RealTalk

A social media app focused on 1:1 relationships instead of infinite scrolling, likes and comments.

• People who have stopped using Facebook or Instagram but still want to keep up with friends and family.

• People who don't want to connect in virtual worlds (Metaverse, Roblox, Minecraft)

Key features:

• DM Only. Your friends respond to your posts with a DM, sparking a real conversation instead of a superficial like or public comment.

• Targeted Posts. Choose which "circle" of friends see what posts (ex. everyone vs college buddies vs soccer dads). Choose your own default.

• End-to-end encryption. No one can read your messages except you and your friends, period.

• GTKM (Get to Know Me). Answer questions about yourself to populate your feed and take quizzes to get to know your friends and family better.

• Positive Vibes. Send a special message to someone who's made your day, or to let them know you're glad they're in your life.

• Feed Controls. You choose how to sort your home screen - most recent, most activity, closest friends first, etc.

• It's Been a While. Get prompts to message close friends who you haven't talked to in a while, based on their recent posts ("ex ask Sachin how his recent Vegas trip was")

• Finite Scrolling. You'll only see 5 posts a day from friends to keep you focused on the quality of your relationships, not the quantity.

• Wish lists. Add links to brands and products you love. Give thoughtful birthday and holiday gifts to your friends and family.

Users can try the app for free and then pay a monthly or annual subscription, so that the company doesn't have to sell ads, which require sharing private data.

There might also be a chance to take a cut of all wish list gifts purchased, as long as users know that's happening.

1. Alpha - responsive web app

   • Seed the product with early adopter friends and family. See if there's a way where you can see which of your contacts are using the app before paying for a subscription. Measure viral coefficient by making it easy to invite their friends and family via public URLs that can be copied into texts or emails.

   • Leave these features out of the alpha release:

     1. Finite scrolling - iOS and Android have native screen time limits

     2. Wish lists - only useful once or twice a year and also not clear people want to create them

     3. Targeted posts - only needed when people have lots of friends

   • Exit criteria: 5k users, 3k DAU, $XX CAC, $ZZ MRR (to demonstrate willingness to pay)

2. Beta - native mobile apps

   • Add finite scrolling and wish lists based on discovery findings.

   • Exit criteria: Average App Store / Google Play rating of 4.9, with at least 100 reviews. 100k users, 20k DAU, $XX CAC, $ZZ MRR

3. General Availability - every device

   • Add support for tablets and computers to connect from any of your devices

   • Success here might be in the range of 1M users, maintaining a 20% DAU rate and healthy CAC:LTV ratios

• The subscription business model itself would be the differentiator. Sure, Meta could launch a D2C app and charge, but their brand is so mired in distrust that it's unlikely to succeed. This model allows the user's conversations to be private.

• Marco Polo charges $59 / year for a similar product. They seem focused on video messaging but there's a risk they could copy these features. If they did, look into differentiating by not being so focused on video as the primary post type.

• Given a focus on 1:1 relationships, this product shouldn't compete with Facebook Groups, where you interact with strangers / loose community ties. Leave that to them and focus on the quality of existing relationships vs forging new ones.

• Several user research participants have mentioned they've attempted to quit Insta several times, knowing they're wasting time when they could be learning new hobbies or spending time with kids (2 legitimate competitors in terms of time and attention).

• Even inactive users keep their Facebook accounts for Groups (ex during Snowvid in Austin, people mentioned this is how they found out where to get firewood / when power would be back on) and Marketplace.

• New users will want to understand how many of their friends are using the product before deciding whether to sign up for a subscription.

• Need to dig deeper on

  • Wish lists - do people make them today? An alternative might be to make a list of thoughtful gift ideas yourself for each person

  • Get to Know Me - how deep are the questions? Some people might have a hard time answering questions about their identity / belief or not feel comfortable sharing their answers with lots of friends.