Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Why I Invested in the Icebreak

I recently invested in the Icebreak.com, an Internet service that allows couples to improve their relationship through a series of weekly ratings and thought-provoking questions.

1. I think the overall concept and market opportunity are huge. And, so far there are no clear leaders in the market. Women are the target market and women have an infinite amount of interest, perhaps even an existential level of interest, in their primary relationship. So, the service will have a strong level of engagement. Men are the tag-along audience and as Dave McClure said, "the Icebreak will help husbands get out of the doghouse and get laid". The relationship self-help market is enormous and the Icebreak can take relationships into the world of "the Quantified Self". I also think the next phase of the web will move up Maslow's hierarchy from stuff to self-actualization and this service fits nicely into that trend.

2. The co-founders Christina Brodbeck and Dwipal Desai are a great duo and they are creating a great team. They were both on the founding team of Youtube and bring lots of UI and engineering experience.

3. They have a clear and credible revenue model. Additionally, as they gain traction and engagement, they are a great acquisition target.

Lastly, for me, as a woman investor, I love to see women co-founders target women as consumers, and even better, targeting women at their very core.