Speed Dating Singles with Filteroff CEO Zach Schleien

In this slogging AMA we chat to Filteroff CEO Zach Schleien. Filteroff is a dating app that singles use for speed dating. It uses video to help bring like-minded people together. Unlike traditional dating apps, its speed dating model is unique and effective.

This Slogging thread by Jack Boreham, Zach, Limarc Ambalina, Mónica Freitas and Sara Pinto occurred in slogging's official #amas channel, and has been edited for readability.

Hey @channel, please join me in welcoming our next AMA guest, Zach. Zach is the CEO of a new dating app known as Filteroff. Filteroff allows you to host your very own speed dating event, creating a novel way to meet like-minded singles. 

Please feel free to ask Zach anything about:

Hi, Zach a pleasure to have you with us. Can you start off by explaining about yourself and how your career led you to create Filteroff!

Sure! I grew up in Westchester, NY. I went to college at Syracuse University. I was an avid online dater and while in school I started a dating blog called TopRomp which covered apps/hacks for the modern dater. A couple of years later I started a subreddit for a small dating app at the time which was for Hinge.

Overall I was pretty dissatisfied with the online dating experience of swiping, being catfished, and lousy first dates. I started asking my dates beforehand if they’d be open to video chatting. I discovered video chatting with my matches first rather than the long swiping and messaging process that allowed me to get to know the person.

That’s how I came up with Filteroff. I wanted to provide a more authentic online dating experience. We got out of beta in Feb ’20 right before the pandemic.

Hey Zach I'm married so I won't be using this :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: but I used my fair share of Tinder throughout my university days so I'm familiar with that platform. What sets Filteroff apart from big dating apps like this and how do you plan to compete in such a competitive space?

Hey Limarc Ambalina thanks for the question! Glad you found your person 🙂

For one, Filteroff is video first. We remove the aspect of swiping and endless messaging. But aside from being video first, our moat is community. We allow communities to create virtual speed dating events on our platform providing their members with a fun experience, the ability to grow their community and even monetize.

In terms of the competition, most daters have 3-5 dating apps on their phone — it’s not a winner take all industry. Filteroff targets what I call an intention dater someone who cares about quality over quantity. That’s where all dating apps fall short.

Hi Zach what made you come up with Filteroff? And what has the feedback been like?

Mónica Freitas I was honestly sick of online dating. It was basically just a game — swiping and messaging. I wanted to provide daters with an authentic experience where they could let their personalities shine and just have singles meet face to face over video.

Since we’ve launched we’ve now run over 6K virtual speed dating events and created quite a few marriages. One of our marriages was covered by the NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/style/weddings-jewelry-designer.html

I think it’s time to retire the swipe 😉

Zach WOW, that's awesome! Would you say your app has reached a point of global usage, or do you have more local users?
In other words, is any geographical area where your app is more popular?

With online dating, daters prefer to date local however there has been some change in sentiment to this since the pandemic. The majority of our users are local. Our largest city is NYC followed by Los Angeles.

Zach awesome! So I met my significant other on a major dating site....what makes yours different as most use video functionality?

Congrats! And sure, dating apps that simply add video functionality, are still stuck in the old paradigm. You’re still being judged by your profile. You are still left with the same experience as beforehand. Sure, there’s a video feature but that’s more so an afterthought to the core product.

Hey, Zach thanks for the thoughtful answers! One important question for all dating apps: how do you handle security?

There are a lot of creeps out there, and who knows if you're being catfished or whatever else scam there is on dating apps.

Filteroff encrypts in transit and at rest. The video is being used via WebRTC so video content is not stored on Filteroff’s servers.

Zach so how does your video feature differ?

Here’s how it works:

Swipe apps still require swiping, messaging etc. It’s extremely superficial and time-consuming. Once you’re a match you can then ask to video chat, but again that’s more so an afterthought to the core product. Once you hop on a video chat it may be very difficult to then hop off, if it’s not a fit.

Zach what do you think will be the future for dating apps?

Mónica Freitas daters will continue to push for a more authentic dating experience. They don’t want to feel scammed or catfished.

Hi Zach, glad to have you here! Online dating must have gained more ground during the pandemic. Were there any changes to better adapt to the new reality?

Sara Pinto we’ve all been video chatting on Zoom meetings, FaceTiming with friends and family. So now video chatting with complete strangers on a dating app is no big deal. It’s so much more authentic to connect on video versus text alone.

Zach that's a great idea! So, how successful has the app been at getting people that person? I'm not sure if you have any stats on that, but I just thought I would ask, haha

Jack Boreham we’ve hosted over 6K virtual speed dating events and created a number of marriages

Zach So what do you think will be the next step to make it an even more dynamic experience? Is there any specific feature you would like to see on dating apps?

The next step would definitely be an immersive environment. However, I think moving away from the swipe to a more authentic experience is the key. Tech will continue to advance, but dating behavior definitely lags. The pandemic sped up the acceptance of video-first by 3-5 years.

Thank you Zach for your time. How can people check out your platform, to wrap up this AMA?

Filteroff is available on iOS, Android, and Web. They can learn more here https://www.getfilteroff.com/

Thank you!