Match by character
We built dating for Switzerland: character first, a small curated set every evening, membership for commitment.
On a hike at Morteratsch Glacier, my friend and I got stuck on the same problem. Dating apps optimize for infinite swipe fatigue. We still swipe, but you cannot swipe forever. Every evening at 9 PM we curate 6 to 10 people who fit your character.
There is no dating app built for the Swiss market. We are in Zurich, we speak the language, we know the culture. TypeMatch shows why someone appears. Membership with trial raises commitment.
In 11 weeks: 6’200+ new users, 47% start a free trial, peak #7 in Social Networking CH.
Role: Co-Founder · Product, Design, Growth
My part: business strategy, product design, app development, marketing
Problem and hypothesis
Dating apps optimize for retention through endless swipe. Paywalls keep people hoping. Our friend group stayed single anyway. And Switzerland had no product built for its language, culture and real meeting distance.
Hypothesis: if we curate 6 to 10 character fits every evening at 9 PM, show why each person appears, stay Switzerland only, and make the product member only with a trial, people commit instead of doomscrolling.
Onboarding
I tried to keep onboarding as short as it can be without feeling thin. Every step is a trade: you give something, you get something back.
Promise first. Then location for Switzerland. Then a photo with an award moment, not a cold upload. At the end, tap to commit: every user makes a promise to the community before they enter.
TypeMatch
TypeMatch is the character mapping engine. Questions cover how you love, how you talk, how you live. Some answers get ranked so priorities stay visible.
We do not hide behind a black box score. Users can open the match and read both answers side by side. Compatibility becomes something you can inspect, challenge and act on.
How the product works
You still swipe, but the stack is finite. Every evening at 9 PM: 6 to 10 people curated to your character. New set the next day. No infinite feed.
The illustrated screens teach the model in place: how suggestions work, how to open the character compare, how chat starts after the match makes sense. Membership with trial keeps the room committed.
Why 6 to 10 people
Thirty profiles a night would feel generous. It would also break the product. People stop reading answers and start consuming faces like fast food.
Six to ten is the range where someone still opens TypeMatch, compares answers, and treats a profile like a person. Go lower and users feel shortchanged. They want more choice. Go higher and attention collapses. The constraint is the value.
Brand that carries the product
Four stars. Every person is unique, every match should feel that way.
The brand says what the product does: someone out there fits your character, and we find them. Not endless swipe. Character first. Dates that stay.
Results
Launch 5 August 2026. In 11 weeks: 6,200+ new users, with acquisition staying strong after the first peak.
47% of new users start a free trial. Peak #7 in Social Networking CH, between Discord and WeChat.
What’s next
Improve the TypeMatch algorithm so character mapping gets sharper with real usage.
The community can send feedback and improvement ideas directly in the app. That loop feeds the next sprints.
Next scale target: 10,000 users in the Swiss market.