Directi Case Study Contest - Pre-Dater from ISB Hyderabad

U ’n’ MeOnline Networking and Dating WebsiteThe Pre-DatersAshwin Mahantha, Rohit Kewlani, Shahnawaz Alam, Sonali Gupta

Executive SummaryVision To deliver an end-to-end solution to the dating needs of the alumni and college students.Existing Pain-point Low turnout of women on existing online-dating websites due to the low hygiene levels of such websites. Deluge of fake female profiles on online dating websites and subsequent skepticism Towards dating websites.Solution Provide a secure, close knit credible platform for young people to socialize and look for date. An online-offline model to provide a compete solution to the dating needs of the youth. Virtual parties to provide an interesting way to interact with prospective dates online.Investment Required An initial investment of ` 750,000 will be required as operating expenses in the first year.

Our Solution Closed Groups Online – Offline Social Events Promotional Offers for Female Users Reliable platform Online virtual parties Promotional offers and conducive for women provide an easy medium for freebies for female users to even the introverts to date. encourage higher user Authentic profiles ensure Offline events provide activity sustainable growth in opportunity to meet face to These promotions will not network face with prosepecive be publicized but given dates privately to active users. Report Abuse Points Based Rating System To ensure content Rating based on profile moderation completion and user activity The membership of Points earned can be consistently erring users redeemed to send virtual will be cancelled gifts.

Five Forces Analysis – Online Dating Industry Weak Strong Bargaining Power of Buyers 6 4 Competitiv Threat of e Rivalry 2 New within the Entrants industry 0 Bargaining Threat of Power of Substitutes Suppliers

Competitor Analysis Fropper.com IndianDating.com UnMe.comTarget Segment •Not focused •Not clear whether it’s •Focused on dating for college •Dating is only one of the meant for casual or long- students and alums features term relationshipsOffline Events No No Yes, Socials Events in various cities Security Weak - does not verify its Weak – No verification of •Extensive member verification members & their contact users authenticity •Users must use their real names details Marketing •Weak marketing tactics •No offline promotions •Offline promotions in target colleges. •SEO optimizations are •Only online marketing •Online marketing through social missing media. •Website will be search engine optimizedVirtual parties No No YesSpecial Gifts to No No Yes but without publicity female users Testimonials No No Yes

Market Potential Assuming internet penetration of 10% in the target age group, Market potentialNo. of Colleges in India 12 Million 25938 120 10 Million Million Total market potential for 12 No. of students enrolled in years, assuming target age colleges per year group of 18 to 30 yrs

Primary Research - Survey Survey Statistics Cluster AnalysisRespondents 47Female 42%RespondentsCollege Students 53% 2.17Average Age of 22.7 yearsRespondentsWilling to Join 40% 1.29U’n’MeWilling to take 9%PremiumMembershipWilling to attend 47% The The Theat least one Innovators Introverts OutgoingSocials Event

Brand PotentialHow likely is it that you will become a member of UnMe.com? 7% Definitely 19% Probably 33% 22% Dont Know Probably not 19% Definitely notSurveySample size used = 47Using the top two box method, we estimate that we can target 40% ofthe market Brand Potential = 40%(12Million) = 4.8MillionAssuming 100% awareness and availability

Two Level SegmentationLevel 1 – Based on Age Segment Age Group Willingness to Use U’n’Me Youth 18-28 40% Marriage 28-35 21% minded Single Agains >35 13%Level 2 – Based on Cluster Analysis of Youth (target segment ) Cluster Characteristics DiscriminationInnovators First to use a new networking Make new friends on social media website Read tech blogs Mix of guys and girlsThe Outgoing Willing to meet college alums Visit sports’ websites Willing to meet online friends Active on social media Dominantly maleThe Introvert Need ice-breakers to meet Befriend known people only on social media even college alums Read relationship blogs Act on recommendations of friends Dominantly female

Foothold Segment - CharacteristicsUn-entrenched • They have never experienced online dating and hence less skeptical of an online dating website Users Eager to meet • The level of enthusiasm is much higher in the young college going segment.the opposite sex Very active • Information spreads very fast. • A good website can get a lot of time per usersocial networks • A good product can get a lot of word of mouth publicity. Low paying • Will only pay for value-for-money products. • Initially target college students in Delhi and Mumbai capacity who have higher than average paying capacity.

