Business View Magazine | February 2018

8 9 OPENING LINES SOCIAL GAMING PLATFORM FRIENDO CATCHES FIRE, SURPASSES 2.4 MILLION PLAYERS F riendO,thesocial gamingplatformwhereyour best friendsarediscovered,recentlyannounced that it surpassed2.4millionplayers in justover sixmonthsof operation.FriendOhasquietlybeen oneof the fastestgrowingapps intheAppStore,averag- ingseveral hundredthousanddailyusers.Inthepast90 days,it’s trended#1 intheAppStorenumerous timesand has rankedamongtheTop50freeappsandtop5social networkingapps. TheFriendOplatformisavailableon iOSandAndroid, andsupportsone-to-onegameplay,chatbetweenplay- ers,various invite features,anda“customanswer”function. Theplatformalsorecentlyintroducedamuch-anticipated “askyourownquestion”feature,whichhas resulted in theadditionof over250,000user-generatedquestions totheFriendOdatabase.InFebruary,thecompanywill release“PartyMode,”the firstmulti-playerversionof FriendO,whichwill allowplayers to invite their friends to aFriendO“party”where theycanexchangequestionsand answers,andchat infreshwayswithfriendsatonce. The foundersof FriendO–aGenZ,aGenX,anda Boomer–createdthegameafternoticinga trend in socialmedia: thatusersof socialmediastart thinkingof peopleas“followers”insteadof as“friends”and,alongthe way,lifebecomesa little less interestingandrelationships a little less important.FriendOchanges thatbyoffering agameplatformthat strengthens friendships.Onthe FriendOapp,playersanswer entertainingquestionsabout themselves fromawidevarietyof topicsandguess their friends’answers tothesamequestions.The result–game playwhereusersget toknowfriendsbetter.Thegoal is togodeeper,notbroader,andthedeeperusers go,the faster theymoveupthe leaderboard. The teambehindFriendOincludes inves- torsandentrepreneurswhohavesignif- icant experiencestartingandgrowing consumer-facingbusinesses.The list includesBrad Jones,whoseaccomplish- ments includebeingtheco-Founder ofRedpointVentureCapital,Michael Greenberg,Presidentof Skechers,and MuckerCapital,aseed-stage technol- ogyventurecapital fundbased inLos Angeles.