Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know. Welcome to CEOs you
should know. I'm Michael Blaze. Joining us today is Nick Errero.
He's founder and CEO of The Moment app. Welcome Nick,
Thank you so much for having us on. I appreciate it. Well,
thanks for taking the time to talk to us. So
you're new to the Charleston area, moving here from New
York right.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yep, just moved down a couple months ago and really
hit the ground running with this app. It's been, honestly,
Charleston's been an incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Now, what did you move to Charleston just for this app?
Or did you like the area? Are you familiar with it?
What full maned your move to Charleston?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
A few reasons, but you know, mainly a really tactful play.
Charleston's an attainable market. We really wanted to have it
as a testing ground. We wanted to create this formula
for success with the app, and we figured if we
came down here and implemented some things, had events, and
got critical mass in an area in the size of Charleston,
we could expand regionally from there and then go city
(00:57):
by city.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I see so and that's you already answered part of
my next questions. So the reason I was asking that
is because you saw an opportunity here in the marketplace
for a different way to connect in person with other
people in the Charleston area. So you created the Moment app.
Tell us about how the Moment app works, right, So,
the way that.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
It works is we use your real time location, and
we created this because modern day, right now, it's focused
on dating. Eventually it will be friends, it'll be business networking,
it'll be all the above, but right now, we focus
on dating. And it just so happened that Charleston has
a big dating scene problem. So when we move down here,
we realize modern dating is difficult. People are tired of
(01:38):
the endless swiping and the lack of connection that you
find on traditional dating apps. So we built something different.
And the way that our app works is you can
only match with someone that's in your real time proximity,
and when I say that, I mean literally within one
hundred feet of you. And then from there we use
AI to determine if you're compatible with another person while
(02:01):
you're out just living your life doing the things that
you love. So whether you're in the grocery store, in
the gym, or on the beach or wherever. At the bar,
the app is working silently in the background, and once
it determines your you know, compatible with someone, your bid
will send your notification encouraging you to go approach that person.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
I mean, that's pretty cool. I mean, that's that's space
age stuff right there.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
It's definitely the first time that that's been done with
location wrapped with the AI. So you're just you know,
kind of getting intros like a wingman in your pocket.
You get green lights to approach people as you just
live your life.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
And so obviously you would have the ability to not
approach somebody if you so chose, but as you said,
the AI kind of screens them for you, sends you
a notification, and then you decide whether you want to
act on it or not.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I would imagine right exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean AI is.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I mean people are starting to realize, but it is
really incredible, and it determines if you're compatible. It creates
a scoring system and from there, you know, that's when
it'll if you're over a certain score, it'll give you
the notification. But yeah, it uses your entire profile, hundreds
of different factors to determine compatibility, and we use different
weights on things, whether it's religion or politics or you know,
(03:18):
things like that to determine if you're compatible.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, and then of course geo locations. So no matter
where you are, if somebody else has the app, it
has the potential to hook you up with them if
they if they're a match.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Right exactly, That's exactly how it works. And it's really
exciting too because people are I've been really involved in
the community recently and I was at run Club the
other night and this girl came up to me. She's
super excited and she's like, I was in Whole Foods
the other day and I match with this guy. And
now we've been on three dates and it's going so well,
Thank you so much. This is like really exciting. So
the feedback has been tremendous. We've had a lot of
(03:55):
events around town and like these are big parties, big events,
big workouts with hundreds and hundreds of people, and people
are really you know, it's kind of changing how the
community is interacting.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well that's awesome because otherwise, you know you have to do,
you know, the same old thing, go to a bar
or rely on your church group or something, you know,
whatever it might be. But kind of you kind of
alluded to it at the beginning. You know, dating has
become kind of or the way we do it anyway antiquated, right.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
It really is. It's almost taboo to approach people nowadays.
It's like it's it's an odd thing people want to
meet organically, but they're not doing anything about it.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, it's intimidating, and especially in today's culture of you
never know what you're going to get, what the reaction
is going to be, right.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Right, People are afraid of rejection, and that's why we're
you know, we created this app to break that ice
and at least let you know that the other person
is one available and then two now compatible with you.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Now is that a two way street? So when it
notifies you and runs the all the algorithms and all
of the things that it does to try to match you,
I would suppose it does it for the other person too.
