GE 219: CEO Amanda Bradford Shares How They Raised $2.8M in Funding for Exclusive Dating App The League (podcast)

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.

Download podcast transcript [PDF] here: CEO Amanda Bradford Shares How They Raised $2.8M in Funding for Exclusive Dating App The League TRANSCRIPT

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:50 – Review and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast
• 01:06 – Eric welcomes Amanda Bradford
• 01:34 – The League is growing at breakneck speed
  • 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• 05:54 – Matchmaking: an outdated concept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
• 28:43 – Review and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast

3 Key Points:

1. Using professions, social graphs and educational institutions as data to match results in a much higher conversion rate.
2. The emergence of the smartphone and the latest cutting edge technology has transformed dating—people have a much wider pool to choose from.
3. Finding the right people for your organization is an uphill task—you need to invest a considerable amount of time and energy into the search.

Resources From This Interview:

• The League
• Hustle Con
• Entrepreneurs’ Organization
• Mode Analytics
• Must-read book: Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight
• The League on Facebook

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• Single Grain
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