A Safe Haven for Digital Dating in an Unsafe World

A Safe Haven for Digital Dating in an Unsafe World September 18, 2024

Digital Dating

The dating app Pure’s journey from a struggling startup to a thriving platform offers valuable lessons for businesses facing operational and technical challenges. When Olga Petrunina took over as CEO, she faced significant challenges. “When I joined Pure, only 15 people were working on the project. There was no CTO, no CPO, and no CMO, and the technical platform was so bad that every Friday the service was down. Revenue was dropping 20% each month,” she recalls.

Olga’s immediate action was to completely rewrite the app’s backend and significantly expand the team. “My first decision was a full rewrite of the app’s backend and hiring many more people. After we launched a full redesign of the app, revenue went up 130% YoY,” she states. This strategic overhaul was crucial in stabilizing the platform and setting the stage for growth. Businesses can learn from this by recognizing the importance of addressing core technical issues and investing in human resources to drive innovation and reliability.

Creating a Safe and Empowering Environment

Pure’s commitment to creating a safe, sex-positive environment for its users is a standout feature that has contributed to its success. Olga emphasizes, “We’re a sex-positive dating app, and for that, the main goal is to attract women to the platform. To create a safe space for sensual exploration, I implemented the following improvements.”

Pure developed robust moderation and safety systems to detect and eliminate bad actors early in the registration process. “We detect bad actors by IP, via mobile operators, and by detecting typical behavior through in-app analyses. Our automated ban system doesn’t let suspicious individuals get to the app,” Olga explains. This proactive approach not only enhanced user safety but also built trust, a crucial factor in user retention and growth. Businesses should prioritize creating safe and trustworthy environments to foster customer loyalty.

In an era where cyber safety is paramount, Pure’s stringent privacy measures set it apart. “All app screens with UGC/Chats are protected from screenshots. Chats are automatically deleted in 24 hours, and photos and videos cannot be saved or stored. We do not store this data anywhere, making Pure one of the safest dating apps on the market,” Olga highlights. By ensuring user interactions remain private and secure, Pure has gained a competitive edge. Companies can learn from this by implementing robust privacy protections to build consumer confidence.

Leveraging Cognitive Biases for Strategic Advantage

Navigating cognitive biases effectively can significantly impact business decisions and outcomes. Pure’s success demonstrates the importance of addressing these biases within the organization.

Confirmation bias, where individuals seek information that confirms their preconceptions, can hinder effective decision-making. Olga fostered a culture of transparency and critical thinking at Pure. “We are brutally honest about our successes and failures with every team member and have a very high level of transparency. This allows us to address the root causes of our challenges effectively,” she says. Businesses should cultivate an environment where feedback and critical analysis are encouraged to avoid the pitfalls of confirmation bias.

The empathy gap, or the difficulty in understanding others’ emotional states, can impact user experience design. Pure’s focus on understanding its users’ concerns and emotional states was crucial. “Understanding the concerns and emotional states of our female users was essential. By conducting user research and engaging with the community, we ensured that the app’s features genuinely addressed users’ needs and concerns,” Olga explains. Companies should engage in user research and community interaction to create products and services that truly resonate with their audience.

Building a Unique Brand and Culture

Pure’s brand positioning and company culture are integral to its success. By fostering a feminist, sex-positive environment, Pure has created a unique and appealing platform for its users.

Pure’s focus on empowering women has been a key factor in its growth. “We empower women to be lead characters in dating by allowing them to set their own rules and own their pleasure. Pure fosters an honest, playful, and liberating dating experience,” says Olga. Businesses can benefit from understanding and empowering their core demographic, tailoring their offerings to meet specific needs and preferences.

Olga has cultivated a company culture characterized by open-mindedness, inclusivity, and transparency. “We are brutally honest about our successes and failures with every team member and have a very high level of transparency with everyone, so people feel much more involved with business goals,” she notes. Creating a transparent and inclusive culture can drive employee engagement and align the team with the company’s vision and goals.

Achieving Remarkable Results

Pure’s transformation is a testament to strategic leadership, innovation, and a deep understanding of user needs. Under Olga Petrunina’s guidance, the app has seen a 350% increase in both revenue and user base over the past three years. The company has expanded its team to 100 people and established its main office in Berlin, with significant growth in key markets like the USA, the UK, France, and Germany.

The success of Pure Dating App offers valuable lessons for businesses. By addressing core issues, prioritizing safety and trust, leveraging cognitive biases strategically, and fostering a unique brand and culture, companies can navigate challenges and achieve remarkable growth. Pure’s journey serves as an inspiring example of what can be achieved through determination, innovation, and visionary leadership.

