At first glance, Schmooze doesn’t seem like a dating app
Instead of people’s profiles, you’re immediately greeted with a meme set against a colorful, cartoon-like backdrop, with the choice to swipe right for “like” and left for “don’t like.”
After a certain amount of swiping, the app’s machine-learning model attempts to evaluate what kind of humor you like and your topics of interest, such as politics, pop culture or science. At that point, you’ll receive a “#MatchRec” with someone whose humor allegedly matches yours, leaving you with the choice to “Schmooze” or “Snooze.”
A few years ago, Madhavan was working in India and debating whether to go to graduate school. She cold-emailed someone who had attended a U.S. business school asking for advice. That first email led to more than 150 email exchanges filled with jokes and humor and, eventually, to marriage – as well as Madhavan’s conviction that humor is a good proxy for romantic compatibility.
Coyle, who has used Tinder and Bumble in the past, said Snack’s emphasis on video provides “more of a sense of this is what they actually do when they’re at a party or something, not just from a picture
“Meme-based dating fits so perfectly with this generation,” Madhavan said. “Because memes are the way we all communicate, right? Whether it’s sharing news or sharing how you feel.”
The 27-year-old Stanford business school graduate co-founded the company with college classmate Abhinav Anurag and launched the app as a beta test in early . (more…)