Business Model User registers at UnMe, Theme of “Socials” requests access to his User registers for the events decided by college groups premium account premium members Moderators grant Premium users suggested Users register online to request, User joins ideal matches, can attend events at any groups message other members locationUser interacts with others Crush list informs if twoWith basic features. Earns members are in each Users attend the events points based on activity others’ listVirtual speed dating and Members meet their Users upload photos andvirtual parties arranged match and continue chat about the event,by regional moderators dating make more friends

Monetization Strategies -1/3 ADVERTISEMENTS • On typical social websites, 99% of the users are free account holders Need • Advertisements will be our primary source of revenue from these users. • Initially, we will opt for Google Adsense advertising program. Affiliate • Google Adsense is a hassle free and displays advertisements. Programs • Ads relevant to the content of the site is displayed. Henec, it is less annoying to the users. Premium users will see advertisements only if they self-selectExceptions themselves to view the advertisements.

Monetization Strategies – 2/3 “Socials” Event Fees • Using the top two box method, we identified that 47% of those Need surveyed were willing to pay a fee of `1500 per “Socials” event. • Premium Members of the region will be polled to decide the theme The Event of any “Socials” Event. • Our Regional moderators will organize the event. •We estimate earnings of ` 750k from “Socials” events in the first year. •As we scale up to cover more cities, these events will be a good Revenues source of revenue for us.

Monetization Strategies – 3/3 Premium Accounts • 9% of the responders to our survey were willing to pay `3000 to gain Need access to our premium services. • Premium Members can break off from a virtual party to private virtual rooms. • Premium Members will have a say in deciding the theme of anyThe Services “Socials” Event. • Premium Members will have an ad-free experience on U’n’Me. • Various premium plans ranging from quarterly fee to yearly fee will be offered. •We estimate earnings of ` 45k from Premium accounts in the first Revenues year.

Marketing Strategies CurrentMarketing MarketObjectives Position Marketing Plan Market Market SWOT Overview analysis

• Get as many colleges registered as possible Marketing • Get the maximum users registered from same college. Objectives • “Convey the strengths and USPs of U’n’Me to the users. • S – Unique offerings with focus on target segment Marketing • W – Lack of experience of team in running online dating siteSWOT Analysis • O – A huge market with unsatisfied needs • T – Envelopment due to the advent of social networks • A huge market with unmet demands.Marketing Plan • Market size: 12Million young internet using population. • Expected market share: 4.8Million users.Current Market • No presence in the market. Position • Negative perception of dating websites • Target eager college going students who not yet skeptical of dating sites. Marketing • Acquire a large chunk of students from each target college. Same side network effect and word of mouth publicity will get new customers. Strategies

Product Marketing – 1/2 • Online-offline platform for college students and Product alumni to socialize and look for date • FREE registration for basic account Pricing • `3000 per annum for premium account • `1500 registration charge for offline Socials event • In the first couple of years, we would target colleges Place in tier 1 cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

Product Marketing – 2/2 • Promotion at colleges through introductory “Socials” eventPromotion • Reward points users with high activity on U’n’Me • Freebies for female users – gift vouchers • 14 day free trial of premium account • A secure environment to meet people from yourPositioning own institute to socialize and date • College Students People • IT Professionals • Social Network Users

