Built Here: Interview With Drop In Dating Founder, Avery Bradt,

Dating apps promised to make finding a connection easier, but for many singles, the endless swiping has only made dating feel more exhausting. Drop In Dating founder Avery Bradt wanted to do things differently. We sat down with Bradt to talk about what inspired her to rethink modern dating, why she believes connection works better in real life, and how Drop In is helping Austin singles get off the apps and back into the community.

What inspired you to create Drop In Dating, and was there a specific experience that made you realize something was missing from modern dating?

It was definitely a series of personal experiences and observations that ultimately led to the creation of Drop In. I had a bad breakup during COVID and got on the apps for the first time, excited to date. I realized everyone I was talking to kept saying how horrible dating was; married people said they’d heard it from their friends; and social media was rampant, parroting criticisms of dating culture.  I got tired of hearing about it and started asking: what can we do to fix this?

The lightning strike moment was when I wanted to see a format where you didn’t have to do all of this alone.  Dating should be fun and social, but the main apps don’t support that. I saw them as a driver of isolation.  The narrative on dating is famously negative, and I don’t fault the daters; I fault the design. So, I designed something new: small crews of singles built around shared interests and real life events, where dating is a byproduct of actually having a good time, not the whole point.

What do you think is broken, or simply exhausting, about the way people use traditional dating apps today?

I’ve worked in ecommerce for about 7 years now. Specifically, I help businesses set up their products online for success in marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.  I was completely thrown when I went to set up my own profile on dating apps and how similar the process is. 5 photos, different angles, entering my own specs (height, demographics), and optimizing my prompts.  The format is almost exactly the same. You can get anything you want online, and we’ve grown accustomed to that convenience. But we are not products, and we are not shopping for products.  Using this consumer format for dating builds expectations - if you filtered for everything you want, why is it that when the person shows up, it’s not what you want? This isn’t Build-A-Bear. We can build a version of people before we even let them show us who they actually are, before we even meet them in person.  The pressure at that point is so high I think it’s easy to feel let down.  We’re bypassing those magic moments and handing the search for connection over to an algorithm, and paying for it to boot. I’ll trust the algorithm to sell me the right dog treats, not to find my partner. I think we all get it by now.  I’m betting we actually need less algorithm, and more magic.

For someone hearing about Drop In Dating for the first time, how does it work, and what makes the experience different?

It’s actually less of a dating app and more of a meet-cute platform. It’s Austin-only; it’s event-based; there are no algorithms and no swiping. You create a crew with your friends, or find a crew on the platform, and you post an event that you guys want to check out - think your favorite local band you like to support, a small business, a farmers market, or a swimming hole.  Other crews can RSVP with a pick-up line, and your crew can accept.  The idea is to go out into the wild with a friend by your side. It’s a soft landing for meeting singles in an environment where you’re all doing something cool you’re into.  

The name “Drop In Dating” feels very casual and low-pressure. What does “dropping in” mean to you and the community you’re building?

Dating has become such a pressure cooker; expectations are high, and it’s a big personal investment to meet someone one-on-one and stare at each other over a table. “Dropping in” means showing up as you are, no performance, over-preparation, just joining something already happening and seeing what unfolds.  I think the main apps create a format that feels impersonal, unromantic, and even unsafe for something that should feel the complete opposite. The community on Drop In has so far reported that they appreciate the lower pressure of a casual meet-cute; they feel more excited about going out on a date; they feel more comfortable having a friend (their wing) with them; and it feels safer. That means everything to us at Drop In.  I care way more about people having those feelings than the number of “users” and “time spent on the app”.  We set out to build something to help people, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

How does being based in Austin influence the app and the way you think about dating, connection, and meeting people in real life?

We have such a warm and open community here in Austin, and I think everyone wants to be guardians of that spirit. There are awesome community events for singles that don't involve apps, coming out of creative people in town. I wanted to fill a different gap: the Drop In format of 4 people, soon 6 as another option, is more intimate than a singles event. You get to that next layer of questions so much easier than in a larger group, and with less pressure than one-on-one. Pairing that with real activities is key. It's not an expensive dinner or concert. It's your favorite local music venue, supporting a food truck you love, a poetry slam. Honestly, Austin already thinks this way. Nobody here is trying to impress you. People bond over a backyard show, a breakfast taco line, a random Tuesday at Barton Springs. I didn't invent that instinct; I just built a format that lets dating catch up to it.

Do you think people are experiencing dating-app fatigue? What are you hearing from singles about what they actually want right now?

Absolutely. The conversations are "I'm off the apps" or "I'm back on the apps." That cycle itself tells you everything. I think collectively, we can feel the intention of the big dating apps, and it doesn't feel good. It's based on paywalls. The incentive isn't to help you find someone; it's to keep you searching. The format has no built-in accountability. People get ghosted out of the blue, even after a great date, and there's no real consequence for it because you'll never see each other again anyway. It's designed to be addictive, like social media, and I think it's quietly hurting people's self-confidence too.

What I'm hearing from singles is pretty consistent. People lie on their profiles, or feel like they have to, just to compete. I've had people send me screenshots of straight-up bullying in their chats. That's not a dating problem; that's a harassment problem, and it's happening on platforms people are paying for. There's also this pressure to spend real money on professional photoshoots just to have a shot at getting noticed. It starts to feel like a job- swiping, messaging, performing- instead of something that's supposed to feel exciting.

But underneath all of that, what people actually want is so simple. They just want to meet their partner. That's it. That's the whole thing. Somewhere along the way, the apps made that complicated, but the want itself hasn't changed at all.

What role does real-world connection play in Drop In Dating? Is the goal ultimately to get people off their phones and interacting face-to-face?

