Ed Elson

Young people are spending far less time together in real life.

In fact, face-to-face socializing among teens has dropped 50% since 2003.

That trend sparked an idea for my next guest, who set out to build a product to change that.

And by many metrics, it is succeeding.

Back in 2020, she launched a startup with a simple goal, make it easier for people to gather offline, just as a global pandemic forced everyone apart.

But against the odds, the company survived and has since become a go-to event platform for young people.

Now, with millions of users across more than 100 countries,

It is redefining how a generation makes plans and shows up in person.

This is my conversation with Shreya Murthy, CEO and co-founder of Portiful.

Shreya Murthy, thank you for joining me on First Time Founders.

I think every young person listening to this podcast probably knows what Partiful is.

I use it all the time.

All of my friends use it all the time.

Anytime we are getting people together for a dinner party or any kind of event, we are using Partiful.

But I'm sure there are a lot of other people who maybe don't know what Partiful is.

What is it?

Say more about how it's become a cultural phenomenon.

I agree with you.

I didn't know what it was until maybe two or three years ago, and now I feel like young people are using it pretty much every weekend.

How did it explode into this cultural phenomenon?