Apr 29, 2024 · 28m · big-technology
Yubo Wants To Replace Performative Social Media With Real Time Social Discovery
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Yubo CEO and co-founder Sasha Lazimi speaks with Alex Kantrowitz about reimagining social networking for Gen Z by replacing passive, ad-driven feeds and influencer broadcasts with safe, real-time social discovery in small live rooms.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Alex holds 25.7% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Alex as informed peer 4.6 Guest teaching 3.4 Guest disagreement 0.4 Alex pushing back 0.6
speaking balance: gold is Alex, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 19:20 Lazimi dismisses Clubhouse and Houseparty as feature-level performance apps
Lazimi rejects grouping Yubo with Clubhouse and Houseparty, arguing both failed because they relied on existing friend graphs and performative broadcast dynamics rather than organic socialization.
Hardest push from Alex ▶ 10:44 Kantrowitz presses on the counterintuitive anti-influencer modelKantrowitz pushes back on Yubo's approach by pointing out that the most scalable and proven platforms like Twitch depend entirely on passive influencer consumption.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 19:13 Lazimi explains why audio/video competitors were absorbed by incumbentsLazimi educates Kantrowitz on why Houseparty and Clubhouse collapsed, explaining they were merely feature layers on existing social graphs easily replicated by platforms like WhatsApp and Spotify.
Alex holds their own ▶ 14:20 Kantrowitz cites Facebook internal research on passive consumptionKantrowitz demonstrates domain expertise by referencing Facebook's internal studies on passive media consumption and their aborted pivot toward meaningful social interactions.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Alex as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Alex pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining Yubo as Real-Time Social Discovery | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Kantrowitz opens by citing Jonathan Haidt's arguments regarding teen depression and contrasts passive media feeds with live social interaction. Lazimi agrees, emphasizing how current social networks function more like broadcast television than genuine socializing spaces. | |
| The Origin Story and Evolution of Yubo | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Kantrowitz asks a standard founder origin question about Yubo's product evolution. Lazimi explains their early product failures, user behavior around sharing social handles, and their pivot to Gen Z social discovery. | |
| The Digital Festival Experience and Live Rooms | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | Lazimi details how room interactions mirror a festival setting, and Kantrowitz pushes in to ask specifically how age estimation technology operates. Lazimi explains their partnership with Yoti for facial AI age estimation. | |
| The Anti-Influencer Model and Active Group Dynamics | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Kantrowitz questions Yubo's non-influencer thesis, contrasting it with high-scale broadcast models like Twitch. Lazimi explains that group socialization fundamentally breaks down when influencer dynamics and passive follower metrics are introduced. | |
| Societal Loneliness and Bridging Online Connections Offline | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Kantrowitz cites Facebook's internal research on passive consumption and Haidt's collective action problem. Lazimi details how modern suburban infrastructure and delivery apps exacerbate isolation, positioning Yubo as a gateway to offline connection. | |
| Comparing Yubo to Houseparty, Clubhouse, and AirChat | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Kantrowitz asks how Yubo avoids the fates of audio/video platforms like Houseparty, Clubhouse, and AirChat. Lazimi delivers a detailed structural analysis showing that Houseparty and Clubhouse were vulnerable features tied to existing social graphs and broadcast performance. | |
| AI Integration for Safety, Generative Art, and Translation | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Kantrowitz asks about AI implementation for safety and discovery. Lazimi details automated audio/visual moderation, Generative AI for digital pixel art collections, and real-time translation features for cross-border chat rooms. | |
| The Thriving French Technology and AI Ecosystem | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Kantrowitz references France's tech renaissance, highlighting Mistral and Yann LeCun. Lazimi explains French state funding mechanisms and notes French engineering salaries are roughly one-fourth of US costs. |
Statements from this episode (12)
Lazimi: Social Media Shifted to Video Feeds Due to Ad Models
“I think it mainly because of their business model, where they want you to spend as many time as you can watching ads, basically. And so the more you watch content and videos that are interesting for you, the more you will stay on the platform. And this is real…”
Lazimi: Yubo Monetizes via In-App Purchases and Subscriptions, Not Ads
“This is exactly. Why we didn't go to the other business model on our side and why we have a very different business model, which is through in-app purchases and subscription.”
Lazimi: Yubo reached 10M signups in year one with 99% teens
“But after a year launching the platform, we reached ten millions of signups and we understood That our target was the generation Z because back in the day, we have 99% of people between 13 to 17.”
Lazimi: Yubo now primarily targets young adults aged 18 to 25
“We still target the generation Z because, but they are older. Now we target More mainly adults and people between 18 to 25 years old.”
Lazimi: 95% of Yubo Rooms Average Four to Five People Speaking
“95% of rooms have only streamers that are speaking together, and it's on average four to five people that are speaking together, exactly like it would be at a festival where people are just discovering each other and speaking as a group.”
Lazimi: Yubo uses Yoti AI facial scans to verify user age
“So, so we are using AI. We have a partner called Yoti that provide a third party API that we are using, and you will enter a date of birth when you sign up, but we want to be sure that you enter the right date of birth. So we are going to scan your face and es…”
Lazimi: Yubo prioritizes active socializing over lasting friendship outcomes
“At some point, we don't really care if you are making new friends and if you end up having a friendship, what we care is that you have conversation with other people and you are socializing with other people.”
Lazimi: Yubo has no influencers and abandoned influencer marketing
“We don't have any influencer on our platform because it won't work for influencers to come on Yubo. And we even tried to bring them at some point to test some marketing channel and user acquisition, but they were of no interest for them to use our platform bec…”
Kantrowitz: Facebook's own research showed passive media consumption harms users
“Even Facebook's own research shows that passive media consumption leaves people worse off. And that's why they went through this whole moment to do meaningful social interactions, but they ended up pivoting right back to this TikTok style of media.”
Lazimi: Houseparty died because major messaging platforms easily copied its core feature
“So at some point, Houseparty was just a feature that those other big platforms could implement. And this is what happened. And this is what killed Houseparty at this time.”
Lazimi: Yubo replaced paid human artists with generative AI for digital assets
“Before Generative AI, we were asking artists to Create those pixels, and we have collection every month with the artists, and now we are using generative AI to create new collection every, every month which is very powerful. We are gaining a lot of time, and w…”