That's exactly it. You're not swiping and chatting and waiting for a plan. The plan is set, and you and your friend are going either way. Once your crew accepts another crew, a group chat opens up for banter and logistics; then the chat and event disappear after you meet up. You don't need your phone after that. You'll have to get each other's contact info in person if you want to meet up again. The app is actually the ultimate wing. It connects you, gets you out there, and then you take it from there.

What has surprised you most since launching Drop In Dating?

Turns out the whole "you need a friend, your wing, to post or attend a Drop In" thing was actually a blocker itself. People wanted to try it; they just didn't have someone to bring. So we built a feature to solve exactly that: you share your vibe, whether that's eating donuts or swimming at Barton Springs, and other people can find you and join your crew. If dating apps are driving loneliness and we're supposed to be the antidote, we had to solve for that in every single way, including the very first step.

Building a dating platform means dealing with something incredibly personal: vulnerability. How do you think about creating an environment where people feel comfortable putting themselves out there?

Yeah, great question. It takes so much to create a profile on platforms like Hinge and Bumble. You have to communicate who you are into these data boxes, with multiple photos of yourself. There's too much information to analyze, and none of it is close to what it's actually like meeting someone in person.

So what better way to meet than doing something you're both already into, with a friend who knows you? That's where the real authenticity comes in. You're not performing a profile; you're just being yourself, doing something you love, and your partner gets to meet the real version of you from day one instead of a curated one.

Your wing matters here too. Sometimes you get an "ick" over something small and dismiss someone who could actually be great for you. A good friend can catch that and say, "Who cares if they wear different-colored socks; there's a spark there." They keep you in check. And on the flip side, if you're nervous or down on yourself, a good wing will hype you up, because that's genuinely hard to do for yourself when you're dating alone. When you're on your own, you're making every call by yourself, and you're not always getting good feedback, or any feedback at all. Having someone in your corner changes that completely.

Who is the ideal Drop In Dating user? What kind of person tends to “get” the concept immediately?

This is perfect for a few types of people. First, anyone easing back into dating. Maybe they're divorced and haven't dated in years, or they just went through a bad breakup and want to dip their toes back in the water. This is so much more casual than matching with a stranger and sitting across from them at dinner.

Second, the burnt-out serial swiper. The person who's cycled on and off every app, who's numb and tired in the way we talked about earlier, and just wants something that doesn't feel like another app to manage.

Third, honestly, people who aren't anxious about dating at all. They're just bored of the format. They want something more fun and social than a dinner-and-drinks date, and the "meet cute" idea appeals to their sense of adventure more than it addresses any fear.

And then there's the friend who signs up to support someone else, to be a good wing, and ends up realizing it's fun and valuable for them too. Honestly, that overlap is one of my favorite things about Drop In. You don't have to know exactly which type you are to get something out of it.

What has been the biggest challenge of building a dating app in a space dominated by huge, established platforms?

Well, we’re bootstrapping this whole thing. Which means we don’t have investors, no big budget for marketing, development, and none of that corporate infrastructure.  But we’re doing that on purpose.  We don’t want to do what the big apps are doing, or have investors pushing for monetary goals.  That’s why the dating apps have so many paywall incentives and features that dangle love like a carrot on a stick…it feels like freakin Las Vegas in there.

So yeah, it's a lot of late nights and scrappy attempts. I quickly learned to stop asking people, "Are you single?" because a lot of people thought I was hitting on them. And the second people hear "another dating app," I get the eye roll, which is just another data point on the sentiment.  But we've had positive experiences so far, and we have our north star, which makes it all worth it.

If you could change one thing about dating culture in Austin, what would it be?

Let's stop saying dating in Austin sucks. Because guess what: people say that about every city, not just this one. It's not that men suck, or women suck, either. We keep pointing fingers at each other when the big apps created this culture in the first place. Sure, some people are bad apples, and I feel for you if you've been bullied in a chat for no good reason. I've been there too. But if you feel like giving up on dating, do it. Take a break, come back refreshed and ready.

Honestly, I'd also love to see more community-minded dating in general. It takes time to actually know someone, and sometimes what starts as friendship is worth more than an instant spark. Right now, if you match with someone on an app and it doesn't go anywhere, that's it; it's over. But if you meet through community, you might run into that person again. You get to say hi, ask how they're doing, let something build naturally instead of being forced to decide everything in one swipe. That's a completely different way to experience dating.

And when you're ready, even just going out on Drop In to support a friend who's excited to meet someone can shift things. You never know. I've met plenty of amazing singles in Austin looking for something real, so don't let the noise get in your way.

What’s next for Drop In Dating? Where would you love to see the platform a year or two from now?

The beauty of this is that we don't have investors knocking on the door pushing for a number of users or engagement. And when I say "we," it's 3 of us. Right now it's in beta, and it's free. We really want to see if this can create a new wave of positive experiences. We're asking the community what they need and making changes based solely on: "How does this help people feel better getting out and meeting singles?" Surprise, you're going to see an explosion of AI in dating apps, and I truly believe that's the wrong way. If the big apps don't have it right now, AI isn't going to fix that.

A year or two from now, I'd love to see a real culture shift away from the big apps. I want Drop In to be totally crowdsourced, to take on a life of its own within the community, almost more like a resource than a platform. We're not trying to dictate how people should date. We just want a different way to do it. I'm looking forward to seeing more people find that dating can be fun again, connect with people they might never have found otherwise, deepen friendships, and explore the amazing parts of Austin through someone else's eyes.

Finish this sentence: Dating would be a lot better if we all stopped checklisting people and left room for something unexpected.

For more information on Drop In Dating, you can visit their website at: https://join.dropindating.com/.