Shreya Murthy (Partiful) on Winning Over Gen Z, Beating Copycats and Engineering Fun

Shreya Murthy built one of the rare social apps people want to open—and then immediately close. It’s all going according to plan.

Her company, Partiful, has quietly become the go-to way Gen Z and millennials plan parties, birthdays, dinners—and even weddings. But what’s more interesting is how it won: by rejecting everything Big Tech historically has optimized for.

In this episode, Shreya sits down with Sammi to break down why she turned down the metaverse narrative, refused to pivot to virtual events during the pandemic, and built a product designed to get people off their phones… not glued to them.

They also get into what happened when Apple launched a nearly identical invite app, why Partiful draws a hard line on user privacy, and how tiny features like “boops” and “crushes” are actually the secret to product-market fit. Plus: the real monetization plan, why Gen Z hates “cringe” design, and how one party invite helped spark a viral cultural moment.

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Here’s what Sammi covers with Shreya:

00:00 Shreya Murthy’s Social Currency

00:50 The Problem With Social Media

02:22 From Palantir to Consumer Tech

08:22 The Idea That Sparked Partiful

10:04 Turning Parties Into a Product

11:05 Launching During the Pandemic

13:56 Resisting the Metaverse Pivot

15:40 Building for IRL Connection

16:00 Why Gen Z Loves Partiful

18:27 The “Least Cringe” Product Strategy

20:20 Consumer vs Corporate Use Cases

22:05 Why Partiful Protects User Data

24:57 Monetization Without Selling Data

29:27 How Partiful Makes Money Today

31:23 The Philosophy: Get Off Your Phone

32:00 Discovering Events IRL

33:17 Brick and Mortar?

34:38 Features Like Boops and Crushes

38:00 Apple’s Copycat Moment

41:00 Growth Despite Competition

42:00 The Viral Timothée Chalamet Event

47:00 What Winning Looks Like

50:16 Social Currency Corner and Touching Grass

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