Venture with Grace Allen Wang, Ditto CEO on Gen Z Dating, Virality & Campus Growth
Nov 5, 2025
Allen Wang, co-founder and CEO of Ditto AI, shares insights on revolutionizing Gen Z dating. He recounts Ditto's unique origin story driven by a friend's quest for love. The duo tackles marketing strategies, safety measures on campuses, and the importance of memorable events for viral growth. Allen explains matching users based on vibes, not just hobbies, and discusses monetization strategies focused on real-life connections. With plans for geographic expansion, Ditto aims to create a platform that fosters genuine experiences beyond dating.
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From Pet Agents To Campus Dating
- Allen and his cofounder started as volunteers and built a pet-agent idea that pivoted into dating when they realized users crave in-person connections.
- The roommate story (helping a roommate find a girlfriend) catalyzed Ditto's shift to campus dating and real-life meetups.
Product Is The Core, Marketing Amplifies
- Allen: product must be valuable first; marketing is the amplifier that multiplies product value.
- He calls product the '1' and marketing the zeros — you need both but product comes first.
Engineer Viral Campus Campaigns
- Divide marketing into message and messengers then standardize repeatable campaigns across channels.
- Aim for 10x campaigns that naturally resonate instead of low-effort spamming to hit campus scale.
