Pregame Your Launch Before Your App Exists (w/ Amanda Bradford) | E2355

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Today’s show:

Amanda Bradford’s “launch party” for her dating app The League actually extended for months.

She “pre-gamed” the app’s formal launch with months of mixers, boat parties, and free events, where the only ticket required for admission was having the app on your phone.

By launch day, she had a massive wait list, and still just let in 500 people, who ensure maximum buzz (and FOMO).

At LAUNCH’s first-ever Tactical & Practical live event from San Francisco, Amanda walks the crowd through how she built a vetted, two-sided dating marketplace as a solo founder, eventually getting prominent enough to attract the attention of Match Group. (She sold The League for ~$30 million in 2020.)

Hear exclusive tips you won’t get anywhere else, like how Amanda used a “fake paywall” to gauge willingness to pay for subscriptions, and how to time your rate of expansion into new markets.

Plus, an all-new Flashback segment, featuring Alex and Lon looking back at a classic 2017 interview between Jason and Stripe’s Patrick Collison.

Guests

Amanda Bradford on X:x.com/amandabradford

Book a Call with Amanda:intro.co/amandabradford

The League:theleague.com

Patrick Collison on X:x.com/patrickc?lang=en

Stripe:stripe.com

Relevant Links:

The League was called "elitist." Its founder says that was never the case (CNBC):cnbc.com/2023/10/20/founder-of-the-league-on-d…

Alex Wilhelm’s Cautious Optimism:cautiousoptimism.news

TWiST E723: Patrick Collison (2017) (youtube.com/watch?v=P-NepiMQGvY):youtube.com/watch?v=P-NepiMQGvY

Timestamps:

0:00 Amanda Bradford on building The League

4:30 Hand-reviewing early applications

6:40 Building an MVP with a rented co-founder

8:56 The VIP approach

13:10 Why Amanda only let in 500 people

15:44 The “Heavy Hitter” fake paywall test

16:44 Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at odoo.com/twist

17:46 Why live events are the real unlock

21:35 Controversy as a hook

24:22 Flashback to Patrick Collison in 2017

25:13 Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

28:13 Stripe: Then vs. Now

30:53 G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go to g2i.co/twist to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks.

32:17 Why did PayPal stay PayPal?

37:50 Problem, not a product

44:33 Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

45:46 The outage nobody noticed

51:00 Why persistence beats pivoting

52:13 What’s left before a Stripe IPO?

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Thank you to our partners:

Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today atOdoo.com/twist (odoo.com/twist)

G2i has been recruiting software engineers for over a decade. Go toG2i.co/twist (g2i.co/twist) to find out how G2i vets engineers, and can help you hire them in days, not weeks.

Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head toRippling.ai/twist (rippling.ai/twist) and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

Plaud: If your work depends on conversations — interviews, meetings, calls — you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out atPlaud.ai/twist (plaud.ai/twist) and use code TWIST for 10% off!

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