Shreya Murthy

And what we started losing was that social aspect of entertainment.

So we got movies and then we got TVs and all of a sudden we're just kind of silently all watching a screen together.

At least with the TV we're all kind of together watching TV in the living room.

And then what happens is when phones came around, that entertainment shifted to becoming an individual experience.

I can watch TV on my phone in my bedroom and not even hang out with my family in the living room.

And so when we've always craved entertainment, and there's nothing wrong with that, like

I love TV.

I love being on my phone.

But when there's no alternative way to find connection, that's when it becomes really problematic.

And so what we thought about at Partiful is we're not trying to fight however much people want to be on their phones.

That's for them to decide.

But what we are trying to do is make it so that if you want to open up your phone and access the real world and find really fun things to do and people to do them with, that it's

almost as easy to do that as it is to open your phone and start scrolling.

Yes, the company started in March 2020.

Yes.

I didn't look at any data.

This was straight from the heart.

It was just how I was feeling.

I was feeling lonely.

And so many people around me were feeling lonely.