Second Brain

Yeezy Dating: Viral With No Plan

The Story

“I made this dating site, and again, there was no real plan there. It went well. The site took off in a major way. It was a dating site for Kanye West fans. But I didn’t have a marketing plan.” (Source 1).

Harry Dry was 22 years old when Yeezy Dating launched in 2018 (Source 3). On March 8, 2018, the Yeezy.Dating Instagram account posted “YEEZY.DATING COMING THIS MARCH” (Source 3). The following week: “I AM NOW SPEAKING PUBLICALLY [sic] TO MY HERO MR KANYE WEST…” (Source 3).

The site generated viral traffic and site crashes requiring rebuilds (Source 4). The Instagram account peaked at 9,000 followers (Source 2). Harry’s strategy was “clueless like a headless chicken” — he just posted Kanye pictures with hashtags. 99% of the followers were male (Source 2). The project included attempts to contact Kanye via billboards worldwide (Source 4).

Vice wrote a feature about signing up for the site (Source 3). But there was no monetization and no plan beyond the virality.

His dad’s reaction: “My dad doesn’t want me to do that. Put it that way. He was gutted over that one about my own launch and product.” His dad told him: “Son, none of this. Write about other companies, real companies.” (Source 1).

The project wasn’t a total loss. Harry met the Email Octopus CMO at a talk he gave about the Kanye dating project. That connection led directly to his first sponsorship deal for Marketing Examples (Source 4).

Lesson for Creators

A viral project without a business model is a spectacle, not a business. But it’s not wasted. Harry’s Kanye dating site taught him distribution, gave him press coverage, and directly connected him to his first sponsor. The project failed as a product but succeeded as a credential. Sometimes the value of a failed project is the story it gives you and the people it introduces you to.

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