Fabian and Julius Cowdrey are twin brothers, creator entrepreneurs with a combined following of over 450,000, and the co-founders of Joyna, an AI platform that matches users to the best events and experiences in their city in under 60 seconds based on deeply personalized recommendations.
It started with a group coaching company. Four years ago, Fabian and Julius were running small groups for people who couldn't afford one-to-one therapy or coaching, scaling to 10 groups of 10 and serving 100 people a month. But they hit a wall. People kept asking for more groups and they were exhausted. So they built infrastructure to scale their support, first through a wellness creator platform, then through Joyna, an AI that learns about you and connects you to like-minded people through shared real-life experiences.
What makes Joyna different from every other event platform is that it lives entirely on WhatsApp. Instead of forcing users to download yet another app, you simply text Joyna what you're looking for, it asks a few clarifying questions, and within 60 seconds it sends three personalized recommendations based on where you live, what you like, and what you've done before. It builds short-term and long-term memory so it gets better the more you use it.
The timing couldn't be better. Loneliness is up 35 to 40 percent year over year. Companies like Time Left, which connects strangers for dinner, are now operating in over 200 cities in just two and a half years. People are desperate for connection. Joyna makes it effortless to find things to do and people to meet, whether you are new to a city, looking for a date spot, or just bored on a Tuesday night.
Fabian and Julius break down why they chose to build a tech company instead of launching a CPG brand, how Julius gained 19 waitlist signups in one hour by going live on TikTok, and why being a good human with a solid network matters more than having a massive following when building a company.
They explain:
Why Julius started creating content around music and reality TV before pivoting to viral street interviews
How Fabian built his following from 39,000 to nearly 240,000 in three months by posting four times a day
Why they built Joyna on WhatsApp instead of forcing users to download another app
How Joyna uses conversational AI to learn about you and match you to events that suit your interests, location, and preferences
Why loneliness is up 35 to 40 percent year over year and how Joyna is making it effortless to fix that
Their number one advice for creators: post for the person who needs to find you, not for your existing followers
Chapters:
Chapters
00:00:00 Introduction: From Content Creators to Building Joiner
00:00:53 The Content Creation Origin: From Music Covers to Reality TV
00:01:54 Building a Following: From Professional Cricket to 200K Followers in 3 Months
00:03:47 The Creator Advantage: Leveraging Personal Brand as an Unfair Advantage
00:05:43 What is Joyna: WhatsApp AI That Matches You to Events in Seconds
00:08:45 The Loneliness Crisis: Why People Are Desperate for Real Connection
00:12:29 How Joynar Works: Personalized AI Matching with Short and Long-Term Memory
00:14:44 The Marketplace Model: Affiliate Partnerships and Independent Hosts
00:15:55 Balancing Founder and Creator: The Time Management Challenge
00:20:34 The Celebrity and Creator Brand Trend: Why Tech Over CPG
00:24:18 Mission-Driven vs Money-Driven: Building Beyond the Exit
00:26:48 What's Next for Joyna: Building the Playbook Before Scaling
00:28:17 Advice for Creator Founders: Focus on Your Niche and Be Kind
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Scott van den Berg
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-van-den-berg-22b534150/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottvandenberg_/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottvandenberg_
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottvandenbergvc
Fabian and Julius Cowdrey
Joyna: https://joyna.ai/
Julius Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlcowdrey/
Fabian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachcowdrey/
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