Letter #03

The Fifth Verse, Weekly Update 

A few days late, but never silent - here’s our latest check-in from The Fifth Verse. As part of our promise to build in public, we’re back to share what’s been unfolding behind the scenes over the last 10 days.

Since Adinath’s last letter, we’ve been knee-deep in something that forms the very heart of what we’re building: compatibility. Not just chemistry or common interests, but deep, durable compatibility - the kind that makes relationships last beyond the swipe. 

So, we asked ourselves the hard questions. 

• Why does it just click with some people, and with others, no matter how long you try, it never gets there? 

• Do people really know what they’re looking for in a partner? Or are we all just guessing until something feels right? 

• Is it true that opposites attract, or do we gravitate toward people who mirror us in subtle, invisible ways? 

These weren’t just shower thoughts - they became the basis of a research sprint that had us combing through landmark studies in psychology, trait theory, and relationship science. Papers like Goldberg’s Big Five (1993), Costa and McCrae’s NEO PI-R, and Tversky & Kahneman’s work on human judgment all made it to our whiteboard wall. If someone had peeked into our home-office last week, they’d have found us surrounded by a jungle of sticky notes, diagrams, and half-drunk coffee cups. 

Out of all that chaos, clarity emerged. And with that clarity, we built Eva. 

Eva is our proprietary Multidimensional Psychographic Trait Model for Compatibility - the matching algorithm that powers The Fifth Verse. She’s not based on superficial preferences or tired tropes. Eva maps who you are across six deeply human dimensions - your social style, emotional temperament, decision-making approach, value system, lifestyle orientation, and relationship goals. But that’s just one side of the story. 

The magic happens in the comparison. 

Eva doesn’t just look at who you are - she also considers what you’re seeking in someone else. Every user gives us two profiles: one of themselves, and one of their ideal partners. Using math (think: clustering algorithms and Euclidean distance) and logic rooted in psychological science, Eva compares both ends to find where mutual compatibility lives - not just “you’d like them,” but “they’d like you back.” 

We spent a lot of time refining the questions that feed this system. Questions that don’t just ask directly, “Are you introverted?” but instead observe patterns - how you travel, how you argue, how you recharge - to draw truer portraits of people. 

This is the layer most dating apps skip, and we think it’s the one that matters most. 

With Eva built and tested in simulation, we’re now integrating her into the product. It’s thrilling (and occasionally terrifying) to see it all come to life - not in theory, but in code, copy, and UI. She’ll soon be the quiet engine behind every match on The Fifth Verse. 

On the compliance front

We’re currently registering our company in Bangalore under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Our GST application is underway, our startup current account is in process, and in a few days, we’ll formally be co-directors on paper - although we’ve been living that role in spirit for months now. 

Bangalore is where we’ll launch, test, and validate. If it works here - financially, operationally, emotionally - we’ll scale to the rest of India. One city, one truth at a time. 

On the personal front

Our living room has become our headquarters. 

We swapped the dining table for a war table. Added a giant whiteboard. Got a five-seater sofa for power naps. And planted a fresh money plant next to our window (for good vibes with fresh air). Sometimes, we brainstorm on foot - pacing the open floor till we hit 10,000 steps without leaving the house. 

Every morning, I wake up both excited and slightly terrified. Excited because we’re building something we believe India needs. Terrified because, like any founder knows, there are no guarantees - only guesses, deadlines, and the hope that you’re solving something real. 

But if there’s one thing, I’m certain of, it’s this: we’re not building The Fifth Verse alone. We’re building it with each other, for the millions of people quietly waiting for something better. Something that respects their depth. Something that treats dating not like a game, but a gateway. 

See you in the next letter.