Shahzad Younas | Muzz a Muslim Tinder? Match Group Saga, Beef with Penny Appeal, Startup to Matchmaking Juggernaut
Jan 29, 2024
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Shahzad Younas, founder of Muzz, talks about marriage apps, challenges with Penny Appeal and Match Group, misconceptions about Muzz, transparency in Muslim charities, growing the business, and using their platform for important issues.
Muz, the largest Muslim matrimonial app, focuses on creating successful marriages with over 10 million members and 500,000 marriages facilitated.
Muz faced legal battles with dating app giant Match Group, strengthening the business and leading to product improvements.
Expanding Muz internationally requires understanding local dynamics, cultural differences, and engaging with the local community to tailor features and design.
Deep dives
Platform growth and focus on marriage
The CEO of Muz, previously known as Muzmatch, discusses the growth of the platform and its goal of creating successful marriages. He shares that the app has grown to 10 million members and facilitated over 500,000 marriages. The platform aims to provide a comfortable space for Muslims of various levels of religious practice to find a compatible partner. The CEO emphasizes that the app's focus is on long-term relationships and getting married, and they have implemented measures to ensure the authenticity and seriousness of users' intentions.
Legal battles with Match Group
The CEO shares insights into the legal battles with Match Group, a leading player in the dating app industry that owns platforms like Tinder. He reveals that Match Group attempted to acquire Muz, but after the offer was declined, they filed lawsuits against Muz regarding brand infringement and functionality. The legal battles have cost Muz over two million pounds, creating stress and distractions for the team. Despite some losses in court, the CEO maintains that the experience has strengthened Muz as a business and led to product improvements.
Challenges of international expansion
The CEO talks about the challenges of expanding Muz internationally and adapting the app to various markets. He highlights the importance of understanding local dynamics, cultural differences, and social norms. The CEO mentions the need for localization, being sensitive to privacy and modesty concerns, and engaging with the local community to tailor the app's features and design. He also acknowledges the marketplace nature of the app, wherein achieving a healthy male-female ratio and understanding the emotional nature of the journey are crucial factors.
Charity Transparency and Accountability
The podcast episode discusses the importance of transparency and accountability in charities. The speaker emphasizes the need for charities to provide regular updates and transparency about how donated funds are used. The example of a project in Sudan that faced challenges is given to highlight the importance of transparency. The speaker believes that donors deserve transparency since their money is being used and that charities should be held accountable for their actions.
Building a Business and Making Ethical Decisions
The podcast episode also explores the journey of building a business and making ethical decisions. The speaker shares experiences of dealing with investors and making decisions based on principles. The importance of having strong and successful Muslim business people is highlighted, as they can use their platform for good and make an impact. The speaker also discusses the future plans for the business, including the development of a new platform to connect Muslims and the aspiration to leave a positive imprint on the world.
In this episode, we get the founder of Muzz (formerly MuzMatch), the largest Muslim matrimonial app in the world to talk about marriage apps, Gaza as well as his various beefs with Penny Appeal, Match Group and Asim Qureshi.
For Penny Appeal Rebuttal see here: https://pennyappeal.org/news/setting-record-straight
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