So Sergio, you and I have had some great conversations running up to this discussion we're going to have. And I'm super fascinated with one, everyone I know who's in the dating scene complains about how terrible it is, how terrible the apps are, just the experience is bad. And then you have on the other side, I feel like because of a lot of dating apps, there's so many choices that people never want to settle down. So it almost seems like it's not really creating a good environment for the dating scene. You though, having a sports background are bringing that with date draft, what may as you say, I'm going to take this background and I'm going to move into the dating app scene. Thanks for having me on Daniel. First and foremost, when it comes to dating scene, I've been on a few dating apps myself. And what I realized and stuff is like, you know, the users don't really get a chance to interact with each other. Not unless in today match, then you got a chat, then see how that goes. So what I did is I developed a day draft and I kind of approached it from like, you know, I'm big into the sports, especially NFL. And I was just looking at like, you know, when you're dating somebody or when you go today, somebody or you're searching for somebody, it's like you're drafting them. So I just kind of use that concept and use that concept throughout the whole app. It's like, you know, you, you drop somebody that can end up in certain rounds and certain rounds could actually correlate with the different value of high value parts and whatever it is to be. So I actually came up with an algorithm so that when the members sign up, depending on what they choose for their entries, education, and so on, I thought they end up in different rounds. And I figured that I'd be one of the best ways out the match people because they have that similarity of like interest in education stuff and things of that matter. Yeah, with the day draft, basically, it's just, it opens up the door for a little bit more fun because we have something that's called a trade room. Yeah, so tell me about this trade room. I mean, it's very interesting mixing the sports draft system into the dating road. I almost think like why did somebody else not think about this before, but yeah, tell me about that. Yeah, well, you know, well, you know, pretty fortunate to actually come up with the idea, but like once again, in relation to sports, even after, you know, a team draft for player, whatever kids be, they end up trading them because that person doesn't actually fit the bill or what they're looking for. And it's the same concept with dating and so for, you know, we created this this this trade room and basically how the trade room works of somebody goes to you. Like, let's say you match with somebody you start chatting, everything going good for, you know, good few weeks, whatever kids being all sitting this person goes you. Well, if this person goes you, you could actually place them in the trade room. And how that works is like, if I'm on the app and you're on the app and we're permission to the same area. And, you know, I'm looking to meet somebody and I'm tired of swiping. I'm tired of exploring, you know, and I just want to see, you know, what else is out there. I can actually go into the trade room. And I can select you to trade if you accept to trade with me. I get to see everybody that you match with, especially ones that you want to trade. I'm fascinated by this. What was the aha moment for you where you're like, okay, this is really going to work. Like, did you test this out? Did you test it out yourself? Did you get 30 people? What was your your beginning marketing strategy that that really helped you create this aha moment that this is something that needs to be added. Well, I mean, just conversating with people, especially like when I was on some of the other dating apps and stuff, you know, before I created day draft. Just talking to people and realizing there's some of the issues that they were going through. So it's like, you know, it's pretty much like a one shot time for everybody after you match with somebody and then you have to start a process all over again, well with the trade room. It's kind of like a matchmaker in a sense. You know, for the people that you could select or then you could pick in a trade room, they've already matched with somebody else. So, number one, you know, they're a real person. So you don't have to worry about that because somebody else already matched with them and had a conversation with them. But I mean, it's just another way to be able to interact with each other on a dating app. Beside just, you know, just matching and chatting. I know a lot of people want to create an app and I've heard that zero to 100 or zero to a thousand users is one of the hardest moments in the in the sphere of of marketing for apps. It's really getting that beginning validation. What was the strategy for you that worked in the beginning? Oh, you tell my ass and like, you know, populate in the app with our marketing strategy. Well, I mean, basically how I looked at it was like, you know, we just pretty much had to exploit some of our features that, you know, made us different from the other apps. The different rounds that members actually get into when you first sign up. That's one. Changing the whole psychology of it by seeing instead of matching your drafting each other or scouting. They actually search for somebody. But the whole idea of the trade room is just something I just came up with. I was, you know, it was like, you know, during the draft season, the NFL. It just popped in my head like, you know, we're out here drafting people to date. That's basically what we're doing. We're scouting. And it's like, you know, eventually, you know, that relationship might that connection might work out and it might not. But it's like, what do you do? Outdoors, you know, a lot of people get burned out on the day in the outs of going through the same routine. So that's why we came up with the trade room. And so if where you could actually go in and like, you know, become it's kind of like for the person that's actually trading at a person. It's kind of like they're playing matchmaker. When you think about just marketing the app overall, not just the trade room part. What was something that's worked for you to really get the word out to gain more users and stuff for just for the app overall. Well, I mean, one of the key points that we use for marketing, advertising stuff is it's more of a new social experience. So it's a little bit of social added in the neighborhood that trade room. You know, but it's just a little bit different concept with the whole idea of of, you know, giving your users more of a gaming type ideal of dating instead of just being plain old born dating. So is that how you would differentiate yourself between like the swiping? Because I guess the swiping was maybe the first gamification, right? That I guess I did gamify. And then you think that people are on to the next level gamification because they're kind of burnt out from that action. And now they're looking for something that is more interactive. Is that is that how you see apps in general moving forward is they need to be more gamified and more interactive? Yes, I do. I do think that especially when it comes to dating, it needs to be more of a game like environment. To just to be able to add some fun. I mean, some people they look at dating is very frustrating or very taxing. You know, I mean, every time you meet somebody new is a it's the same old, you know, where you're from, you know, and the whole array of different, like question. So go along with dating. But you know, I mean, don't get me wrong. We got this white on our platform as well. I mean, it's a great concept. It's an easy way for them to actually, you know, see the different