Ev Williams, founder of Twitter and Medium, launches a new social app

• Ev Williams recently launched Mozi, a new social app.

• Mozi is basically a better contacts app that is meant to help people connect in-person.

• The app's success will depend on overcoming a steep cold start problem.

Evan "Ev" Williams is one of the greatest founders of his generation. What else do you call a man who founded Blogger and Medium, co-founded Twitter, and is worth $1.9B?

However, Ev has laid low since his exit from Medium in 2022. Now, we know what he's been up to.

The story, as told by Ev, goes like this. In 2022, Ev sits down to plan his 50th birthday party. It was then he ran into a familiar problem for nerds, founders, and workaholics everywhere: he "didn't have a robust set of friendships" he felt great about.

It was through this experience that he realized not only did he not have great friendships, he wasn't even sure who he knew. He's a big name, so it's not like social media is full of his real friends, and his contacts app on his phone was a mess.

Enter Mozi, Ev's new social app that definitely isn't a social media app.

Mozi is basically a better contacts app. There's no public profiles. No followers. No stories. All it does is let you know when you're going to be in the same city or event as someone you know so that you can meet up and hang out.

The overarching goal is to make social media social again. Personal relationships, not entertainment. According to Ev, it's done a pretty good job of that so far.

It's definitely an interesting idea and noble goal, but there are reasons to be skeptical of it's success. Josh Cornelius, the founder of the consumer crypto VC fund and accelerator Seed Club, says "it's one of those ideas that sound great...if you were able to magically have all of your friends on there and actively using it."

Obviously, getting to that point is going to extremely difficult. Are people really going to leave Facebook, which is now also prioritizing in-person meetups, for Mozi?

It's hard to see it, but if anyone can make it happen, It's Ev Williams.

In any case, it's clear that there is a strong demand for IRL connections. It's why people are getting back on Facebook. It's why party invitation app Partiful has millions of users. It's why Bumble BFF exists. And it's why Ev launched Mozi.