Maya Watson and Lexi Nisita, co-founders of a new social app called why?!, met when they both worked at Netflix. They had one of those friendly co-worker relationships, where they laughed, and just vibed.
They were on the streaming giant’s brand and editorial teams and found that their skills complemented each other. “We are also both from Minnesota,” Watson said. “We just go together.”
The duo moved on to Clubhouse, where Watson was employee number 13 and Nisita was employee number 20. There they also built out the social platform’s editorial and brand teams, but more than a year into the job, they left to become co-founders.
“The workplace just started to feel more dull, empty and less fulfilling,” Watson said. They wanted to fix that.
The result is why?!, a new conversation app that’s part messaging app, part networking app and part dating app. The founders announced on Wednesday that they’ve raised $1.65 million in a pre-seed round, led by Charles Hudson, managing partner and founder of Precursor Ventures.
The app comes in the midst of what experts are calling America’s “loneliness epidemic,” in which people have come to feel more isolated and disconnected from the people around them.
why?! seeks to help people connect.
“We’ve interviewed and worked with some therapists and psychologists that helped us understand some of the key factors of closeness,” Watson said, saying that people want to be in reciprocal, deep and trustworthy relationships.
There are already so many social media apps on the market, but why?! hopes to stand out from the pack with its “simplicity and its intimacy.” It’s currently in private beta mode with plans to officially launch in the fall. It features question card games that can be played by users in private chats; a daily question at the top of the home feed; a FaceTime-like feature for people to chat; and a weekly prompt that asks people what they are currently up to.
The name idea came from the app’s head of engineering, Cody Zhang. “We were looking for something that felt like an open-ended question,” Nisita said. “The most common and profound question you can ask anyone is … why? And then ask it again, and again.”
Watson also said the fundraising process was “oddly delightful” with no horror stories. “Our cap table is amazing,” Watson said. “As women and a founder of color, we feel super fortunate and privileged that we were able to attract investors that we like, we trust, we feel safe with, who each bring unique wisdom and perspective.”
She said at this stage, investors are betting on her and Nisita as founders. They had somewhat of a rolling pre-seed round and started collecting capital officially last summer. They met Hudson, the investor who led the round, through a friend who is in Hudson’s portfolio. Barclays Black Formation Investments managed by Zeal Capital Partners, Virginie Raphael from FullCircle and Mohammad Almalkawi, the CTO of Clubhouse, also participated in the round.
Being a founder is a long way from the corporate cushion of a 9-5. Watson called it an adventure, “the ultimate quest and expedition.” For them, working at Clubhouse was like getting a PhD in startups, they said.
“There was so much attention and competition at the time that some of the most important lessons we learned was to tune out the noise, minimize external distractions, keep your head down and focus on your users and your mission,” Watson said, adding that Netflix taught them the importance of creating a good working environment. “Normally startups don’t think about culture this early, but because of our time there, we prioritize it now. We want to build the proper conditions for success.”
Right now, there are four full-time people, including Watson, Zhang, Nisita and product engineer Kam Robinson, at the company and they are hoping to hire more engineering support as the app officially launches and grows its user base.
This story was updated to reflect the names of those on the team.
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