We finally implemented AI into our platform, and it's not just a wrapper. Our findings:

What/the setup:

About a year ago, we launched InvestLink Social (www.investlinksocial.com) as a social networking platform that connects founders and investors to assist in the fundraising process. Before launch, we took a few years to build our network and establish strong relationships with both sides of the marketplace, so on day one, we would have a high-quality user base.

The problem:

This past year has been an incredible journey with our users finding success through our platform + us collecting tangable data between successfully connections, similar variables on what will make a startup succeed vs not, and the lives we've been able to change with our product (just the other week we had a founder raise a $20,000 check in less than a week). One thing was always missing, though...we found that no matter what features we put on the home page, there was always friction from each user who joined. Friction meaning the user had to take steps to get to their desired outcome (connecting with an investor, sending a message, scrolling the feed, etc.).

To solve this friction, we took feedback from users (mainly being that they wanted things automated/had paralysis because they didn't know who to talk to & how to start a funding conversation). We also dove into the real world and looked at how larger institutional investors (and some founders) operated.

The solution:

With these findings, one thing became very clear: we had to implement an AI networking concierge built on our Smart Matching engine and the data we've been collecting for the past year. A concierge where a user signs up/logs in, tells it who they want to meet and talk to today, and the concierge not only finds the perfect match based on data, but also starts the conversation to break the ice. Humanizing this, we decided to name the concierge, Haley.

The findings:

Haley was launched a week ago and has changed our trajectory on all fronts, from user acquisition, retention, and even our fundraising efforts.

Content/Ads = Before Haley, most of our content (organic & paid media) was UGC styled videos from our real users talking about the success they had on InvestLink Social. These did great at first but fell off quickly. After Haley, we switched our content to rely heavily on the AI side of things and have seen between 10x - 20x engagement growth. We've steadily gained new users and customers each day, a need for our platform, since we aim for network effects.

Retention/User Success = Before Haley, we had strong retention, especially for a web-app, in the first 2 - 3 days from sign up. After those days, we would see drop-offs. Our retention and feedback loop issues made it hard for users to successfully connect. After Haley, our 7-day retention is the highest it's ever been (of course, we're a week in, so we're tracking), and we've already tracked multiple successful connections/conversations from warm introductions Haley has made.

Fundraising = Before Haley, we're looking to close up the remaining of our round from outside investors and had traveled to NYC and the Bay over the summer to set up meetings. We had some traction on those conversations and a few maybes, but not too many were excited. After Haley, the reception has been great from outside investors, with multiple reachouts from investors (not us reaching out to them), on learning more and hopping in.

The conclusion:

Building InvestLink Social has taught me a lot, but the biggest lesson I've learned from this is: Mainstream is mainstream for a reason. Throughout my entire entrepreneurial journey (10+ years), I have always tried to create something that was unique and off the beaten path. I've had a lot of success doing that, BUT the time it took was outrageous. Even with InvestLink Social, we stayed away from AI for the majority of the journey since we wanted to create something that wasn't built just around hype, but to show that we could do the groundwork. And yes, that groundwork has gotten us to where we are today; however, seeing what traction implementing an AI feature has brought is mindblowing.

Final remarks:

I know this post is long, so thank you to everyone who stuck with me in my ramblings. I hope there are some nuggets you can take out of this. The journey is tough and a long one, but if you continue to build, stick it out, and learn, the rewards will follow.

If you have a chance, I'd love for you to check out Haley on investlinksocial.com. We're free to join & use, and are giving everyone a free warm introduction to either an active investor or a high-performing founder. Any and all feedback is good, tell me if you love it or hate it, I'm all ears :)