Business & technology
Listen to what people actually come to you for
Love, friendship, business. We began with several reasons people might use dua. By July 2023, I was explaining why we had focused on dating: love was…
VALON ASANI / ENGLISH
Writing on love, lived values and Albanian life
Love well. Live your values. Carry our roots forward. Those are the three questions behind my writing, whether a piece begins with a relationship, a company or a moment between Kosovo and Switzerland.
Choose a subject below. The short video notes preserve the original moment; longer essays explore what it means and what we can do. These are personal experiences and opinions, with sources for factual claims.
Relationships
The relationship stories behind a dating app
Dates. Engagements. Weddings. Families. In my July 2023 conversation for Zë me Mirën, I spoke about the photos and stories people shared with dua. That is…
Personal growth
Be your own biggest fan without refusing feedback
If you are waiting for someone to become your biggest fan, start closer to home. Stand behind your own work. Then stay open enough to make…
Personal growth
Being afraid does not have to make the decision for you
I am afraid. And now? I do not want that feeling to make every decision for me. Sometimes the next step is small enough to take…
Business & technology
A founder’s focus: go deeper before adding more
Another idea is exciting. Staying with one long enough to become good at it asks more of you. That is the challenge I keep coming back…
Business & technology
What our Euro 2024 release says about building a product
Euro 2024 was starting, and our dua team had a release ready. Languages, discovery, visibility controls, design—and the testing and fixes behind them. I wanted to…
Business & technology
Spotted: designing for the people whose paths cross yours
During Euro 2024, I used football supporters in Germany to explain Spotted. One person wants to look everywhere. Another wants to find someone they crossed paths…
Personal growth
Choose the relationship you want with social media
I spent four years away from most social platforms. I kept LinkedIn for hiring and investors. When I returned, I wanted connection and a place to…
Personal growth
Turn an intention into a next step
“I want to.” Good. What will you do next? I want my intentions to become something I can point to at the end of the day.
Business & technology
The early dua.com story: an idea, a community, a changing direction
An idea in 2011. Albanian friends in 2013. dua in 2019. By 2023, we were talking about an international audience. Looking back, the direction did not…
Personal growth
Designed to win – programmed to fail.
Changing habitual patterns is the purpose of the repeated reminder below. I want to connect what I know with what I do, and notice…
Personal growth
The croissant habit: what I would keep—and correct—in my essay
Revisiting my 2023 croissant essay: a useful question about routines, without unsupported fasting claims or judging someone’s worth by breakfast.