
MUTUAL FRIEND DATING- Im sorry duh- everyone wants to meet this way… this is how hinge started lol shocking that 10 years later we have circled back… also not a super scalable business model imo:
C***a - mutual friend dating. need 100 mutuals to get on. backed by a NYC nightlife impressario.
S**f - grindr like interface. can filter/sort by mutual friends + proximity.
L**t F***d - proximity dating. will tell you if you’ve been nearby someone of interest.
F****d of a F****d - same thing…
F***s of F***s - once again, similar name as the above just started by college students.
Some market research would be sooooo great imo… (ok yeah I’m kinda being a bitch but this is my substack let me be)
ACTION ORIENTED DATING- yes everyone is tired of the unlimited chatting, let’s just go on a date. Setup, Bounce, First Rounds On Me all come to mind as predecessors to any of these:
C*****e - swipe on dates, not people…
M****e - dating through restaurant reservations. post a link and let people request to come. application only.
L***a - also swipe on dates… not people lol
B****e - spending sm money on paid media, swipe on people with no chat. they set up the date.
MATCHMAKING- AI has arrived, how do we start using data for the good of our romantic lives? The gold rush begins:
L**a - AI matchmaking. Targeted the tech crowd atm.
B***h - raya + any ai matchmaking app had a baby. Targeting influencers. Had a launch party in nyc on Vday and was apparently all women.
Sitch - (omg not censored GASP well… because they paid us) Jk, but not really… Sitch is an AI matchmaking / dating concierge app. It is founded by Dini, a matchmaker, former founder of Setup, and GSB grad and Chad, a former snapchat exec.
Almost every single one of these new dating apps have reached out to us but I have been *incredibly* picky on who I say yes to.
Drinks First has been built on an ethos of using technology and media to enhance the way we meet, and I truly felt like Sitch is trying to do that. You onboard with their AI matchmaker that makes a fairly accurate profile for you, and when they find you a match they’ll present it to you. You pay for set ups, not monthly, so it is success based. As any LLM, it will get to know your preferences with time.
Is the product perfect, not yet. Is it better than everything else I’ve seen so far, yes.
As someone who used to work in tech (I was a digital product designer) - how an app functions and looks is so important. I am truly in awe that some of the aforementioned apps chose to launch looking the way they did… lol no tea no shade…
I agreed to work with Sitch for Valentine’s Day because I felt they offered us something the others were not- bolstering our already thriving in person community. You can use our referral code “DRINKSFIRST” to get expedited review and match with other people in our community.
Yeah, exactly that, you can match with people who ALSO go to Drinks First things. For Valentine’s Day we played around with Missed Connections, and after the event people who joined Sitch were matched with their most compatible from the event. I thought that was cool.
Like any dating app, the product and design are one thing, the people on it are another. Your app is only as good as your community (use case: Raya for the (used to be) exclusive crowd and Hinge for the catch all). That is why so many of these apps have reached out to me- YOU GUYS are their ideal customer. Trust me, I know this, which is why I am fiercely protective of the Drinks First community and truly believe in working with brands that add and not detract.
I am bullish on the fact that in person meeting will always be a desire, no matter the advances in our technology. So we will continue to bring you those experiences.
VDAY RECAP
Since we’re here though- let’s talk about Valentine’s Day…
We collaborated with Relly and Bodega Flowers Seltzer Water for two events- a free nightlife blow out at the insanely cool Laissez Faire and a black tie cocktail party at Bazaar Bar at The Ritz Carlton New York, NoMad.
Laissez was packed with NYC’s hottest people truly… Not to mention G-Eazy and Skizzy Mars showed up. Dilly and Samantha Michelle DJ’d and there was even a pole dancer. Sorry if you missed it…
And then Sitch got involved for our actual Valentine’s Day soiree at The Ritz. They just relaunched the gorgeous lobby bar that is also affiliated with Bazaar by Jose Andres. We closed the bar just to the lucky 80 singles who got chosen out of hundred of applications.
Complete with a martini cart, live music, goodies from Foria Wellness and Alice Mushrooms- it was a night you couldn’t forget.
And then we did a super secret Afters with our friends at Shabbat Club at one of our fav secret lil venues- Alice. Both Morgan and I decided to combine our events for a room of some of the most eligible, h*rniest lol, singles in nyc.
Anyway- it was a whirlwind of a week. So many people came out of it with dates, new friends, and steamy makeouts. And that is what Drinks First is about. Thanks for coming to our super bowl.
so… what’s next?
Upcoming Fun
I haven’t officially launched it yet but save the date for March 21st, we’re doing something BIG and FREE…
TBA, stay tuned on IG. This one is really for the boyz.
The Podcast
I kinda hard launched without much warning, sryzzz for that! Drinks First season 5 is BACK and this time with video. We are now using substack as our host, so every Tuesday morning when the episodes come out- if you are subscribed to our substack you will be notified. You can listen to the audio on substack or anywhere you listen to podcasts!
We’ve been posting teasers on our ig and the full videos are on our new YOUTUBE channel *wooooahhh*
we officially have 10 subscribers, I’m geeked. go follow us there pls too :)
anyway this has casually taken like months of my life to do so any support is appreciated <3 and if this fails I may have to like, go back to a 9-5, so yeah…
Since we are gaining paid followers on substack, like any smart business woman, I will be gatekeeping the best parts of the newsletter :3 heheheeh
starting with my recommendations, find them behind the paywall.
for the rest of you freeloaders, till next time xx
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