CEO Amanda Bradford Shares How They Raised $2.8M in Funding for Exclusive Dating App The League
CEO Amanda Bradford Shares How They Raised $2.8M in Funding for Exclusive Dating App The LeagueCEO Amanda Bradford Shares How They Raised $2.8M in Funding for Exclusive Dating App The League
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Hey everyone! Today I share the mic with Amanda Bradford, CEO of The League, a dating app for aspiring power couples.
Tune in to hear Amanda share why her dating app for intellectuals has a 500K wait list and how it’s converting in high volumes, the effects of monetizing the app for both men and women (especially in regards to user habits), and the value of finding the right people to ramp up your company’s growth.
01:34 – Based in Austin, they are opening offices in Dallas and Houston; The League was recently launched in Miami, Atlanta and Philly
01:48 – Looking to expand their dating app to LA, San Francisco and New York
02:25 – Finding your perfect match
02:25 – Users are required to put in their Facebook accounts as well as their LinkedIn which results in a more curated environment
03:00 – Users are matched by considering a variety of factors such as earnings, educational institutions, fields and social graphs
03:31 – It aims to curate users that are ambitious, intellectual and looking for a relationship
03:40 – Just started generating revenue by offering paid memberships
04:04 – The waitlist for The League has ballooned to over 500,000
04:56 – Does not compete with Raya, a dating app targeting wannabe celebrities; at The League, they are targeting more professionally oriented people
05:23 – Appeals to intellectuals such as writers, bankers and journalists
05:54 – Matchmaking: an outdated concept
05:54 – Not uncommon for matchmakers to charge as much as $60,000
06:18 – Matchmaking is an ancient concept and dating apps will replace them over time
07:58 – With the emergence of smartphones and improving technology, people can select their date from a wider pool; chances of finding a good match increases
09:10 – The League wants to be known as a dating app and not as a marriage platform
09:29 – Sends congratulatory gifts on the birthday of league babies
09:44 – Folks in their early 20’s are just looking to date and figure out what they want
10:02 – In spite of giving only 3 to 5 matches, conversion rate is really high
11:10 – Analyzing membership structure and revenues at The League
11:10 – It monetizes impatient people who value their time and are actively looking for a perfect match
12:02 – Annual membership is $180 which works out to be $15 per month
12:47 – Unlike other dating websites which try to monetize the men, revenues at “The League” are split equally between men and women
13:02 – User behaviors have improved after switching to a paid model
14:00 – Marketing strategy
14:00 – Relies on referrals for marketing
14:16 – Uses Hustle Con as a platform to meet potential users and spread the word before launching the app
15:12 – Raised $2.8 million so far
15:18 – A successful match leads to two people leaving and many more joining the app
16:18 – In spite of Tinder being one of the top four Apps used by millennials, fundraising is not easy
17:18 – It’s a lean organization with every person wearing multiple hats
17:31 – They want to use the latest, cutting edge technology to solve people’s problems
19:00 – Aiming to retain non-singles even after they’ve found a match
19:51 – What is the one big struggle you faced while growing “The League”? – Getting the right people on board
21:17 – Entrepreneurs’ Organization managed to increase their revenues from $3 million a year to $22 million a year in a space of just 2 years by hiring great people
21:45 – Monetization has enabled Amanda to hire some great people which has placed The League on the path for fast growth
22:33 – What is one big thing, positive or negative that has impacted your business in a big way in the past one year? – Amanda moved her office to a live/work house and now lives in a studio on the top of her office
25:24 – What’s one new tool that you’ve added in the last year that’s added a lot of value, like Evernote? – Mode Analytics – It is super easy. You can hook it onto any database and put SQL in it
26:39 – What’s one must-read book do you recommend? –Shoe Dog – The story of Phil Knight starting Nike right out of business school
28:20 – Connect with Amanda on her website or Facebook
How Founder Daniel DiPiazza Grew His Business Rich20Something to 7 Figures by Helping Young People Level Up Their Skills
How Founder Daniel DiPiazza Grew His Business Rich20Something to 7 Figures by Helping Young People Level Up Their SkillsHow Founder Daniel DiPiazza Grew His Business Rich20Something to 7 Figures by Helping Young People Level Up Their Skills
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Hey everyone, today I share the mic with Daniel DiPiazza, founder of Rich20Something, a platform that provides the tools and mindset to radically improve your career and life in the 21st century.
