You’ve probably heard plenty of comparisons between founding a startup with someone and being in a relationship (heck, there’s even a service called FounderDating). Well, TheIceBreak has taken those comparisons to heart with a new iPhone app called Cofounderly.
When I describe this as a couples app for co-founders, I mean that pretty literally. TheIceBreak previously launched an app where couples can answer icebreaker questions (the responses are shared with the general community), post private messages to each other, and get scored on the quality of their relationship. When TheIceBreak co-founder Christina Brodbeck was looking at the app’s user data, she saw that there were co-founders actually using the app to communicate. And hey, it kind of makes sense — Broderick says she sees her co-founder more often than she sees her boyfriend.
So TheIceBreak team took the functionality of the couples app and created new content tailored for startup co-founders. Instead of asking “Do you think it’s more important for a couple to be friends or lovers?” and suggesting “Do an outdoor activity together,” Cofounderly offers questions like, “Which one is a higher priority for startups — retention or growth? Why?” and offers suggestions like “Come up with & serve a company-themed cocktail.” (I also suspect that when co-founders share photos, they’re less dirty than they are in the couples app. I could be wrong on that one.)
One drawback of Cofounderly’s roots — it only works for two-person founding teams right now.
But do you really need an app to communicate to with your co-founder? I mean, aren’t you guys probably talking a lot already? Brodbeck says that Cofounderly is supposed to encourage real-world conversations, rather than replace them. Ultimately, she says the app should be “leading to more in-depth, in-person conversations.”
Even though this is just a side project, it does suggest that the couples app model might be more broadly applicable. In fact, Brodbeck says that TheIceBreak is also looking at investigating partnerships with media brands, creating apps that allow them to interact with their community. It’s like a partner app, “except your partner is the brand.”
You can download Cofounderly here.