OPW INTERVIEW – Jan 31 –
Why did you buy Nerve?
For nearly two decades, Nerve has produced bold, smart content on American sexuality and culture, giving readers a safe, inclusive place to comfortably discuss sex in a way they hadn’t been able to before. We feel the consumer desire for media covering sex and culture in a human, raw and surprising way is stronger now than ever, which explains why acquiring Nerve made complete sense for us, especially since it serves as the perfect complement to our other HowAboutWe Media properties — TheDateReport.com, Swimmingly.com and Famously.com — which are dedicated to producing resonant, high-quality content about all things love.
Roughly how much did you buy it for?
We’re not disclosing financial information tied to the acquisition.
Nerve is quite sexy and risque, will you keep it that way?
We’ve long admired and respected Nerve for providing smart, fearless content devoted to sex and culture, and we’re more than happy continue to drive their original mission, while carrying the torch for the next generation navigating a romantic landscape filled with social media flirtations, dating apps and sexting.
Under our ownership, Nerve will continue to provide a refreshing alternative to the mainstream with brave, inclusive, sex-positive stories.
Will it be integrated closer to How About We or will it remain as standalone?
Nerve and all of our media properties will operate independently from our two subscription-based services, HowAboutWe Dating and HowAboutWe for Couples.
Given your extension into couples products, it seems Nerve could straddle your single and couples products and offer up intriguing and sexy content. Is that where you’re going with it?
Actually, we’re going in the opposite direction — HowAboutWe Media, including Nerve, will not produce branded content, but rather each site will operate completely independently from our subscription-based services, producing quality, unbiased journalism.
Whether it’s a review of the latest online dating app, a deeply-reported analysis of marriage equality laws, or a first-person account of what it’s like to “manscape,” the HowAboutWe Media network will provide an entirely unfettered, honest look at the world of modern love and culture.
How’s your couples products doing now? Is it having a good effect on your core product return rates?
We just celebrated our 1-year anniversary since we first launched HowAboutWe for Couples, debuting in Los Angeles, our fifth major US city, this month.
The consumer reaction has been incredibly positive, with more than 90% of users continuing to renew the service each month. As a result, it now already accounts for about 30% of our total revenue, which we project will greatly increase as we continue to expand to new cities.