Meet Robert Swisher of Frendli in Encinitas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Swisher.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Robert. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve had the idea that grew into Frendli for several years now. At the time it first came to me I was the CTO at Business.com and also working on another startup, FestPop, on the side. I didn’t really have the time to pursue it then, but after taking some time off following the sale of Business.com in 2016, I decided it was the right time.

Frendli initially came to me as I was planning a New Years Eve party several years back. I was inviting friends and they seemed to all be falling into one of two groups. Some wanted to go out to Big Night San Diego, or some other huge NYE type of event, which I wasn’t interested in and others who were married or had kids we’re likely going to stay home or be in bed before the ball dropped. I realized that my circle of friends had been shifting and I hadn’t noticed it. My girlfriend (now wife) and I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to meet new friends who shared our interests and were in a similar place in life? Making friends is just so difficult when you’re an adult.

I spent about three months doing research on the problem and talking to tons of people. What I discovered is that this was a very common issue people have. During early product development and customer interviews I learned that while there are other friends making apps out there, they lack the incentive to get people out into the world actually meeting face to face. My previous experience at Business.com had taught me about the challenges that small local businesses face in acquiring new customers and I realized I could help to solve both of these issues at the same time.

By providing people connections to new potential friends who share their interests, along with deals and unique experiences to share together, we could inspire them to get out into the world and build new friendships. And by providing local businesses with groups of new customers who were interested in the experiences they provided, we could help them grow their businesses with a zero up-front-cost marketing solution.

Has it been a smooth road?
We’re still currently working our way towards the launch of the platform and fingers crossed we’ll be launching in the next month (end of May/early June). I wouldn’t say it has been a smooth road and really no startup is. In any startup, you’re trying to convince people of your vision, that this crazy idea you have can become a business. It’s incredibly difficult, especially in the very early days when all you have is an idea or a prototype. Raising money before having a product has been a huge challenge, but thankfully I’ve found a small group of investors who were willing to make an early bet on me and the business.

Reaching local businesses is another challenge. More often than not the decision maker in a small business is working in the business every day and they are incredibly busy. It’s difficult to get in touch with that decision maker and get their attention since they are a group who is constantly being sold to. We’re continually looking for better ways to reach these folks, but we have found that when we do, they’re usually on board with what Frendli can do for them.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Frendli story. Tell us more about the business.
Friendli helps people meet new friends who share their interests, activities, tastes, goals, aspirations, location and lifestyle. We connect them in groups of two to four and incentivize them to get out in the world and build friendships face to face by connecting them with deals and unique experiences that match their interests.

Our mission is to combat loneliness, which is reaching epidemic levels. We want to help people get off of their screens and out into the world sharing experiences and connecting in a real way. Making friends can be so tough compared to when we were kids and we want to make that easy for people.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
There is an astounding body of evidence coming together in the last few years around how people have become more lonely, isolated and depressed. We are living more and more solitary lives and that’s simply not a good thing for our emotional of physical health. Recent studies have shown that loneliness and lack of social interaction can be more damaging to our physical health than tobacco or obesity. Combine that with stats that show close to 50% of Americans experience serious loneliness on a regular basis and that we will lose half of our friends every seven years, and you can see how the problem is growing.

Combine this with the recent backlash we’re seeing against social media and it’s negative emotional effects and you see a real need for people to connect again face to face. I think people are really starting to wake up to the fact that we’re social animals and need more real social interaction to live happy and satisfying lives. We’re going to see this trend continue into the future. In the same way that people have turned to technology to help them date and meet potential partners, we’ll see them become accustomed to starting platonic friendships the same way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.frendli.com
• Email: robert@frendli.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getfrendli/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getfrendli
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/getfrendli
• Other: https://www.frendli.com/merchants/

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