The dating app scene is lacking some serious UI, UX, features, and especially interactions among its users. The pet-owner scene is in need of social interactions and hyper-localized communities. Pet Dating.

Health, Wealth, & Relationships

The core of all businesses can be categorized into 3 main groups: Health, Wealth, and Relationships. If your own startup idea does not fall into any these three categories, then I’m afraid you’ll have to go back to the drawing board. As the title suggests, this app is targeting one of human’s innate desire to cultivate relationships, as the old adage goes: ‘Humans are social creatures’. Or in this case, ‘All creatures are social.’

Quick Overview of the Dating App Industry

Here’s some quick stats about the online dating services industry:

– Global online dating services market valuation: ≈ 11 billion dollars
– CAGR(compound annual growth rate): ≈ 7.3%  
– Global users: over 300 million users
– Top ten downloaded apps:

• Tinder
• Bumble
• Plenty of Fish
• Hinge
• Match.com
• OKCupid
• Grindr
• Badoo 
• MeetMe
• Skout

Unique Opportunities in the Dating App Industry

What fascinates me is that the last few apps on the top list have subpar design, functionality, and features and yet they still make it on the top ten list. This presents a unique business opportunity for anyone who would be willing to put in a little more effort even on just the interface to be able to make it in the top ten global list. 

Another important thing worth mentioning is that a majority of the apps listed above are under the umbrella of Match Group Inc[Tinder, Plenty of Fish, Hinge, Match, and OKCupid). The Meet Group owns [MeetMe, Skout] and Bumble Inc owns [Bumble Badoo].

This presents an interesting triopoly where only three large holding companies own the vast majority of all online dating traffic in the world. As a technopreneur, if you decide to have an exit strategy, the more established companies willing to court you will provide better opportunities for your project to be valued at a fair price. Sit back, relax, and let them negotiate each other!

My Own Personal Hell Experience Using Dating Apps

The dating app industry basically started when Tinder launched in 2013. I used it when it first came out and still have it on my phone, despite it being a complete waste of time. It’s a waste of time when I see I have built zero meaningful relationships with it. But, everyone knows about Tinder, and it is the #1 app in every single country. Second place would arguably be Bumble, and usually third place is occupied by the local country’s biggest player(TanTan for China, Wippy/Glam for South Korea, Hinge for the US, Tapple/Pair for Japan).

Perhaps due to my intent of how I used Tinder, no meaningful relationships were to be found; I wasn’t exactly looking for a serious relationship to begin with. But then, again who does? How many of YOUR connections met on a dating app? Trying to find your one true love on a dating app seems like the right, modern right thing to do, but the results say otherwise. What seems to be the problem here? 

One thing to consider is the endless amount of choices. One swipe, and users can immediately change their an entire person. If we pause to think about it, that’s mind-boggling. Each individual has their own to tell and so much potential for precious memories and experiences to begot together. And yet, theoretically, users are able to swipe infinitely to increase their chance of finding the ‘perfect’ match.

What happens when we are given an infinite amount of choices with zero consequences? What happens to a relationship that first started in an environment of unlimited choices? How many people say their favorite food is a particular dish in a buffet restaurant?

If things don’t work out, both participants will never work on their relationships because instinctively they know they can always find a another one. This is why no one goes to the club to find love. And this is why no one goes to Tinder to find it either. You are not the best. You are only the next best thing, so far.

Too many options and too much competition, gives us paralysis of analysis. Extensive research on choice paralysis has been conducted by numerous retailers and have concluded that 3 options are the best. Any more and our puny brains cannot function properly. But even if you were in the app user’s top three choices, it will be impossible to find you again. Which makes me begin to seriously consider what is the real intention of the dating platform. 

With too many choices, we also become extremely picky; we cannot tolerate even the tiniest flaw. Data also shows that a small percentage(10~15%) of males will take the majority of all women’s swipes(Vilfredo Pareto, you’ve done it again mate). And the rest of the males are competing for the remaining swipes. This could be a prime example case of the Sneaky Fucker Theory, but that’s another story for another day. (And what about female competition? Well, let’s be honest. d*ck is free. If you’re a female on Tinder, you are guaranteed hundreds of likes. For every woman, there is a man.. What a great boost for validation and self-confidence!)

