INNOVATION MAP – Dec 5 – Brittany Barreto has teamed up with Bin Huang to start a dating app, called Pheramor, that factored in user DNA. They raised millions for the company, hired a team from across the country, and signed up users in all 50 states. Though, Pheramor's growth came to a sudden stop this year when Apple pulled the app from its store, and there was nothing the founders or their investors could do about it. "They are gatekeepers in innovation," Barreto learned the hard way. Barreto got a call from an Apple representative explaining that the her app had been pulled from the store. New App Store rules forbid dating apps from procuring DNA samples from users. Once the DNA element was removed from the app, Pheramor would be allowed back on, Barreto was told. "That was our differentiator," she says. For the next three weeks, Barreto called every app reviewer at Apple and challenged each "no" she got. Her request went to the very top, before receiving one final, inarguable "No." Barreto paid back investors by ~5%. She also realized the difference of working with investors who are new to the process. "I learned a lesson of taking money from people who are not experienced investors will cause you headaches along the way," she says.
by Natalie Harms
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