Scott Wu, Cofounder and CTO of Lunchclub | Founder Interview

Summary

In this episode of Forward Thinking Founders, host Matt interviews Scott Wu, CTO and co-founder of Lunch Club, a platform focused on fostering meaningful offline connections in the professional realm. Scott discusses the evolution of Lunch Club from a mobile app to its current form, emphasizing the importance of in-person meetings over online interactions for building high-value professional relationships. He shares insights on the company's growth, the challenges of scaling while maintaining quality, and his views on the democratization of opportunity. Scott also offers advice to aspiring founders, highlighting the importance of persistence and leveraging the openness of industry leaders for mentorship.

Takeaways

• 😀 Lunch Club is a platform focused on facilitating meaningful offline connections, particularly in the professional space.
• 💡 The platform operates by sending users a weekly email to schedule a meeting with a matched individual, promoting real-life interactions.
• 🔄 Scott Wu, CTO and co-founder of Lunch Club, emphasizes that the system, not the users, selects the matches to ensure diverse and unexpected connections.
• 🌟 The concept of Lunch Club evolved from an AI concierge idea to its current form, reflecting a shift in product strategy over time.
• 🚀 The company has recently gained attention and investment from notable investors, indicating its potential and traction.
• 🌐 Lunch Club is present in eight cities and aims to maintain quality while scaling up, which is identified as a significant challenge.
• 🤝 Scott Wu's background as a competitive programmer and world champion has influenced his approach to building Lunch Club.
• 💼 The platform is positioned as a tool for the future of work, helping individuals expand their professional networks and opportunities.
• 🌟 Scott Wu views Lunch Club as a means to democratize opportunity, aligning with broader trends towards openness and accessibility in various industries.
• 💡 The interview concludes with advice for aspiring founders: reach out to successful individuals for guidance, and maintain perseverance and grit in the face of challenges.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Lunch Club?

Lunch Club is focused on facilitating meaningful offline connections in the professional space. It aims to connect users with others they might not have met otherwise, fostering real-life interactions and conversations.

How does the matching process work on Lunch Club?

Users receive an email once a week asking if they are interested in taking a meeting. If they respond positively, they provide some preferences, and the system matches them with another user within 24 hours. The match is not chosen by the user but is determined by the Lunch Club system based on the information provided by the user.

Why is Lunch Club emphasizing offline connections over online interactions?

The founder believes that in-person connections have a higher signal-to-noise ratio and are more valuable in the professional space. These connections often lead to long-term relationships and more meaningful engagements compared to online interactions.

What was the original concept behind the company that developed Lunch Club?

The company was initially called Elliott and was intended to be an electronic AI concierge that would understand users and their schedules to facilitate meetings. It has since evolved into Lunch Club, which focuses on making meaningful offline connections.

How has the product evolved since its inception?

The product has undergone several iterations, starting as a mobile app focused on scheduling, then exploring personal CRM and other meeting apps, before settling on the current Lunch Club model, which emphasizes meeting new people and an opt-out system for matches.

What are the short to mid-term goals for Lunch Club?

The short to mid-term goals include expanding to a massive scale while maintaining the quality of connections. The company is currently in eight different cities and aims to continue growing its user base and the meaningfulness of the connections it facilitates.

How does Lunch Club fit into the broader industry or trend?

Lunch Club is difficult to categorize but is positioned at the intersection of networking, personal CRM, and the future of work. It aims to democratize opportunities and connections, which is a growing trend as more professionals seek to expand their networks and opportunities.

What are some of the challenges that Lunch Club faces as it scales?

One of the main challenges is maintaining the quality of connections as the user base grows. The company needs to ensure that the matching algorithm continues to create meaningful and valuable connections for users as it expands to more cities and industries.

How does Scott Wu's background in competitive programming influence Lunch Club?

Scott Wu's technical background and experience as a world champion in competitive programming have likely influenced the data-driven approach and algorithmic matching system used by Lunch Club to connect users.

What advice does Scott Wu have for aspiring founders looking to start their own companies?

Scott advises aspiring founders to leverage the openness of the startup ecosystem to connect with experienced individuals, to not give up despite the challenges and low probabilities of success, and to maintain a long-term vision and belief in their ability to make an impact.