So each of you has to get a green light
on that match.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Right exactly, And each user has the ability to show
whether they're interested or not interested once the match is created.
So if you're not interested, you can simply click X
and they will never pop up again. If you're interested
and they're interested. It opens up a chat feature so
you can actually chat between the people in order to
coordinate a meetup. You know, if you're on one side
(05:34):
of the room and the other person it's busy room
and you're on the you know, it's kind of hard
to find someone. So you can chat and be like, hey,
let's meet up on you know, at the sidebar over
here by the door whatever. So that's one one thing.
But yeah, it's pretty intuitive in that sense.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I mean, that's that's really cool. So your main career
is in private equity.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Right I do. I work in finance, yes, but definitely
like to balance the two right now.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, so how did you make the leap to becoming
an app dating app creator.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I'm a very entrepreneurial guy, and I've always had ideas
and businesses and realize that it's really important to have
passion behind the business and not just create it because
you want to make a buck. I've done everything from
making barbecue sauces to having painting companies, and all those
things are great until you realize it's like that's not
your true calling. I realized quickly I wasn't passionate about
(06:28):
barbecue sauce and didn't even want to really have my
own product.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Well at least you found out earlier and then on
to the.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Next thing, right exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So what kind of unique challenges did you face while
developing the Moment app?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Honestly, it's been pretty incredible, just because the way that
this is bringing the community together, and we've just had
so much traction so fast. Just a little bit about
the numbers. I mean we moved. I moved down here
not knowing a single person, and within you know, a
couple couple of weeks, I've I arranged a massive party
on King Street with over thirteen hundred people that signed
(07:05):
up for it, so much so that we had to
have a second launch party a week later, and each
of those parties had over six hundred people attend, And
through that we went from you know, basically just test
accounts on the app to four thousand downloads in less
than a month.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Wow. Well, like you, when I moved here, I didn't
know a single soul in this city. I had never
even been here before, and I accepted a job and
I showed up with a U haul truck in my
car on a trailer on the back literally and had
never met anybody before. So I love it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, Oh, you got to be bold, You got to
do things like that.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You have to do be bold like that. But it
sure would have come in handy to have an app
like yours, you know, to help navigate the dating scene
and acclaimite myself a little bit faster.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah. I think dating is a good way to get
an you know, get experience in a city because you
get to try new restaurants and then think of new
ideas and you know, activities to do. So it helps that.
But also through these events, you know a lot of
people are meeting friends as well. And so I actually
got a great text this morning from this girl that
(08:16):
came has been coming to our events, and she said
she moved here back in April and has not been
able to find community here until I brought this app,
and now she's been going to our events and feels
like she has like a very solid friend group. And
she was super appreciative and super you know, supportive of
the app, but also just the fact that it's bringing
the community together.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Absolutely that's fantastic. So not to get too far on
the weeds here, but tell us about it. It's interesting
to me. How did you figure out how to apply
the AI? I mean, I'm imagining that you outsource the
AI to another company.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We use Jim and I, which is a very powerful
AI model, and it's an enterprise level AI. So the
way that it works is actually all the information. It's
safety and privacy are number one concern. So the way
that this Gemini model actually works is it doesn't train
off of personal data. It just uses it to make
(09:17):
that initial match. And that's what's really cool about this
because it is so powerful, but it already is so
you know, knowledgeable without using anyone else's current personal data,
that it's able to make these great relationship decisions. Live
with it, split you know, split second.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah. Well, I mean that's fantastic. And you know, so
many people are you hear these negative things about AI,
But I mean, it's a whole new world, and it's
a tool, and the tool can be used for great
things and good things, and it can be used for
the opposite sometimes. And I'm not talking about your app,
I'm just talking about AI in general. You know, some
people are afraid of it. It's no different to me.
(09:59):
Than the development of any other technology or tool through
the years. It's just you know, you have to acclimate
yourself to how it works and what the upsides are
and the downsides are, and take advantage of what it
can provide to you that has not been possible before.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Right, I think, I mean, you nail it right. You've
got to take advantage of the upsides and realize the downsides.
