Can someone explain the opportunity in Pair? I tried it for a few days with my wife. Cool concept and thumb kiss was cute but we later reverted to iMessage just cause its more convenient and accessible. What 'pain point' does pair solve?
My wife and I use Pair almost daily since I first saw the post on HN. I think it has to do with Pair feeling like our private chat (though I know nothing server-based really is). iMessage is what I use to talk to everyone. Whatsapp is what I use to talk to everyone outside US. Pair is just for my wife. Both of us have stressful work-lives so sending cute drawings over pair is a welcome break. We were so excited on Tuesday when we thumb-kissed for the first time while not being on the same sofa.
I don't think of Pair as a communication app. I think of it as our time together when we're far apart. iMessage is gathering around the water cooler. Pair is pillow-talk in the bedroom. I know it's not a rational or testable statement but it "feels" private and personal. And emotions are a big deal when you're talking about apps and Pair seems to have got it right.
* above statements not sponsored by Pair, just a happy user :)
I am considering a move towards Pair myself. I am away from my girlfriend for the next five months or so and up to now we are only using Facebook messages, and I have growing concerns over privacy (Not that a move to Pair will solve them). But what is pushing me most towards Pair is that sometimes I go to Facebook just to message my girlfriend and it sort of drag me towards answering other messages and notifications and so on. Having an app just for your significant other is a huge plus.
I can't say this answers your question but I often find that with a significant other, you almost have a "double life": one you share with the rest of the world and one reserved for just him or her.
Never having tried Pair, I can't form an educated opinion but I'm assuming it's sort of like a Google+ circle with a cardinality of 2. Given the behavior I just described, there might be more of a need for "circles" of 2 than just about any other particular number.
Now take your "circle of 2", throw in some cutesy features catering to the nature of that circle, and I can see why their product is useful to a lot of people.
Probably not that useful in parts of Utah, but elsewhere on the globe, sure.
I've used Pair and I've also used TheIceBreak and I really don't understand the frenzy over Pair. I just don't understand how it's different from MMS. I've been more impressed by the robust product that TheIceBreak offers. I especially love their Icebreaker section and the ability to track my relationship over time. I think I would give them a shot and see if it offers more to you than Pair does.
The opportunity is in "owning" a high value relationship (an edge) between two people (two nodes).
There is a lot of commerce that relies along that edge in the social graph. e.g. Valentines Day, Anniversaries, Dates.
The first step is to own the relationship and the second step is to monetize the relationship, both of which are challenging problems but solvable.
If you know a couple's anniversary and know the content of their relationship communication, you could conceivably suggest activities and gifts that are monetizable. Jewelry, dinners, activities in common, etc.
By focusing on a narrow relationship, you can build NLP tools around romantic/amorous banter that identify things that couple would enjoy doing together.
There is a lot of money here, but it ain't gonna be easy. This is the type of startup where hiring A players really really matters, because to become valuable, you need people that can execute solidly on the first problem and then people who can take that solution and execute solidly on the second problem. Many startups owning a valuable user base often fail to monetize those relationships.
I think this goes to show how valuable being part of YC is. Were any other app like this to try and raise money outside of that circle, I think it would be difficult. Not to say Pair and its team isn't deserving, but 4.2 is a lot of cash.
I'm sure the YC team and Pair would say that it's more than just a mobile app though, which makes me curious...what do investors want to see when funding an app like this? Where is the distinction between something like Camera+, which is profitable but probably not fundable, and something like this or Instagram?
I don't get the value add here and why its fundable. I'm sure its useful, but will it become ubiquitous? I doubt it. So it seems like the VC's are trying to have another Instagram hit.
But that's a VC's job. To take risks and hope for the next big thing. I don't see it here. Maybe this team, but not this idea.
Seems like a niche product, but I reckon it's got huge potential. People are vain. This lets someone else make you feel good 24/7. I think $4.2m is going to get this into a lot of pockets.
As they're an iPhone app, it doesn't really matter -- Pair web hosting (an awesome FreeBSD based hosting provider on the east coast, I first used them in the late 1990s) doesn't have any apps in the app store as far as I can tell.
Strictly speaking "Between" were first movers http://appbetween.us/lang/en-us - but with the huge amount of press afforded to YC companies, you would never have known it...
Props to the team. Haven't had a chance to try it yet (Android) but when I enquired they got back to me so quickly and followed up as soon as pre-registration was ready. Solid customer service!
