Startup Spotlight #74: Realtalk

Realtalk is a dating app where users leave 30 second videos answering fun, playful questions.

Jan 19, 2021

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I got the chance to speak with Vaibhav Verma, founder and CEO of Realtalk, about what he’s working on at his startup, and any advice he has for emerging entrepreneurs.

Realtalk is a dating app where users leave 30-second videos answering fun, playful questions -- and those videos encompass their profile.

Startup Spotlight: Realtalk

Realtalk founder and CEO Vaibhav Verma.

Problem: Existing dating apps are very superficial and unrealistic. Users simply swipe left and right on often artificial images, and it’s difficult to get a true sense of a person from their profile.

Market: Many existing apps are worth billions of dollars. For example, Tinder is worth ~$10 billion. Bumble is estimated to be worth between $6 and $8 billion. The value comes from your user base.

Solution: Realtalk is the least superficial dating app ever. Through the many 30 second videos per user, you get a very realistic sense of a person.

Team: I am a solo founder, working on my second startup. My first startup Simmer went through YC in Winter 2019.

Recent Success:

Verma: Inspired by Subtle Asian Dating, we allow users to “auction” off their friends on Realtalk. If I want to auction off my friend Sam, for example, I go up to Sam, record him answering a question on Realtalk (i.e. “What is your favorite ice cream flavor?”), and post for him. This has really taken off among our users (majority of which are college students) who have enjoyed auctioning off their friends on the app. It also contributes to product virality.

Recent Struggle:

Verma: The truth is that, for most dating apps, acquisition becomes an arms race on who can spend the most amount of money on ads. From the beginning, that was something we didn’t want to do, so we tried virtual speed dating events, college-tailored content marketing, ambassadors, building a community using our Facebook group, Tik Tok videos, and more. Some worked well, and some didn’t work well, and part of the struggle with consumer apps is to keep testing the effective of different and unique distribution channels.

Founder Advice:

Verma: It’s important to solve a problem that is very frequent and very intense. For my first startup Simmer, we solved the problem of helping people decide what to eat at restaurants. Looking back, the problem was somewhat frequent, it was not very intense -- and it’s difficult to create a company of value when that’s the case. There’s a graveyard of startups that tried solving problems that weren’t worth solving in the first place, so whenever I evaluate new startup ideas, I always use frequency and intensity to gauge whether the problem is even worth solving.

Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:

Verma: Here are three founders you should check out next!

Alex Bouaziz & Shuo Wang, Founder of Deel: Deel is the first payroll platform for remote teams that connects localized compliance and payments in one system.
Will Bewley, Founder of Woflow: Woflow is the leading menu management system trusted by the world's largest food delivery companies and innovative startups to deliver faster and higher quality menu data.
Harley Katz, Founder of Probably Genetic: Probably Genetic helps people with rare genetic diseases get answers.

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