And some people you know, are using it as their
brain and that's when it becomes a problem because the
retention from there is minimal, right, Like, I think there's
some stats around that. Basically, if you like use AI
to write something, you're going to remember like one percent
(10:38):
of it. But if you use it to like, you know,
kind of sculpt your your original thought, then you're going
to have actually almost better retention because you're using it
to refine and refining you're thinking about it more and
more and more. So that's that's some that's some ways
it airs beneficial. But yeah, as long as you use
it as a tool, I think it's an essential part
(10:59):
of life. And if you're not getting on board with it,
you're going to get behind absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Let's switch gears and talk about you personally a little
bit more. We've learned about the product, and this is
called CEOs. You should know, so we try to dig
a little deeper and find out about you personally. So
we've already established that you grew up in New York.
Tell us what kind of family you grew up in,
what part of New York and all of that.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
This will be the fun part. Then I actually grew
up in I was born in Atlanta, but grew up
in Naples, Florida. So it was lucky, lucky to be
able to go to the beach and play golf a
lot growing up, and then went to the University of
Florida and got really Honestly, that's kind of when I
got involved with, you know, connecting people and realizing that
(11:45):
I was almost like the glue guy and friendships and
all of that stuff. So, you know, worked a nightlife, bartended,
did all of that. And I was actually a cheerleader
for a couple of years, which was very random because
I never did it before that, but walked onto the
cheer team and that was a great experience.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Now, was that at University of Florida or.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That was at University of Florida.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The Gators Wow, well that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Yeah, so we did everything. We did everything, traveled everywhere
for every sport and did you know, every home and
away game for football. It was it was a really
cool experience.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah. Now, but what about your family, you know, nuclear
family or single parent or you know, what was the
household that you grew up in, Like.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, my parents are divorced, but we grew up in
a strong family still, and it was it was nice
because we were able to do tons and tons of
activities and travel around the world and get a lot
of experience that way, which I think you can't replace
with anything else.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Right now, what did your parents do or are they
in finance or entrepreneurs or you know? And I asked
because you know, we try to dig a little deeper
and find out where that spark may have come from.
So tell us about your parents and what they did.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Definitely, for my dad, my dad's entrepreneurial. He's he started
his own business in Atlanta. It was insurance wealth management,
so that was you know, many years ago, but that
kind of wore off, and then when we moved to Naples,
he started a bunch of little businesses or was involved
in a bunch of businesses, and I saw that got
(13:19):
to I remember he started before IV's were cool. He
started an ivy business, wellness business, and he would have
seminars and host all that stuff, and I would be
the one making the PowerPoint decks. And I was like,
I don't know, like thirteen years old, and so that
was fun, just dream able to put that together and
see his talk track and learn all of those things.
(13:42):
So learning from him through that probably did spark that
entrepreneurial spirit. And then I was like, I noticed that
in our neighborhood that we lived in, all the mailboxes
were the same color and they were all like, you know,
kind of sun bleached. And so I went around and
put flyers in every single mailbox in the whole community
and started a business out of that for painting mailboxes,
(14:04):
and that expanded into entire homes and anything exterior. So
I like that, Like I remember the thrill of getting
a phone call asking for my business. That was that
was the best. So yeah, that's kind of how it started.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And then what about your mom and my mom.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
She substitute teaches and and was in you know, she
was a real estate broker as well. It was a good,
good balance and good. Not as entrepreneurial, but she she
has the enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Well, I'll tell you what. I'm a real estate agent
also a realtor, and you have to have a bit
of entrepreneurial spirit in you to negotiate these deals, get
them done, get your customers, run your you know, because
you're essentially into independent contractor that's running their own business.
So there's a lot of moving parts to put together.
