What the business is
An iOS app that matches users on five interests plus five personality questions, then suggests real-world places to meet.
The bet
That people craving connection will use an app whose whole job is to get them meeting in person fast, instead of chatting forever.
How it started
Former financial analysts Rich Hacking and Sean Emery came up with the idea during a business trip in Dubai, seeing a market whose 'massive incumbents have lacked innovation in the last decade.'
What happened
Buffet launched in Los Angeles in April 2024, free to use and monetized through planned in-app advertising from local businesses; an Android app was planned after iOS.
What has to be true
The US surgeon general's 2023 report put loneliness at epidemic scale — about half of US adults — with measurable physical health consequences.
Incumbent social and dating apps monetize attention in the chatbox; Buffet differentiates by designing for the quickest possible exit to real life.
Users are frustrated with paywalls, so free access plus local-business advertising is both the growth plan and the wedge.
What can be applied
When incumbents optimize for time-on-app, the disruptor's product can be the one that promises to end the session.
Aftermath
As of the April 2024 launch, Buffet was iOS-only in Los Angeles with New York City planned as the next market later in the year and an Android app on the roadmap.
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