Listen as Daniel discusses how his experiences led him to write the book Rich20Something, how Instagram was a huge contributing factor for his success, why he focuses on ROT (return on your 20s), and how he earns most of his revenue from his courses.
01:55 – Rich20 is focused on the return on your 20s
02:15 – The focus is for those in the 10-year period of age 20 – 30
02:35 – If you invest your time in your business, health and mindset during this critical period, you are going to get big rewards in your 30s and beyond that
03:13 – Daniel graduated school early and was faced with two options: more school or go corporate
03:35 – Both things did not appeal to him so he worked at different jobs and found that he had to go through many different resources to figure out what he wanted to do with his time
03:57 – Rich20 was the culmination of what he found out during this period and how to get where he needs to go
04:11 – The company just hit 7 figures in revenue
04:18 – The different components in generating income: creating products, services and courses that teach career-based skills and digital merchandising for influencers
05:24 – Most of the revenue is being driven from the courses
06:07 – Courses sell because they have a relatively low barrier in customer acquisition but to stay in the business, you have to be competitive
06:37 – Daniel is interested in the competitive and the media side of the business
07:09 – Look at the industries that are underserved and you can get a foothold doing online courses in those industries
07:50 – Only 2% are getting through the online courses
08:30 – Daniel says it is less about the content and more about the modality
08:58 – Daniel’s company had to adjust and reposition several times to keep pace with the changing market
09:35 – The company has 250 thousand followers on Instagram
09:45 – Instagram is like 2/3 love and 1/3 hate
10:13 – Daniel caught on the wave where people were just coming to Instagram and was able to find people who would buy his courses
10:53 – The money he earned went to influencers who would talk about his courses
11:11 – Instagram helped their business grow
11:43 – The other side is the perception of the viewer thinking that all they do are fun, leisurely activities when they are actually working really hard
12:17 – Sometimes it can get exhausting because there is a strain being connected to thousands of people and commenting and answering messages
13:04 – Watch the trends in Instagram and post unique content
13:47 – The original videos Daniel post are made using Final Cut Pro
13:59 – He does his own quotes
14:21 – Ride on the trends like live streaming
15:19 – Eric interviewed Nathan Chan in a previous episode and he said his secret was page shouts and Crowd Fire
15:49 – Daniel thinks page shouts are great and are one of the ways they grew the account
16:11 – Within the first year, they hit 100 thousand followers because they had a funnel, invested in it, and it organically grew after that
16:41 – If you don’t have a lot of money to invest, you have to have really unique content because you will be the only source that people will go to
17:14 – Eric has two podcasts: one where he has about a hundred thousand downloads a month and the one with Neil which has about 570 thousand downloads a month where they get two people to talk about marketing for just 5 minutes
18:03 – Jim Kwik has a mini-podcast that he does for just 10-15 minutes
18:27 – Eric says look for your unique spin if you want to make your own podcast
19:36 – To funnel people in Instagram, Daniel posted links to free opt-ins
20:10 – They made landing pages in Click Funnels for the links
20:19 – All are linked to auto-responders
20:30 – The mini-course has lessons and videos and an ability to see the best performing blog posts and lessons
21:26 – After the seven-day free trial, they offer a seven-day sales sequence
22:05 – Personally, Daniel created a lot of content last year: a book with 278 pages, blog posts, and music
23:02 – This year is spent on repurposing, editing, and rearranging of content in order to promote the content
23:52 – His book Rich20Something is half autobiographical and half strategic
24:48 – It frames what worked in their business and in Daniel’s life
25:12 – It shows the highs and lows of Daniel’s journey
25:38 – What’s one book that you’d recommend to everyone? – Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
26:33 – Connect with Daniel at any social media platform by searching @rich20something
26:45 – End of today’s episode
3 Key Points:
Invest in building your channel or create your own unique content.
Look for an area that is not yet saturated and be the main source of information there.
Offer a free trial to show credibility and build trust and then do a sales pitch.