(14:57):
You know, you're not necessarily creating something knew out of
the ether. But but you know, every deal I do,
it's unique, and it takes a certain set of skills,
and it's always a different You're dealing with different personalities
and all of these things.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So she is a people person, that's what that's where
it comes from. She is so good about being friends
with everyone and relating to everyone and getting the conversation
going and being that like, I don't know, playing that
middle person in conversations. It's great.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So you seem like a very driven person. And it's
always interesting to me. You know where you did you
grow up in a Was it a strict household or
was it a free spirited household? It was.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I grew up my dad so it was. It was strict,
more strict, for sure, and I think that was good.
Growing up in that type of household with some routine
is really important and it kind of trains you to,
you know, you know, have that routine later in life.
And the things that you learn when you're young are
so important when you don't have the structure right. So
being able to grow up and keep structure, keep routine,
(16:13):
keep a good you know, direction was super important to
balancing a bunch of stuff. I remember in college, you know,
I had school, but I had cheerleading and I had
worked as a bartender, and so like all those things
really required a lot of balance and structure, and I
would not have had that unless I grew up in
that more It wasn't strict strict. I think I was
(16:35):
a good kid, so it didn't come across as that way,
but I think the routine aspect of it was important.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Sure. So what do you do when you're networking? What
do you do to have fun?
Speaker 2 (16:46):
I'm a big golfer. I love to explore, you know, Charlestonston's.
I just moved here. It's been a lot of fun
going to all the restaurants and being a part of
all the events going around. I've been fortunate enough through
moment to be able to meet tons and tons of
people that have been now invited me to galas and
parties and all of those experiences, and I think just
(17:07):
honestly meeting people is my favorite thing in life. And
in addition to all that I've been doing, you know
for a moment, but honestly, it's just been so fun.
I've been doing in person matchmaking, where I go and
simulate what the app does, and so literally, like on
my Saturday when I'm not technically working, I'll bring out
the mini mics and we'll go around and match make
(17:29):
people at the bars, or we'll go out on the
beach and match make people on the beach. And that's
like super fun because one it's rewarding, but it's also
I'm meeting new people, I'm talking new people, I'm bringing
people together, and it's a lot of fun. But the
whole idea of mine that is literally just simulating what
the app does. So I go out in person interview someone,
find their perfect match. Then I go bring them together
and do a little speed dating. And that's been really exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It does sound like fun. Yeah, So what's the philosophy
that drives you each day?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I think I allude to it earlier, but just finding
something that you're passionate about in finding that purpose, and honestly,
you know, I'm passionate about finance because I think it's
really important to understand it to properly run a business.
But I definitely want to do it for my own business,
(18:18):
if that makes sense. Sure, So I've kind of I
went to school for finance so that I could learn
how to properly run my own business. And now what
I'm doing in private equity is learning how to properly
run those businesses so that I can see what to
do and what not to do. And yeah, so through
this app I've kind of figured out that my purpose
(18:41):
and passion is people.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Well that's really cool, And I mean you seem like
a very bright, driven guy who likes to have you know,
has a spirit of fun involved in your work, which
is so important, I think, don't you.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Oh, keeping it fun is definitely the most important part
in keeping the right people around you. They push you
and motivate you, and also, you know, see the fun
in it is essential. I realized quickly that if you
have people providing resistance. You got to get rid of
(19:15):
them because there's only you know, one way forward, and
it's through that and just kind of creating a good
environment around you and having fun and getting the people
around you that are like, let's go to this, let's
do that, let's do that, encouraging you. It changes like
you know, when you wake up, you're excited to go
(19:36):
do it because you know you're going to be doing
with fun people. You're going to be having fun doing it,
and it's all towards you know, growing in this case
the app, but also just connecting people.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Now, how do people download the app? If they're interesting?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You can go to the app store and type moment
and it'll be one of the top top two on there.
Or you can go find us on social media at
moment irl on Instagram and moment app on TikTok and
then also our website is momentiral dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Well, I think it's a fantastic idea and welcome to
Charleston and congratulations on your quick success so far.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Thank you so much and thanks again for having us
on here.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Absolutely. Nick Pereira, founder and CEO of the Moment App,
thanks for being on. CEOs you should know with us today.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Nick, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
You've been listening to Iheartradios. CEOs you should know, heard
every Tuesday and Saturday morning right here on this iHeartRadio station.