people or the different members on the app. But at the same time, it's like, you know, what else can we do to make a little bit more innovative to like entice people to want to date more? So, you know, that's why I came up with the whole concept of the trade room. I mean, some of the publications that we've featured in, some of the editors actually called it like the fancy football of dating. I had no idea what that came from, but it, you know, sounds good. But yeah, it's a very unique concept. And, you know, we test it out and it's actually pretty fun. It adds, it adds a little bit more spark to dating because I mean, you can pretty much trade, you know, as much as you want. But, you know, we suggest that you don't. But it's just some fact of matter that, yeah, it's just more interactive. So there you go. You're the fantasy football of dating. Take the tagline, right? Whatever tagline you're given. Oh, yeah. Something that makes you more memorable. What was some of the, what were the users saying or what have they been saying? What have you seen since you started this? Well, we just recently launched. So we haven't gotten that much feedback, but some of the feedback that we have gotten. A lot of members, they are very excited about it. And they really love the trade room. Because it gives them that other option of just sitting there and swiping where they could actually, you know, interact with another member of the dating app. And then, you know, see the top people that they're interested in and see if they could actually match with, you know, one of those other users that they match with. So as we know, we're so globally connected with all social media, internet. How do you look at international expansion? I know you have people that are downloading it in other countries, but how are you looking at this in the future? Well, to be honest, we're just taking it as it comes. You know, we're not trying to be too ambitious. We're just putting this sitting back, seeing how everything flows with a date draft. And then we usually meet and see what, see what steps that we can take to actually enhance the users' experience, not just here in the US, but also overseas. So when you think about, what is it that you want this to be known for in the future? What is it that you hope in a few years from now, people look back and say, date draft is X. Because I think in the past, it was always, you know, like, I met my wife on blank, or I met my partner on blank, right? That was kind of the gauge of the success of many of these apps. But I know generations have changed, right? Like I'm sure the culture dating, the habits are changing. So maybe that's not always the measure of success. But how do you see the measure of success for date draft? Well, you know, we're just hoping in the future that we could, like, you know, start giving us some feedback or like some actual reviews saying, hey, you know, I actually traded up for my wife. You know, you know, I met this one person, then it worked out. So I sure traded up and that's how I met my wife or that's how I met my husband. You know, but yeah, but I mean, basically, you know, everybody that has an app that comes out, they want to be a panic or whatever. You know, understand the giants out there, tender, bumble, hedge, and you know, plenty of fish and a few others and stuff. Yeah, if we could actually step on the front porch with those big dogs and compete with them, that's fine. I just would like for a date, John, to be known for, you know, actually change in the way that we date online by introducing the trade room. So if you change the way people date, what do you hope that that will accomplish? Do you feel that just whatever is out there right now, just people are not making the right connections or like, why, what is the biggest problem that you feel like you are seeing? Or even just the problem you hope to change? Well, we just hope in the curve ghosting a little bit more and actually and actually helping people create a more of a real connection. That's one of the positive features about the trade room. It's like, you know, you get to play matchmaker with other members and, you know, things of that nature. I mean, that's basically what we're looking to change and introduce that. We have other innovative features involving the trade room, and stuff that we're going to be launching as the app continues to grow. Probably later on this year, we're going to be introducing one of the other features, which is actually going to be more of a live trade. Kind of like, you know, when you watch the NFL draft or whatever it is, maybe. Yeah, it's, yeah, we're, we're, we got some pretty wild imaginations over here. And we're looking forward to implementing on the app later on this year. We were talking earlier about like the Super Bowl and other games that people bet on. Maybe in the future, there might be this predictive market around betting on who's going to continue dating. That would be quite hilarious. Like, who do you think is going to continue to date on these apps? When you look at the challenges that we face as founders, what is something that a lesson that you've learned so far creating this? Well, I'll tell you what's an ongoing learning process is understanding the actual, the, the members that are actually going to be signing up. I mean, dating is a, is a whole psychological thing anyway. And, you know, by actually offering a service for them to do dating, whatever kids we have to have some kind of psychological understanding. Exactly, you know, how they would respond or whatever. I mean, it's, it's kind of borderline because like when we're, when we, when our first came up with the, the trade room and talking to some of my developers, shout out to Muhammad, Hans, got to give him a shout out. He helped with the development of the trade room. We, we had this one concept that, you know, before you actually select somebody that you want to match with through the trade room, that the person actually leave like a comment about this person, what I, I don't want to do that. That's borderline. Like, defamation that could come back if somebody says something wrong about or something, something the laboratory about another person that they already match with. We just kind of left that out of it and just, you know, just like regular match and man, you got to kind of figure out, you know, by yourself on if this person's going to be a match for you, not for compatible with you. A lot of, I mean, the whole dating, the science, the psychology, it's, it's very fascinating. That's why I enjoy watching shows like love is blind or love island, like all these shows, it's very, you know, they always say it's like, a social experiment. I find it very fascinating to study human behavior and why people do what they do. But if people want to get in touch with you, they want to, they want to download the app, how can they do so? Oh, yeah, they can download. It's available on a Google Play and on Apple, do the app store. So it's available on both platforms. And yeah, if they want to get in touch with if anybody in my company or organization stuff, they could definitely go to the website, daydraft.com. The fact that you could get that website's amazing. I mean, that's a really good URL, but Sergio Jow's date draft. I enjoyed the conversation today. I can't wait to hear what data, what information, what you find out in the next few years around how the changes are with dating it. And how this app and what you're doing will completely maybe it'll change the way society looks at things just as like you said, Bumble and Tinder have done as well. But thank you so much for joining us today. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your time, man. And yeah, we could get some people to join the draft. If you liked the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.
