‘They all told us to get perish in a gap and I also did the exact opposite’
Ms. Cheek. (Picture: Katya Nicholas)
The final time we talked to Lori Cheek, she and her dating app—then called Cheek’d—had simply been coldly refused on nationwide tv by Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner. Now, nearly a complete 12 months since her admittedly cringeworthy Shark Tank episode aired, the newest York-based CEO has totally reinvented her business, and it is prepared to share it once more with all the globe.
“They all told me personally to get perish in a gap,” Ms. Cheek told the Observer, in mention of the Sharks, “and we did the exact opposite.”
Okay—the terms “die in an opening” didn’t precisely escape some of the Sharks’ lips, but there’s no denying they had problems with Ms. Cheek’s product that is original. Just how it worked, users could pass flirty ice-breaker cards to cute strangers they spotted into the real-world; then, those strangers could log onto Cheek’d and find out the dating profile of the individual who’d simply handed them a card.
The Sharks had some biting, though perhaps reasonable criticisms—namely, that in the event that you could muster up the courage to pass through some body a Cheek’d card, couldn’t you simply provide them with your contact number?
“I don’t think it absolutely was constructive the way they provided me with the feedback,” she said, “but I heard it, and I also made a decision to make a big change.”
Ms. Cheek stated she ended up being extremely stressed whenever she pitched her item towards the Sharks. (Picture: ABC)
Over the phone, we could sense Ms. Cheek bubbling as she talked about the new iteration of her product (now called Cheekd, sans apostrophe), which celebrated its launch, appropriately, on Valentine’s Day though we spoke to her. The application is made as a means to fix missed connections for smartphone-addicted singles, whom might invest so time that is much down at their screens, “the passion for their life could walk right past them,” Ms. Cheek stated. “It prompts individuals to focus on what’s occurring into the real life.”
The application sends users alerts when other suitable Cheekd users are within a radius that is 30-foot of.
“There’s a guy that is hot the finish regarding the club, and you’ll maybe not understand he’s there,” she proceeded. “You look down at your phone, and see Jack N. is 30 feet away from you.”
The software also keeps a summary of every match that is potential pass through the day. Possibly discover that is you’ll a precious man with that you’ve ridden the subway a lot of times on the road into work, but whom you’ve never ever noticed ended up being here.
“The next early morning, you’ll see one another once again, plus it’s likely to force you to definitely keep in touch with one another,” Ms. Cheek stated. “I think it is likely to be only a little embarrassing, but at the very least you’ve types of already said hello.”
And right right here’s the super part that is cool because Cheekd utilizes Bluetooth, it does not require an net connection to work. Which means it really works in places like airplanes and subways, where connections that are missed to take place with greater regularity.
Above all, the Cheekd that is new leaves the flaws the Sharks pointed call at her old app.
“It’s using the awkwardness out of sliding individuals who card,” she said. “Sometimes it had been difficult it had been my business. in my situation to complete, and”
Cheekd, re-invented. (picture: iTunes)
But bouncing straight right back from rejection—on TV that is national no less—wasn’t constantly easy. After Shark Tank, Ms. Cheek stated she felt a broad “gloom” over her company. To go ahead, she discovered a home based business partner, Roger Chinchilla, whom purchased down her old lovers and it is now an equity shareholder. She additionally discovered help in unique Shark Tank Twitter groups—groups where entry is just provided to individuals who’ve appeared from the show. Members share feedback, resources which help one another promote their organizations.
The steps asiandate that are next Ms. Cheek? Building up Cheekd’s user base, and bringing on investors who are able to offer advertising bucks. She’s presently fantasizing about an advertisement campaign for brand new York’s L Train.
Is Ms. Cheek stressed, we asked, that investors are likely to shy far from her item, having seen exactly just how defectively it initially fared on Shark Tank? She stated she’s “not worried about that for an additional.”
“I think investors eventually spend money on people,” Ms. Cheek stated. I worked at this the very first time, they’re planning to understand how difficult I’ll focus on this the next time.“If they discover how hard”