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know. Welcome to CEOs you
should know. I'm Michael Blaze. Joining us today is Nick Errero.
He's founder and CEO of The Moment app. Welcome Nick,
Thank you so much for having us on. I appreciate it. Well,
thanks for taking the time to talk to us. So
you're new to the Charleston area, moving here from New
York right.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yep, just moved down a couple months ago and really
hit the ground running with this app. It's been, honestly,
Charleston's been an incredible experience.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Now, what did you move to Charleston just for this app?
Or did you like the area? Are you familiar with it?
What full maned your move to Charleston?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
A few reasons, but you know, mainly a really tactful play.
Charleston's an attainable market. We really wanted to have it
as a testing ground. We wanted to create this formula
for success with the app, and we figured if we
came down here and implemented some things, had events, and
got critical mass in an area in the size of Charleston,
we could expand regionally from there and then go city
(00:57):
by city.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I see so and that's you already answered part of
my next questions. So the reason I was asking that
is because you saw an opportunity here in the marketplace
for a different way to connect in person with other
people in the Charleston area. So you created the Moment app.
Tell us about how the Moment app works, right, So,
the way that.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
It works is we use your real time location, and
we created this because modern day, right now, it's focused
on dating. Eventually it will be friends, it'll be business networking,
it'll be all the above, but right now, we focus
on dating. And it just so happened that Charleston has
a big dating scene problem. So when we move down here,
we realize modern dating is difficult. People are tired of
(01:38):
the endless swiping and the lack of connection that you
find on traditional dating apps. So we built something different.
And the way that our app works is you can
only match with someone that's in your real time proximity,
and when I say that, I mean literally within one
hundred feet of you. And then from there we use
AI to determine if you're compatible with another person while
(02:01):
you're out just living your life doing the things that
you love. So whether you're in the grocery store, in
the gym, or on the beach or wherever. At the bar,
the app is working silently in the background, and once
it determines your you know, compatible with someone, your bid
will send your notification encouraging you to go approach that person.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
I mean, that's pretty cool. I mean, that's that's space
age stuff right there.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
It's definitely the first time that that's been done with
location wrapped with the AI. So you're just you know,
kind of getting intros like a wingman in your pocket.
You get green lights to approach people as you just
live your life.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
And so obviously you would have the ability to not
approach somebody if you so chose, but as you said,
the AI kind of screens them for you, sends you
a notification, and then you decide whether you want to
act on it or not.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
I would imagine right exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I mean AI is.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I mean people are starting to realize, but it is
really incredible, and it determines if you're compatible. It creates
a scoring system and from there, you know, that's when
it'll if you're over a certain score, it'll give you
the notification. But yeah, it uses your entire profile, hundreds
of different factors to determine compatibility, and we use different
weights on things, whether it's religion or politics or you know,
(03:18):
things like that to determine if you're compatible.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, and then of course geo locations. So no matter
where you are, if somebody else has the app, it
has the potential to hook you up with them if
they if they're a match.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Right exactly, That's exactly how it works. And it's really
exciting too because people are I've been really involved in
the community recently and I was at run Club the
other night and this girl came up to me. She's
super excited and she's like, I was in Whole Foods
the other day and I match with this guy. And
now we've been on three dates and it's going so well,
Thank you so much. This is like really exciting. So
the feedback has been tremendous. We've had a lot of
(03:55):
events around town and like these are big parties, big events,
big workouts with hundreds and hundreds of people, and people
are really you know, it's kind of changing how the
community is interacting.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Well that's awesome because otherwise, you know you have to do,
you know, the same old thing, go to a bar
or rely on your church group or something, you know,
whatever it might be. But kind of you kind of
alluded to it at the beginning. You know, dating has
become kind of or the way we do it anyway antiquated, right.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
It really is. It's almost taboo to approach people nowadays.
It's like it's it's an odd thing people want to
meet organically, but they're not doing anything about it.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Well, it's intimidating, and especially in today's culture of you
never know what you're going to get, what the reaction
is going to be, right.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Right, People are afraid of rejection, and that's why we're
you know, we created this app to break that ice
and at least let you know that the other person
is one available and then two now compatible with you.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Now is that a two way street? So when it
notifies you and runs the all the algorithms and all
of the things that it does to try to match you,
I would suppose it does it for the other person too.
