This past week I got to speak to my friend Joshua Lee about a dating app, Pear, that he and his friends have been working on these past few months. After speaking with Josh, Her Campus Harvard will be trying out Pear and publishing a review next week. If you want to see what all the hype is about, click on this link to download Pear: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pear-the-matchmaking-app/id1454832133
So, what exactly is Pear?
Josh: Pear is our spin on the traditional dating apps to make online dating more social and organic! Personally, the most fun we’ve ever had on online dating platforms has been when we swapped phones with a friend and swiped for them, wrote their bios, chose their pictures, etc., effectively transforming what’s supposed to be a singular experience into a social one. In our interviews with over 200 college students, we’ve heard of many approaches that students have made to do essentially the same thing — making group accounts, passing phones in a circle, and in some cases, having their friends have complete unbarred access to their online dating profiles! Clearly there was a need to make online dating more fun, but there just wasn’t an app that provided that — until now.
Why is Pear innovative and different from existing dating apps?
Josh: The #1 way Americans meet their significant others is through their mutual friends, and Pear reflects that natural matchmaking mechanic by allowing friends to write profiles on behalf of you, and “Pear” (Pair) you with people they think you’d get along with. Multiple friends can contribute to a profile which gives you a unique opportunity to view people through the lens of their many friends and let’s be honest, it’s important to know what this person’s friends are like too.
What is your role in Pear?
Josh: I am one of four cofounders and Chief Marketing Officer at Pear. As the CMO I find my job split into two buckets: in one, short term guerilla marketing strategies to gain as many users as fast as possible through any and all available means. From this I track key metrics to see which are repeatable, fiscally responsible, and most efficient to help me in the second part of my job: thinking of long term streamlined approaches to gaining sustainable, forecastable growth once we begin to expand. That being said, since we only have four full time workers, all of us have to be very flexible in our day to day responsibilities. My teammates are all amazing, and each person’s job is so important. I am very lucky to be working with them.
What was your inspiration for Pear? Why did you get involved?
Josh: As a queer person, there were no apps out there that integrated the queer online experience with that of the straight cis one. The concept of women messaging first just completely breaks down when you add in elements of queerness, and the way we interact with the most popular dating apps is extremely different than the way straight people interact with it. The reason why this project means so much to me is because I can matchmake my straight friends and they can matchmake for me, and this is how we normalize conversations about queer dating, demystify misconceptions, and essentially bridge the gap between these two separate worlds that exist online.
Is there anything else you want to share about your team and Pear?
Josh: I love my team! This group of people just came together, and none of us were close with each other at all until we started working on Pear. We decided to live with each other, work with each other, but they make it so easy. Also, our team is super diverse! We are so excited for everyone to start using Pear!Â
Download here now!Â
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pear-the-matchmaking-app/id1454832133