Product Features – Year 1 Socials events - Offline •Virtual Parties – To A user who gets reported Mr. and Ms. Socials –socializing events interact with each other for abusive behavior Awards to two users Speed dating in a virtual world consistently will be every month based on Theme Parties •Available to Free removed from the site. user voting and rating. members too. Special gifts for the winnersPoints System Users will Moderators will grant  Detailed user profile Crush Listbe awarded points for access to users joining improves rating of the  Option to maintain aprofile completion and the group upon request user - Photos/Video crush list of 3 usersuser activity. thereby avoiding the Sharing etc.  Automatic privatePoints can be redeemed incidents of fake profiles  Testimonials – to message feature if 2for sending virtual gifts to appreciate someone people are in the crushother U’n’Me members.  Smiley based Rating list of each other System – Sexy, Cool, Trustworthy, Boring

Product Features – Year 2Virtual Parties Extended Profile Matching Forums Premium users can go  Automatic algorithms to  A forum to discussfor private virtual chat match profile based on common interests, ideasrooms user profile and interests for the upcoming ‘Socials’ events Love Guru Actual Dating Past Events’ details & results  Love Gurus will groom  Setting up actual first  Outcomes of ‘The Socials’ people to get a date time date for interested activities and contests will  Online counseling to couples in a secure be published on the past deal with break-ups environment (Paid events page on the website Feature)

Product PlanYear 1 Features • Moderation - Create a secure environment for users • Virtual Dating – USP to get users to U’n’Me • Offline “Socials” Events – To complete the user dating experience with opportunity for offline dating • The other features are add-ons to enhance the user experienceYear 2 Features • Focus is on enhancing user experience of both premium and free members • Virtual Parties Extended – To improve demand for premium membership • Love Guru – To groom the users to be better prepared for dating and the problems in relationships. • Profile Matching – For easier search ability and matching of profiles

Market Penetration – Bass Model Forecasting Scenarios 100,000,000 90,000,000 80,000,000 MBA p and q 70,000,000Cumulated Adoptions 60,000,000 FEMBA p and q 50,000,000 Average p and q 40,000,000 30,000,000 Average of MBA and FEMBA p and q 20,000,000 10,000,000 - 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Periods * Source for p and q values - http://ijikm.org/Volume1/IJIKMv1p001-012_Firth01.pdf 22

Income Statement Year 01 Year 02 Year 03 Year 04 • We expect the services to expand from 6 collegesno. of cities 1 2 6 20 across 1 city to a total of 156 colleges across 20no. of colleges 6 24 72 156 cities within 4 yearsno. of users 900 3,600 10,800 19,200 • With 1st year sales accounting for Rs. 10 lacs werevenue 1,080,000 4,320,000 12,960,000 19,680,000cogs 54,000 237,600 712,800 1,082,400 expect to a net profit margin of 20% amountinggross profit 1,026,000 4,082,400 12,247,200 18,597,600 to Rs. 2 lacs in net profitsno. of. staff 13 22 46 88 • By the end of 4th year, we expect sales of Rs. 2no. of. supportstaff 1 5 14 31 crores & a net profit of Rs. 62 lacssalary 390,000 726,000 1,518,000 2,904,000sales & marketing 216,000 864,000 2,592,000 3,936,000support 18,000 79,200 237,600 514,800general admin 14,200 26,800 60,400 119,200r&d 86,400 345,600 1,036,800 1,574,400depreciation 21,600 129,600 388,800 590,400operating profit 279,800 1,911,200 6,413,600 8,958,800taxes 83,940 573,360 1,924,080 2,687,640net profit 195,860 1,337,840 4,489,520 6,271,160

Assumptions for the Income Statement We undertook the below shown Cogs/sales 5% cogs growth 10% reasonable, conservative assumptions to fixed staff 10 come up with the Income (P&L) statement college/variable staff 2 college/support staff 5 avg salary/staff 30000 avg salary/staff 15000 salary growth 10% no. of no. of no. of cities cities colleges users ARPU marketing expense 20% pop>7m 6 12 150 1200 admin/staff 1000 pop>2m 14 6 100 800 pop≤2m 20 3 50 500 r&d 8% capex 10% capex growth 50% depreciation 20% tax 30%