So each of you has to get a green light
on that match.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Right exactly, And each user has the ability to show
whether they're interested or not interested once the match is created.
So if you're not interested, you can simply click X
and they will never pop up again. If you're interested
and they're interested. It opens up a chat feature so
you can actually chat between the people in order to
coordinate a meetup. You know, if you're on one side
(05:34):
of the room and the other person it's busy room
and you're on the you know, it's kind of hard
to find someone. So you can chat and be like, hey,
let's meet up on you know, at the sidebar over
here by the door whatever. So that's one one thing.
But yeah, it's pretty intuitive in that sense.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I mean, that's that's really cool. So your main career
is in private equity.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Right I do. I work in finance, yes, but definitely
like to balance the two right now.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah, so how did you make the leap to becoming
an app dating app creator.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I'm a very entrepreneurial guy, and I've always had ideas
and businesses and realize that it's really important to have
passion behind the business and not just create it because
you want to make a buck. I've done everything from
making barbecue sauces to having painting companies, and all those
things are great until you realize it's like that's not
your true calling. I realized quickly I wasn't passionate about
(06:28):
barbecue sauce and didn't even want to really have my
own product.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Well at least you found out earlier and then on
to the.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Next thing, right exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So what kind of unique challenges did you face while
developing the Moment app?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Honestly, it's been pretty incredible, just because the way that
this is bringing the community together, and we've just had
so much traction so fast. Just a little bit about
the numbers. I mean we moved. I moved down here
not knowing a single person, and within you know, a
couple couple of weeks, I've I arranged a massive party
on King Street with over thirteen hundred people that signed
(07:05):
up for it, so much so that we had to
have a second launch party a week later, and each
of those parties had over six hundred people attend, And
through that we went from you know, basically just test
accounts on the app to four thousand downloads in less
than a month.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Wow. Well, like you, when I moved here, I didn't
know a single soul in this city. I had never
even been here before, and I accepted a job and
I showed up with a U haul truck in my
car on a trailer on the back literally and had
never met anybody before. So I love it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah, Oh, you got to be bold, You got to
do things like that.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
You have to do be bold like that. But it
sure would have come in handy to have an app
like yours, you know, to help navigate the dating scene
and acclaimite myself a little bit faster.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah. I think dating is a good way to get
an you know, get experience in a city because you
get to try new restaurants and then think of new
ideas and you know, activities to do. So it helps that.
But also through these events, you know a lot of
people are meeting friends as well. And so I actually
got a great text this morning from this girl that
(08:16):
came has been coming to our events, and she said
she moved here back in April and has not been
able to find community here until I brought this app,
and now she's been going to our events and feels
like she has like a very solid friend group. And
she was super appreciative and super you know, supportive of
the app, but also just the fact that it's bringing
the community together.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Absolutely that's fantastic. So not to get too far on
the weeds here, but tell us about it. It's interesting
to me. How did you figure out how to apply
the AI? I mean, I'm imagining that you outsource the
AI to another company.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
We use Jim and I, which is a very powerful
AI model, and it's an enterprise level AI. So the
way that it works is actually all the information. It's
safety and privacy are number one concern. So the way
that this Gemini model actually works is it doesn't train
off of personal data. It just uses it to make
(09:17):
that initial match. And that's what's really cool about this
because it is so powerful, but it already is so
you know, knowledgeable without using anyone else's current personal data,
that it's able to make these great relationship decisions. Live
with it, split you know, split second.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah. Well, I mean that's fantastic. And you know, so
many people are you hear these negative things about AI,
But I mean, it's a whole new world, and it's
a tool, and the tool can be used for great
things and good things, and it can be used for
the opposite sometimes. And I'm not talking about your app,
I'm just talking about AI in general. You know, some
people are afraid of it. It's no different to me.
(09:59):
Than the development of any other technology or tool through
the years. It's just you know, you have to acclimate
yourself to how it works and what the upsides are
and the downsides are, and take advantage of what it
can provide to you that has not been possible before.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Right, I think, I mean, you nail it right. You've
got to take advantage of the upsides and realize the downsides.
