17. Ayman Hariri: A Conversation with the CEO & Co-Founder of VERO True Social

Launched officially in 2015 as an alternative to Facebook and Instagram, VERO is a social media platform and mobile app company that markets itself as a social network free from advertisements, data mining, and algorithms. Within weeks of its release, the app surged in popularity and became favored amongst niche groups of make-up artists, tattoo artists, and skateboarders. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018, VERO devised an advertising campaign aimed at defected Facebook and Instagram users, hoping the app's policies and privacy settings would satisfy concerns over sharing personal information on the internet. Within one week, it was the most downloaded app in eighteen countries.

In this episode, founder and CEO of VERO, Ayman Hariri, shares his favorite everyday camera, explains why architectural photography is his preferred genre and describes how VERO has encouraged him to be more creative and find more things to take photos of. Ayman reveals why his app is called ‘VERO’ – which means ‘truth’ in Italian. He describes why the true social network is yet to be reflected online and why they aim to keep human interaction at the forefront of the app. Ayman delves into the reasons why the platform is currently free and touches on his plans to introduce a subscription service to avoid advertising and data mining to VERO. Richard and Ayman discuss the possibility of photographers moving from Instagram to VERO, why his father, Rafic Hariri, is his hero, and much more!

To find out more about VERO and download the app, visit: www.vero.co

To follow Ayman on VERO, visit: www.vero.co/ayman

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