Key Take-Away

Pure’s success in digital dating showcases the importance of addressing technical issues, ensuring user safety, and fostering a unique, inclusive culture, leading to a 350% growth in revenue and user base…>Click to tweet

 

  Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

Originally published in Disaster Avoidance Experts


Dr. Gleb Tsipursky was named “Office Whisperer” by The New York Times for helping leaders overcome frustrations with hybrid work and Generative AI. He serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote seven best-selling books, and his two most recent ones are Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams and ChatGPT for Thought Leaders and Content Creators: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI for Innovative and Effective Content Creation. His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, The New York Times, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, French, Vietnamese, German, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio.

About Dr. Gleb Tsipursky
Known as the Disaster Avoidance Expert, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is on a mission to protect leaders from dangerous judgment errors known as cognitive biases, which devastate bottom lines and bring down high-flying careers. His expertise and passion is developing the most effective and profitable decision-making strategies, based on pragmatic business experience and cutting-edge behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience, to empower leaders to avoid business disasters and maximize their bottom lines. You can learn more here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/glebtsipursky/ The bestselling author of several books, Dr. Tsipursky is best known for his national bestseller on avoiding disasters and achieving success in business and other life areas, The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide. His next book, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters, is forthcoming with Career Press in November 2019. It’s the first book to focus on cognitive biases in business leadership and reveal how leaders can overcome these dangerous judgment errors effectively. After that he’s publishing The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships with New Harbinger in April 2020, the first book to focus on cognitive biases in professional and personal relationships and illustrate how we can defeat these dangerous judgment errors in our relationships. See more information here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/author-page/ Dr. Tsipursky’s cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 400 articles he published and over 350 interviews he gave to popular venues that include Fast Company, CBS News, Time, Scientific American, Psychology Today, The Conversation, Business Insider, Government Executive, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inc. Magazine, and many others, as you can see here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/media/ Dr. Tsipursky's expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, speaking, and training for businesses and nonprofits. He serves as the CEO of the boutique consulting, coaching, and training firm Disaster Avoidance Experts, which uses a proprietary methodology based on groundbreaking research to help leaders and organizations maximize their bottom lines by addressing potential threats, seizing unexpected opportunities, and resolving persistent personnel problems. His clients include Aflac, Balance Employment Assistance Provider, Edison Welding Institute, Fifth Third Bank, Honda, IBM, International Coaches Federation, Ohio Hospitals Association, National Association of Women Business Owners, Sentinel Real Estate, The Society for Human Resource Management, RealManage, The Columbus Foundation, Vistage, Wells Fargo, the World Wildlife Fund, and over a hundred others who achieve outstanding client results. You can learn more about that here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/about Dr. Tsipursky also has a strong research and teaching background in behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience with over 15 years in academia, including 7 years as a professor at the Ohio State University and before that a Fellow at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His dozens of peer-reviewed academic publications include journals such as Behavior and Social Issues, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, and International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy. His civic service includes over 4 years as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Intentional Insights, an educational nonprofit advocating for research-based decision-making in all life areas. He also co-founded the Pro-Truth Pledge, a civic project to promote truthfulness and integrity for individual professionals and leaders in the same way that the Better Business Bureau serves as a commitment for businesses. He serves on the Advisory Board of Canonical Debate Lab and Planet Purpose, and is on the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal Behavior and Social Issues. A highly in-demand international speaker, Dr. Tsipursky has over two decades of professional speaking experience across North America, Europe, and Australia. He gets top marks from audiences for his highly facilitative, interactive, and humor-filled speaking style and the way he thoroughly customizes speeches for diverse audiences. Meeting planners describe Dr. Tsipursky as "very relatable," as "a snap to work with," and as someone who "does everything that you would want a speaker to do." Drawing on best practices in adult learning, his programs address the wide spectrum of diverse learning styles, as attested by enthusiastic client testimonials and references. He regularly shares the stage with prominent leaders, for example recently speaking on a roundtable panel with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Elhadj As Sy, Chancellor of Austria Brigitte Bierlein, CEO of Penguin Random House Markus Dohle, and billionaire philanthropist and Chair of the Bertelsmann Management Company Liz Mohn. You can learn more about his speaking and see videos here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/speaking/ Dr. Tsipursky earned his PhD in the History of Behavioral Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, his M.A. at Harvard University in 2004, and his B.A. at New York University in 2002. He lives in and travels from Columbus, OH. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, hiking, and playing with his two cats, and most importantly, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid disasters in his personal life. Learn more about him at https://DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/GlebTsipursky, contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky and Twitter @gleb_tsipursky. Most importantly, help yourself avoid disasters and maximize success, and get a free copy of the “Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace,” by signing up for his free Wise Decision Maker Course at https:// DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/Subscribe You can read more about the author here.
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