Founder Series: Emily Smith, Founder & CEO of Chorus
Icebreakers:
Coffee/Tea Order: Black coffee
Currently Listening to on Spotify: Lucy Dacus
Currently watching on Netflix: New season of BoJack Horseman
Favorite City: Middlebury, VT
Team Pizza or Team Tacos: BOTH
Interview:
In a few words can you describe what your business does?
Chorus is a matchmaking app where friends swipe for friends. We’re making dating less lonely and more human again.
What inspired to you start Chorus?
I talked about the idea of Chorus with people for years before actually starting it. As I got older I saw, more and more, how single people were getting tired of the apps — how bad swiping culture was making them — and how eager people in relationships were to help their friends. At some point, the need for this was so clear I couldn’t not do it.
What do you think is fundamentally broken about online dating?
When I was younger we all met through friends. It was less efficient, sure, but people treated each other like people. There was accountability involved — if you were a jerk to someone, it got around. Now no one cares, we treat each other like playing cards in a game. It’s exhausting and dehumanizing. By looping friends back into the process Chorus aims to bring accountability back to dating. If your friends are helping you out, the hope is that the bar will go up — less shirtless selfies and more responses. Plus, it’ll be less lonely and more fun.
Did you always know from a young age you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
As a kid, I was always playing with gadgets and inventing things, so I guess that was a sign. That’s partly why I studied electrical and computer engineering in college. But I definitely didn’t know I wanted to be an entrepreneur throughout my career. After college, I just wanted to make money and be a powerful woman in consulting (whatever that means) so I could pay back my loans. Then I wanted to work in nonprofits. Then I wanted to be a writer. Now I want to be a founder. In ten years I’ll probably want something new, or I hope so, at least.
How do you keep yourself motivated?
Every time I log onto Tinder I’m motivated. I see real connection disintegrating all around us. I hear it in my friends stories. Talking to people, especially women, and going on the apps myself keeps me motivated to change them.
Has there been a book or podcast that’s made you a better founder?
I don’t obsess over startup culture. I actually find a lot of elements of startup culture self-important. I like reading novels and listening to podcasts like On Being and WTF, hearing stories of people I admire be honest, in a real authentic way about how they got where they are.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own business?
I could say do it, but that’s easier said than done for a lot of people. It took me a long time to build the career cred to consult on the side so that I could work on my writing and my startup. The reality is a lot of people need to make money to survive, I certainly do, and lots of early-stage investors expect you to bootstrap with no money, which is close to impossible unless you’re a coder. The one thing I will say is never let age or lack of experience or anything like that deter you. If you have an idea that you can’t stop thinking about, explore it!
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Learn more about Emily:
Emily is founder of Chorus, a matchmaking app where friends swipe for friends. She’s worked with tech companies and nonprofits such as Etsy and Girls Who Code developing and scaling products and programs. Emily also writes regularly about dating and technology for Medium, and has published essays in Salon, Slate, Vice, The Rumpus, Catapult, and more. She has a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell and an MBA from UC Berkeley.
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