And some people you know, are using it as their
brain and that's when it becomes a problem because the
retention from there is minimal, right, Like, I think there's
some stats around that. Basically, if you like use AI
to write something, you're going to remember like one percent
(10:38):
of it. But if you use it to like, you know,
kind of sculpt your your original thought, then you're going
to have actually almost better retention because you're using it
to refine and refining you're thinking about it more and
more and more. So that's that's some that's some ways
it airs beneficial. But yeah, as long as you use
it as a tool, I think it's an essential part
(10:59):
of life. And if you're not getting on board with it,
you're going to get behind absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Let's switch gears and talk about you personally a little
bit more. We've learned about the product, and this is
called CEOs. You should know, so we try to dig
a little deeper and find out about you personally. So
we've already established that you grew up in New York.
Tell us what kind of family you grew up in,
what part of New York and all of that.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
This will be the fun part. Then I actually grew
up in I was born in Atlanta, but grew up
in Naples, Florida. So it was lucky, lucky to be
able to go to the beach and play golf a
lot growing up, and then went to the University of
Florida and got really Honestly, that's kind of when I
got involved with, you know, connecting people and realizing that
(11:45):
I was almost like the glue guy and friendships and
all of that stuff. So, you know, worked a nightlife, bartended,
did all of that. And I was actually a cheerleader
for a couple of years, which was very random because
I never did it before that, but walked onto the
cheer team and that was a great experience.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Now, was that at University of Florida or.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
That was at University of Florida.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
The Gators Wow, well that's really cool.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Yeah, so we did everything. We did everything, traveled everywhere
for every sport and did you know, every home and
away game for football. It was it was a really
cool experience.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Yeah. Now, but what about your family, you know, nuclear
family or single parent or you know, what was the
household that you grew up in, Like.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yeah, my parents are divorced, but we grew up in
a strong family still, and it was it was nice
because we were able to do tons and tons of
activities and travel around the world and get a lot
of experience that way, which I think you can't replace
with anything else.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Right now, what did your parents do or are they
in finance or entrepreneurs or you know? And I asked
because you know, we try to dig a little deeper
and find out where that spark may have come from.
So tell us about your parents and what they did.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Definitely, for my dad, my dad's entrepreneurial. He's he started
his own business in Atlanta. It was insurance wealth management,
so that was you know, many years ago, but that
kind of wore off, and then when we moved to Naples,
he started a bunch of little businesses or was involved
in a bunch of businesses, and I saw that got
(13:19):
to I remember he started before IV's were cool. He
started an ivy business, wellness business, and he would have
seminars and host all that stuff, and I would be
the one making the PowerPoint decks. And I was like,
I don't know, like thirteen years old, and so that
was fun, just dream able to put that together and
see his talk track and learn all of those things.
(13:42):
So learning from him through that probably did spark that
entrepreneurial spirit. And then I was like, I noticed that
in our neighborhood that we lived in, all the mailboxes
were the same color and they were all like, you know,
kind of sun bleached. And so I went around and
put flyers in every single mailbox in the whole community
and started a business out of that for painting mailboxes,
(14:04):
and that expanded into entire homes and anything exterior. So
I like that, Like I remember the thrill of getting
a phone call asking for my business. That was that
was the best. So yeah, that's kind of how it started.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
And then what about your mom and my mom.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
She substitute teaches and and was in you know, she
was a real estate broker as well. It was a good,
good balance and good. Not as entrepreneurial, but she she
has the enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Well, I'll tell you what. I'm a real estate agent
also a realtor, and you have to have a bit
of entrepreneurial spirit in you to negotiate these deals, get
them done, get your customers, run your you know, because
you're essentially into independent contractor that's running their own business.
So there's a lot of moving parts to put together.
