Just three months after the public launch of Maven, co-founders Kenneth Stanley and Blas Moros are stepping down. Maven, a social media platform designed to foster serendipitous interactions, has struggled to achieve the rapid growth investors seek, prompting Stanley and Moros to explore other opportunities.

Stanley shared on Maven and X that despite the positive reception at launch, the platform hasn't met the growth metrics necessary to justify further investment. To extend Maven’s operational runway, the co-founders decided to step back. Maven’s Chief Technology Officer, Jimmy Secretan, revealed the company has a few months of runway left.

“We made this decision to run a more efficient and streamlined operation,” Stanley told. “While I would have preferred to secure funding and stay on, this move allows us to survive and continue our mission. Many believe in what we’re doing, so it’s worth preserving.”

Stanley emphasized on social media the need for platforms like Maven, which aim to move away from the popularity-driven nature of traditional social media and towards fostering genuine connections and serendipity.

Secretan, who developed most of the app, will remain as CTO to guide product innovation. Maven, which soft-launched in January and publicly debuted in May, received backing from prominent investors including Twitter co-founder Ev Williams and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, raising $2 million in a seed round in 2023.

The platform allows users to engage deeply with topics of interest without likes, upvotes, retweets, or follows, differentiating it from more engagement-driven social networks. However, this approach also poses challenges in user acquisition and retention.

In a May interview, Stanley discussed potential monetization strategies like subscription models or advertising to attract investors. Secretan reiterated that growing the user base is a prerequisite for monetization.

“Maven excels at facilitating deep, meaningful conversations, which aren't inherently viral and thus harder to grow,” Secretan told TechCrunch. The company plans to hire product design consultants to maintain its unique approach while attracting more users.

“We’re committed to avoiding the pitfalls of amplifying only the most popular content,” Secretan said. “There’s a balance to be struck, and we believe in our ability to find it.”

Maven also launched a spinoff app called Ryff, which uses generative AI art to help users explore new interests.

Stanley expressed excitement about returning to AI research, particularly in "open-endedness," an area focusing on algorithms that continually invent and solve new tasks, contrasting with traditional optimization approaches.