Hater Shark Tank Update – Shark Tank Season 9
Hater App founder Brendan Alper pitched his dating app, where swiping “hate” sparks matches, to the Sharks in Shark Tank Season 9. He secured a deal with Mark.
Brendan Alper isn’t looking for love; he’s looking for a Shark, and he’s betting that hate might just be the way to get there, in Shark Tank Season 9 Episode 12.
Check out more Shark Tank Season 9 Episodes.
About Hater Dating App
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Business Name | Hater |
| Founder | Brendan Alper |
| Industry | Dating Apps, Technology |
| Product | A dating app that matches users based on shared dislikes |
| Deal Status | Deal secured with Mark Cuban |
| Investment Asked | $200,000 for 5% equity |
| Deal Outcome | $200,000 for 7.5% equity + 2.5% advisory shares |
| Valuation | $2 million (at the time of the Shark Tank pitch) |
Brendan Alper is a former Goldman Sachs financial guy who turned to comedy writing when he realized finance wasn’t his cup of tea. The idea for the Hater dating app was initially a joke, which thereafter started to materialize based on real psychology.
A 2006 study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin argued that “people readily connect when they have a third entity to jointly demean.”
Armed with an idea and a bit of academic proof, Alper made his app into a Tinder-like product that asks people to swipe up or down for “love” or “hate,” and right or left for “like” or “dislike.”
Subject matter on the app ranges from politics to pizza, from Taylor Swift to Kanye West, and everything in between. Hater covered over 3,000 topics handpicked by its team, and also included trending topics.
The hater dating app did not use or approve of hate speech in any way. Once you swipe your “hate,” “loves,” etc., the app matches you with folks that have similar interests, and it uses an algorithm to calculate compatibility.
After that, it works like other dating apps, allowing users to view matches and choose who they’d like to meet.
Hater debuted just before Valentine’s Day 2017 and rocketed to over 200,000 users. Whether it stands the test of time remains to be seen, but a Shark’s capital and cache is something Mr. Alper would LOVE for his app.
Hater Shark Tank Recap
Brendan entered seeking $200,000 for 5% of his business. He explained the app and how it worked, then gave a demo for the Sharks.
He displayed a variety of topics on a screen and asked the Sharks whether they loved it, were neutral about it, or hated it. When the experiment was done, the app showed that Rohan and Barbara would be a good match.
They had 500,000 active users but had not monetized the app yet. To get things started, he had cleared out his 401K and secured $500,000 in venture funding. Daily active users were only 8,000–10,000, which Mark said was low.
Did Hater Get a Deal on Shark Tank?
Rohan was the first one to go out of the deal because of the low usage. Barbara Corcoran offered $250,000 for 5%, but she wanted an answer right away.
Lori Greiner jumped in and offered $200,000 for 10% and said she’ll build a brand around the app. Barbara opted out at this time because Brendan didn’t give her an answer immediately.
Mark said he can help with celebrity endorsers and offered $200,000 for 7.5% plus 2.5% advisory shares.
Brendan said he wanted to hear from Robert Herjavec, who offered $250,000 for 15% with Barbara kicking in another $250,000, making the offer $500,000 for 15%.
Brendan eventually agreed to take Mark’s offer.
What Made Hater App Unique?
The app broke conventional clichés of online dating and provided a breath of fresh air with a new approach and concept.
Hater Shark Tank Update
The deal with Mark did close, but unfortunately, this business shut down in June 2019, which was a year and a half after airing on Shark Tank. The estimated Hater app net worth is $0, as the company is no longer operational.
Brendan now lives in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a new app called Everbloom, which allows you to “transform your videos into beautiful stories.”
Posts about Hater on Shark Tank Blog
Learn more about this unconventional hate-based dating app.
Where Can You Buy It?
The app ceases to exist now, but you can take a look at their website (it is mostly blogs now). Social media handles on Facebook and Twitter (X) also exist, but only as an obituary.
Quick Summary
- Brendan Alper presented Hater, a unique dating app that matches users based on shared dislikes.
- The entrepreneur approached the Sharks seeking $200,000 for 5% equity and sealed a deal with Mark Cuban.
- The app gained rapid popularity, but it did not have monetization and came crashing down by 2019.
See what else has business updates! View other products featured in this episode.
