The business of sex: Down App
This is a series from and for everyone connected with or interested in the porn industry. We ask various sex-companies about their history, break-event points, dealing with social stigma and what is specific while working in an industry like this.
DOWN is a leader in sex-positive dating. It uses social apps to help people strengthen relationships in the offline world through honest interactions. Users anonymously like the profiles that they fancy and the secret is only revealed when that person also selects the user. This is also the most honest dating app available to meet locals nearby, because you get to choose whether you want a casual relationship or a more serious one.
Based in San Francisco, their mobile and online development teams put together groundbreaking apps that are changing the way people discover relationships in a mobile world.
How long did it take your company to start earning money? What should have to be done to monetize a business?
With DOWN, it took us 2.5 years to start monetizing and we should have done it much sooner given the difficulty finding additional funding in our industry without revenue. Once we started monetizing, we were able to get to break-even on a monthly basis pretty quickly. It was a little over 3 years from when we started until we were making substantial money (> $1m ARR). DOWN has now grown into the most successful hookup-focused dating app. I wish we would have started our search for revenue so much sooner!
What was the toughest part while building your company?
We had our main distribution channel taken away (banned from the Apple App Store) and shortly after we were sued by a large tech company. It felt like the world was crashing down on us. But we persevered, regained that distribution channel, mediated the lawsuit, and relaunched with a stronger product after 6 months.
What is specific when it comes to a porn industry? What is specific when it comes to work in a porn industry?
The stigma associated with running a business that even mentions sex, let alone is primarily involving sex, affects everything from hiring, funding, to marketing. It’s important to find people and organizations who are sex-positive and working together to free the industry from the taboos that limit it.
What about the social stigma?
Definitely. I think more prominent tech leaders should support, fund, and operate businesses that don’t shy away from sexual topics. I certainly plan on trying to give back as much as I can. It’ll take some more brave voices to be willing to be in the spotlight to show that working on something sexual isn’t a career-ending or career-limiting move.
Down App in association with thespotlive.com
Would you like us to feature your company? Write to kaja@thespotlive.com
Published on October 17, 2017.
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