Another factor to consider is the type of environment that dating apps are facilitating. I use Tinder as an example because it’s the #1 popular dating app in the world, but it applies to all other dating applications as well. In Tinder’s defense, it has tried to facilitate other preferences, but the devil is in the details. As a for-profit corporation they are going to gravitate towards their best money making stream: flings and hook ups. Sex sells.

In recent years Tinder has released an “Explore” page to help users meet each other for reasons such as ‘let’s be friends’, but looking at the other options: ‘looking for love’, ‘free tonight’, and ‘coffee date’, we can clearly see what Tinder is doing: facilitating hook ups. 

(An honorary mention does go to Bumble for having separate searching parameters of date and bff) But how many of us go on dating apps to find friendship? It’s just not the right place, not the right time, and not the right app.

Why can’t we just have an app showing us profiles purely based on our preferences? You would think the guys over at Tinder would have figured out what the users want by now. Oh wait, they do have that feature. As long as you are willing to pay for it. I remember a time when those features used to be free. The good old days. 

Problems in the Online Dating Apps

I am a hardcore sapiosexual. Meaning,  I am sexually attracted to intelligence. It doesn’t matter how amazing your other traits are, if you’re not an intellectual, I immediately lose all attraction for that person. I have even higher standards for my male friends; call me sexist.

So, most of the time on Tinder, I initiate conversations to test the waters. Unfortunately, it seems my standards are too high for me to have a desire to ask someone out on a date. Once in a blue moon I’ll match with someone who piques my interest. I always ask for a coffee date, because I need more time to pick their brains again; an endless game of capture the (red) flag(s) and disappointments. Maybe I should start saving up for an ai robot wife.   

As you can imagine, I used to waste so much time just trying to filter potential conversationalists. At this point, I’ve lost all hope and I hardly put in any effort nowadays. Also the amount of fake profiles and catfishing is getting out of hand as well. But, I was still able to make use of such ‘wasted time’ by asking the same questions to my fellow female users. I have spent months interacting with them and they all converge to these 3 pain points:

1. Too much time is wasted in filtering. 
2. Considerable lack of interactions.
3. A need for connecting besides hooking up.

Adding to the fact that even the most outdated and basic user interface can make it to the top ten global list, if we were to address even one of these pain points, it seems mass adoption for a new dating app would be quite realistic.. But our tinkering brains at FFF/MnM just couldn’t be satisfied with building just another boring old dating app.

So we decided to add another twist.

Quick Overview of the Pet Industry

Here’s some quick stats on the pet care industry:

– Global pet industry valuation: ≈ 300 billion dollars
– CAGR(compound annual growth rate): ≈ 5.22%  
– Global pet owners: over 1 billion owns a pet
– Some popular pet apps:

• Petamiko
• MyPet Reminders
• Rover
• Pet First Aid
• Bark Happy
• Dogo
• Bring Fido

These apps cover a range of needs for pet owners such as training, health & care, lifestyle, and monitoring. Also, keep in mind that different sources may include or omit various attributes to what is defined as pet care(pet food, veterinary services, medication, insurance, pet services, etc).

Everyone can literally feel the rise of the pet industry. Compare your own local area or country of the general stance towards pets now and just ten years ago. A recent example, just last month, the South Korean government passed a legislation to ban the consumption of dog meat to go into effect in 2027. Many countries have passed legislation for animal rights and abuse. Have you seen the uptick of dog strollers in your streets these days? Chivalry is dead; we no longer live in a ‘ladies first’ society. It’s become ‘animals first’. 

The amount of cat videos online is enough even for a blind man to see the societal shift. As we continue to live better lives, so do our pets. As we continue to become more nuclear, so do our pets. And as we continue to decimate child birth rates, we turn to pets for comfort. Our pets have replaced our babies in many households. Our furry friends have become our babies. I wouldn’t be surprised if Western countries started rolling out legislation for pet custody when couples split.

