His unique collective experiences gave him more education on how to start a business.
“I got to know more about their startup experience, how to manage a team in a startup company and how to build up products from zero to one and scale up to more users,” says Chen.
During the pandemic, the introduction and exponential growth of TikTok and the popularity of short-form video content across several social media platforms caught Chen’s eye.
“I decided to do some research to see if there’s an opportunity for more mature adults,” Chen says. “Are they enjoying short-form videos?”
Chen noticed there was a hole in the market he could fill, so in 2020 he founded Clapper, a social media company based in North Texas. The application has grown significantly as it reaches its four-year anniversary in July, currently at roughly 400,000 daily users and 2 million active monthly users, according to the Dallas Morning News. Clapper made it to the top spot of social media app purchases from the App Store in March 2023 and has continued to stay in the top 20 since then.
Clapper is unique in both its business model and its lack of advertisers. Chen says the platform emphasizes engagement and content and that creators make money by creating content within their community. A creator can make revenue in a myriad of ways, including membership tiers for their followers and virtual gifts during live streams.
“We charge a percentage of the transaction through our platform, so only when a creator can earn money, we earn money as well,” says Chen.
Despite the saturated social media industry, Chen said he doesn’t view the elephant in the room, TikTok, as a direct competitor. Because of the economic model of Clapper and how it differentiates from the other competition, the profit of the company over the individual users is not the goal.
A New Medium
“It's been our goal to provide the best services for creators in the following couple of years to make them succeed,” says Chen. “Then I think there will also be the success of Clapper. This is the business model — I want to prove that a purely creative economy model can also survive and not rely on the ads, which can affect the user experience.”Since the company’s inception, the app continues to add new and unique features that are based on feedback the company received from users. The first addition was the tiers, where creators can include bonus benefits to encourage people to sign up for content. Other features added since then are the clapback video response feature, a Clapper shop and tipping features for video creators.
Clapper plans to add new tools, such as a short film feature so that directors can add their film creations onto the platform.
Clapper’s success goes beyond its technical innovation. The company has now grown to 40 countries, and in 2023, Clapper was able to distribute $20 million to its users. Chen also says that about 4,000 small-business owners are using the app's tools, including the marketplace, to sell their products.
“That's the result [of] combining tech knowledge and the product market fits from a creative perspective,” he explains.
Chen has also found personal success, having been recently nominated as a finalist for the EY Southwest Region Entrepreneur of the Year. The entrepreneur feels lucky and proud, especially since this is his first time as the owner and founder of a company. But he isn’t done.
“I would like to lead Clapper to be a global company with a global team. I think that would define success for me personally,” he says.
