Candle

Candle helps couples and friends grow closer daily in just 5 minutes. Backed by @ycombinator (YC F24)

[Candle @trycandleapp]

🔥

[TechCrunch @TechCrunch]

How these founders, while in YC, pivoted from a shopping app to build Candle, a consumer app that helps couples and friends grow closer. https://t.co/lu21LzK5yi

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 402 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more

made on candle :)

pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 401 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

we’ve now crossed over $250k in revenue in the last 28 days, surpassing $3m + annualized rev while staying freemium

one of the hardest parts is balancing a fantastic free experience while also giving people a strong enough incentive to upgrade. ill give my take on this in a later tweet for anyone thinking of moving off a hard paywall.

really proud of the team and everything we’ve learned building this so far. we also have some awesome new features coming soon around memories that we’re really excited about, stay tuned :)

pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 400 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

another fun format that’s been working pretty well for us recently with a solid install -> start trial conversion, 200k views, 1:10 like to view ratio

so hook is: “pov you decided to check the time but you have your gf’s status, distance, and wallpaper on your lockscreen”

starts with someone super excited from a side angle reaction shot checking their phone, then transitions into a super quick tutorial showing how to add the distance + time together/countdown widget to your lockscreen

show the value prop of y + how to do/setup y thing

pair with someone td

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

shoutout @faionur for organizing! We had a great time at usv :)

this is day 399 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help couples and friends connect more

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber @faionur https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 398 of building @trycandleapp , a game to help friends and couples connect more

really excited to finally launch check ins today :) one of the most requested and long awaited features for candle, now built directly into our daily challenge flow

it’s a super lightweight, low pressure way to check in with your partner/friend once a month

one of the challenges here was figuring out how to provide people with a simple communication framework while still feeling lightweight, some reasons why we think this matters long term:

- small unresolved feelings don’t silently build into resentment over time, this is a huge reason people end up drifting apart/leaving

- relationships generally get stronger when people feel safe revisiting hard moments instead of avoiding them

- regular reflection helps people better understand how the other person thinks and experiences the relationship

download the latest update today, and as always we’d love any feedback

pair with someone td

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 395 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

another mini milestone today, we just hit 20k live users on the app :)

can you handle this load @parthematics. pause

pair with someone td

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber @parthematics https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 393 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

new format for the long distance niche, again, try to capture that hyper specific pain point that couples/friends face when doing long distance. (in any niche you are building for, talk to your users to help uncover those pain points, the way you do this is by asking them, "tell me about the last time you experienced y problem, and really hear the details in their story)

first part is trying to capture the feeling you get after ending a really engaging/fun call with someone. laptop shows the brightness at first, then goes dark after closing it to emphasize the emotion.

hook is: “how it feels after the call ends” about 3-4 seconds

transition to the value prop (maybe 2-3 seconds) with a really simple shot of someone holding the phone with a cute/fun message or doodle on the homescreen drawing widget. we’ve noticed that having a shot of someone holding the phone is generally better than a screen recording. was lookin into this and generally hand held phone shots have higher identification and helps people visualize that they already own it/use it which could lead to better conversion

for thi id keep audio minimal with no words to reduce distractions

pair with someone td

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

come check it out if you’re in nyc!

[Candle @trycandleapp]

🎉

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 391 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

today we hit 100k daus

quick tip for any consumer founders, don’t measure just “any active event” or “any event” for ur dau/wau/maus, define what "active" means early on

u can create a single, custom event on amplitude that represents core value in your app. for us, a “candle active event” means answering a question, playing a game, saving a drawing, generating a date idea, etc. this helps keep your metrics honest, filters out bots a bit more (although not perfect), and gives you a return event for your retention graphs

pair with someone td

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@alex_ruber https://t.co/4ph3LmDVJw

[Candle @trycandleapp]

@anamhira We love u 🥹🥰

[Alex Ruber @alex_ruber]

day 390 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)

this week we’re making some really fun updates to our date ideas and activities feature. goal is to make it way easier to find small, unique things to do with a friend or partner, whether you’re long distance, nearby, or just trying to make a random day feel a little more special

stay tuned

pair with someone td