(14:57):
You know, you're not necessarily creating something knew out of
the ether. But but you know, every deal I do,
it's unique, and it takes a certain set of skills,
and it's always a different You're dealing with different personalities
and all of these things.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So she is a people person, that's what that's where
it comes from. She is so good about being friends
with everyone and relating to everyone and getting the conversation
going and being that like, I don't know, playing that
middle person in conversations. It's great.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
So you seem like a very driven person. And it's
always interesting to me. You know where you did you
grow up in a Was it a strict household or
was it a free spirited household? It was.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I grew up my dad so it was. It was strict,
more strict, for sure, and I think that was good.
Growing up in that type of household with some routine
is really important and it kind of trains you to,
you know, you know, have that routine later in life.
And the things that you learn when you're young are
so important when you don't have the structure right. So
being able to grow up and keep structure, keep routine,
(16:13):
keep a good you know, direction was super important to
balancing a bunch of stuff. I remember in college, you know,
I had school, but I had cheerleading and I had
worked as a bartender, and so like all those things
really required a lot of balance and structure, and I
would not have had that unless I grew up in
that more It wasn't strict strict. I think I was
(16:35):
a good kid, so it didn't come across as that way,
but I think the routine aspect of it was important.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Sure. So what do you do when you're networking? What
do you do to have fun?
Speaker 2 (16:46):
I'm a big golfer. I love to explore, you know, Charlestonston's.
I just moved here. It's been a lot of fun
going to all the restaurants and being a part of
all the events going around. I've been fortunate enough through
moment to be able to meet tons and tons of
people that have been now invited me to galas and
parties and all of those experiences, and I think just
(17:07):
honestly meeting people is my favorite thing in life. And
in addition to all that I've been doing, you know
for a moment, but honestly, it's just been so fun.
I've been doing in person matchmaking, where I go and
simulate what the app does, and so literally, like on
my Saturday when I'm not technically working, I'll bring out
the mini mics and we'll go around and match make
(17:29):
people at the bars, or we'll go out on the
beach and match make people on the beach. And that's
like super fun because one it's rewarding, but it's also
I'm meeting new people, I'm talking new people, I'm bringing
people together, and it's a lot of fun. But the
whole idea of mine that is literally just simulating what
the app does. So I go out in person interview someone,
find their perfect match. Then I go bring them together
and do a little speed dating. And that's been really exciting.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
It does sound like fun. Yeah, So what's the philosophy
that drives you each day?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
I think I allude to it earlier, but just finding
something that you're passionate about in finding that purpose, and honestly,
you know, I'm passionate about finance because I think it's
really important to understand it to properly run a business.
But I definitely want to do it for my own business,
(18:18):
if that makes sense. Sure, So I've kind of I
went to school for finance so that I could learn
how to properly run my own business. And now what
I'm doing in private equity is learning how to properly
run those businesses so that I can see what to
do and what not to do. And yeah, so through
this app I've kind of figured out that my purpose
(18:41):
and passion is people.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Well that's really cool, And I mean you seem like
a very bright, driven guy who likes to have you know,
has a spirit of fun involved in your work, which
is so important, I think, don't you.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Oh, keeping it fun is definitely the most important part
in keeping the right people around you. They push you
and motivate you, and also, you know, see the fun
in it is essential. I realized quickly that if you
have people providing resistance. You got to get rid of
(19:15):
them because there's only you know, one way forward, and
it's through that and just kind of creating a good
environment around you and having fun and getting the people
around you that are like, let's go to this, let's
do that, let's do that, encouraging you. It changes like
you know, when you wake up, you're excited to go
(19:36):
do it because you know you're going to be doing
with fun people. You're going to be having fun doing it,
and it's all towards you know, growing in this case
the app, but also just connecting people.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Now, how do people download the app? If they're interesting?
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You can go to the app store and type moment
and it'll be one of the top top two on there.
Or you can go find us on social media at
moment irl on Instagram and moment app on TikTok and
then also our website is momentiral dot com.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Well, I think it's a fantastic idea and welcome to
Charleston and congratulations on your quick success so far.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Thank you so much and thanks again for having us
on here.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Absolutely. Nick Pereira, founder and CEO of the Moment App,
thanks for being on. CEOs you should know with us today.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Nick, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
You've been listening to Iheartradios. CEOs you should know, heard
every Tuesday and Saturday morning right here on this iHeartRadio station.
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