From an App to an ecosystem Shayan Zadeh, Co-Founder & Co-CEO

What is Zoosk

•  Dating that doesn’t suck •  It’s all about choice

–  Lifestyle: flirt or find your soul mate –  People: 100,000 new daily signups –  Medium: web, social networks, mobile, desktop –  Monetization: freemium with virtual currency or subscription

•  Seems to have struck a cord –  50 million users –  Top ranked lifestyle app on multiple social networks –  Fastest growing dating property worldwide –  WSJ 50 Next Big Thing

Life of an App (and beyond!) •  Zoosk launched as a Facebook application

–  New Viral Platform –  Simple and efficient distribution –  Low barriers for customer acquisition

•  But we wanted –  To have a direct relationship with “our users” –  To reach beyond just Facebook users –  To build a business at scale –  To build a lasting brand

•  So we –  Asked for our users’ email (January 2008) –  Launched Zoosk on other social networks (March 2008) –  Started direct monetization (April 2008) –  Launched Zoosk.com (Fall or 2008)

Pillars of Success on “open” Platforms

•  No single Arbitrage will last forever –  Take full advantage of what you are given –  Adopt to environment changes quickly –  But don’t become dependant on the short term opportunities –  And always keep in mind it won’t last

–  Examples

•  Unlimited communications through platform •  Viral coefficient of above 1.0

Pillars of Success on “open” Platforms

•  No single Arbitrage will last forever •  Establish a direct relationship with “your user”

–  It will be hard (and at times controversial) –  It might feel you are giving up growth for no good reason –  But is the only way if you want to be around long-term

–  Examples

•  Users’ email addresses and permission to email

•  Users’ phone numbers and permission to txt

Pillars of Success on “open” Platforms

•  No single Arbitrage will last forever •  Establish a direct relationship with “your user” •  Figure out your unit economics

–  Different businesses REQIURE different models –  Free, Freemium, and Paid all have it; figure it out –  After finding a market fit, this is the hardest problem to solve –  AND if the math doesn’t work, you won’t last

–  Examples

•  LTV and acquisition cost

Pillars of Success on “open” Platforms

•  No single Arbitrage will last forever •  Establish a direct relationship with “your user” •  Figure out your unit economics •  Experiment, Experiment, Experiment

–  Not just important on open platforms –  Make them short and cheap –  But do a ton of them

–  Examples

•  What would happen if I ask my users to pay •  What would happen if we remove this field from

signup form?

Where are we today

Questions