Revenue Projections Year 01 Q1 Year 01 Q2 Year 01 Q3 Year 01 Q4 Year 02 Q1 Year 02 Q2 Year 02 Q3 Year 02 Q4no. of cities 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2no. of colleges 1 2 4 6 10 16 20 24no. of users 150 300 600 900 1,500 2,400 3,000 3,600no. of events 1 1 1 2 5 5 5 5revenue - ads 1,500 3,000 6,000 9,000 30,000 48,000 60,000 72,000revenue - events 150,000 150,000 150,000 300,000 900,000 900,000 900,000 900,000revenue - premiumservices 7,500 7,500 15,000 15,000 75,000 45,000 30,000 30,000 Revenues from the 3 monetization Year Year modules Assumptions 01 02 revenue - ads/ user 10 20 • Total revenue (Year 01) = Rs. 8.2 lacs revenue - events/ user 1,000 1,200 • Total revenue (Year 02) = Rs. 40 lacs revenue - premium services@5% user 1,000 1,000

Organization Chart CEO Quality Assurance Manager Marketing Operation Technology Finance LegalVice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Software Event Manager Developers Regional Moderators

Team Credentials Ashwin Mahantha : 4 years of experience in IT industry • Worked extensively on IT product development • Co-Founder Giving For Good – an online social venture Rohit Kewlani: 4 years of experience in IT software • Rich experience in web technologies like Flash across plethora of desktop/devices • Expertise in integrating content databases with customer friendly web-interfaces. Shahnawaz Alam : 5 years experience in Banking. • Set up credit risk infrastructure for a large public bank in UAE • Experienced in lubricants sales in North India. Sonali Gupta: 6 years of IT consulting experience in 5 different countries • Led global client teams for ERP implementation as Supply Chain Consultant • Co-founder eKriti – a social entrepreneurial venture

Conclusions• The product has a huge market potential because of the increasing population of young population and internet savvy population in India.• The product will be targeted at the youth segment with specialized marketing plan for the innovators, the outgoing and the introverts.• The product will have strong same-side network effects and will catch up with the early/late majority of users as its popularity grows.• The two key features of rigorous profile authentication and virtual parties will keep the users hooked on to U’n’Me.• The product will be priced high to give the users quality service and a sense of quality service. 28

Mockups

U’n’Me Home Page

U’n’Me – Virtual Dating

U’n’Me – Create/Moderate New Group

Thank you!

Appendix

Segmentation Analysis 35

Discrimination Questions 36

Attributes & Levels Used for Conjoint Attributes / Levels Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Price 1000 1500 3000 Online Features Virtual Parties Chat Rooms Feature Not Available Offline Events Dinner and Games Speed Dating Feature Not Available

Result of Conjoint AnalysisThe results of the conjoint analysis reveal that: • Respondents correlate higher price with higher quality. Hence, Rs. 3000 has the maximum partworth. • Respondents showed a preference for Virtual Parties over Chat Rooms. • Respondents have equal preference for Dinner & Games and Speed Networking. Attributes Average Partworths Rs. 1000 0 Rs 1500 37 Rs 3000 50 Virtual Parties 15 Chat Rooms 6 No Premium On-line Features 8 Dinner and Games 24 Speed Dating 23 No Off-line Features 2 38

Estimation of p & q values Bass Model p q m actual m MBA 0.017 0.238 192 191 FEMBA 0.057 0.288 66 65 BAEG 0.175 0 49 43 Overall Avg 0.083 0.175333 Avg MBA and FEMBA 0.037 0.263 Source – Paper “Predicting Internet-based Online Community Size and Time to Peak Membership Using the Bass Model of New Product Growth” 39

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Directi Case Study Contest - Pre-Dater from ISB Hyderabad

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Directi Case Study Contest - Pre-Dater from ISB Hyderabad Presentation Transcript