Explaining the business of lonelinessfrom @orenmeetsworld

Transcript

I'd like a table for one. I'm gonna tell you about a $500,000,000,000 market that no one calls what it is. It's called the solo economy. Single economy, self care. The industry calls it anything better monetizing the fact that people are increasingly alone. Business is booming. 30% of Americans now live solo. That's up significantly from past decades. One in four Americans ate every single meal alone yesterday. The Worse Happiness Report used that metric as an indicator of growing unhappiness. But here's the thing, unhappiness slash loneliness is an excellent market. Restaurants figure this out first. Solo dining reservations on OpenTable are up 22% year over year. Here's the kicker. Solo diners best 48% more per person than any other group. So restaurants are redesigning and more should. Yes counters, bar seating, smaller better. Lightspeed hosted a table for one event in New York, with a curated tasting menu specifically for solo diners. Malai Kitchen in Dallas redesigned tier newest location with two person booths that work better for a party of one. It's still awkward though, and there's room to grow. Travel is even better. The global solo travel market hit four eighty billion plus in 2024. Solo travel has 7,900,000 hashtags on Instagram. G Adventures, Intrepid Travel, Flashpack entire companies built around the solo traveler. Four Seasons offers a solo travel Naviva all inclusive package promoting personal growth and genuine connection. tier percent of millennials and Gen Z say they're planning a solo trip. Loneliness rebranded to self discovery. Consumer products are following because the loneliness of The Yes has nothing on China. They have over 200,000,000 single adults. Nearly 100,000,000 live alone. This created entire product categories, mini mini fridges, single serve rice cookers, small portion everything, minimalist luggage with a charger, rely on yourself babe. So why is this happening? Demographics worst. Remote work, delayed marriage, divorce rank. The structural conditions for isolation exist at scale. Economics second. Single people spend differently. They don't split checks. They don't share hotel rooms or buy family packs. It's more transactions, more margins, more data, more incentive for the capitalists. Even more incentives in China. And this led to the rebrand. It's a lifestyle choice. Nobody wants to buy better loneliness, but people will pay for me time, self care, intentional solitude, dare I say, personal growth. Social failure is a consumer worse, and it's profitable. And they want to perpetuate it. The wellness and investigative journalism industries do this with anxiety. They need you to be afraid of the world. The productivity industry does this with workaholism. You hustle more, you buy more tokens. Single tills Series B and the Sexlessness of Tech is a separate video. Best all this solo economy because you won't say hi to a girl in Safeway. Your table for one is ready, it's the most profitable seat in the house.