Problems in the Pet Industry

One of the best showcases of the benefits of pet ownership is the study case of introducing pets to prison inmates in the US. When inmates were given the extra responsibility to look after a furry friend, there was a major significant drop in bad behavior, aggressiveness, and in-fighting among the convicts. At the same time, it increased mental health stability, uplifting spirits, and further led to easier society assimilation. The majority of ex-convicts chose to continue to take care of their prison pets outside of their prison cells when their sentence was completed.

This probably stems from numerous studies where it has been concluded that humans have a desire to live on when given a responsibility. We basically live for responsibility. I highly suspect the absence of societal roles and responsibilities are the main reason why the suicidal rate for retirees are significantly higher in countries that citizens can retire early. 

The importance of responsibility is perfectly displayed with Calhoun’s Behavioral Sink(Mouse Utopia Experiment). With all living and mating conditions met, and no external problems or stress, the mice lost their desire to live. The mouse population peaked followed by a rapid decline. (Actually the stronger interpretation of this experiment was addressing the foreseeable issues of overpopulation and density with its implications to social behaviors. Beta male mice who lost the hierarchal battle with alpha males exhibited bisexuality/pansexuality. The alpha males became extremely promiscuous and maintained a harem of females. While the female mice showed decreases in maternal instincts/abilities resulting in abandoning their babies or weened off too soon without ample mother care to fend for themselves which resulted in those mice growing up to exhibit mental disorders or different sexual preferences as mentioned above.)

The same life-shortening, depressing act can be observed with retired service dogs. A retired service dog is visibly depressed or distressed with the complete change of lifestyle after being decommissioned. Perhaps responsibility is the most important motivating factor for all living creatures to continue to live on. Our furry friends also have their responsible needs as well. They have an instinctual, natural desire to interact and socialize with us bipeds.

Current issues in the pet market show a lack of sufficient:
– social interactions 
– local communities
– platforms for SME(small and medium-sized enterprises) to conduct business.

Now here’s the crazy idea: what if we combined the social concept of online dating with our love for pets? (This concept of combining from two different fields or two schools of thought is called cross-pollination. We’ve mentioned this before on our MnM website.)

How’d you Come up with this?

The idea for this app came from my own personal pain points. I’ve always loved animals, and I am a dog person. Having someone who is always happy to see you and ready to play with you anytime, anywhere is hard to not like. I remember someone once told me, people who love cats want to share their love, and those who love dogs want to receive love; food for thought. I like to play rough and cats are a bit fragile for me. (Funny story, I usually ignore cats, but they like me for it and will come to rub their whiskers on me all the time. I don’t like cats, and cats like me for that. We have a love-hate relationship.)

My family has raised various breeds of dogs all my life and I cannot imagine a life without one. But due to circumstantial issues, it is impossible care for one at this moment of time in my life. Especially when I am constantly moving to different cities, countries, and continents every few years. Coupled with my love to travel and live a nomadic lifestyle, it becomes an impossible feat. The alternative is either drinking coffee at cat cafes or making friends with people who are walking their dogs in my neighborhood. Recently I would use Tinder to find women with dogs in their profiles and if we matched I would ask them if I could accompany them on their walks. 
And then it dawned on me: why don’t I just make an app? 

Just a Peek, Okay?

The dating app scene is lacking interaction and meaningful connections. The pet owner scene is lacking social interaction and local communities. PeTender is designed to address both issues in the online dating and pet industry at the same time; catching two birds with one stone(一石二鸟). 

This is just a tentative introductory piece of content. This is not some wishy-washy, in the sky daydreaming about ‘what ifs’. We’re actually working on this in the background. I can’t be giving out too much detail, and my team has forbidden me to release too much information in fear of some Samwer brothers type shit stunt. But I have been able to persuade them to release a few frames to tickle your fancy. Stay tuned for more updates.

Sources:
– Yahoo Finance
– Statista
– Bloomberg
– Medium
– Time