Zach Schleien

Zach Schleien is a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, mental health advocate, and digital marketer. With more than 10 years of experience as a digital marketeer, he is currently the CEO of Filteroff App,  a video speed dating app for brands, nonprofits and influencers to connect with their audiences.

Zach holds a Masters's in Information Management from Syracuse University. He has developed his career around entrepreneurship and as a digital marketeer, working with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and becoming Business Analyst for the Global Health Services team.
As a serial entrepreneur, Schleien has founded several companies like BeginU, a platform for college students to find projects and work opportunities to develop their skills, Top Romp, LIFT Protein Muffin and, more recently, Filteroff App.

After his friend’s passing of mental illness, Zach started initiatives to help people with mental illness. He has launched several campaigns and projects like CaringCrowd,  a crowdfunding platform for non-profits, NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness,( the nation's largest grassroots mental health organisation) and 18percent, a free mental health online community based on Slack. In 2 different campaigns, his organisations has helped more than 960 parents with children who have a mental illness.
 

USA-born Zach Scheilen started his career by establishing a platform, BeginU, that helped college students develop professional skills and find projects and work opportunities. He drove user acquisition and partnered with 12 universities in the Northeast United States. 
 

In 2013, Zach joined IT company Rounded, where he organised and publicised the speaker series “Rounded Presents” with an appreciable audience. He also developed and executed Google Analytics strategy for their client ScoutLookWeather.
 

Zach then obtained his Master's in Information Management from Syracuse University and in 2014 he launched his third company, LIFT Protein Muffins. Using a crowdfunding campaign, he raised over $5,000 in 30 days on Kickstarter. 
 

His journey for social media marketing continued at Online Geniuses, an internet marketer that represents niches from across every vertical of the social media marketing spectrum.

In 2016, he secured a job at Johnson & Johnson, first as an IT Analyst, he climbed up the ladder to become Business Analyst for the Global Health Services team. In this role at Johnson & Johnson, he provided a digital capability for shipping and coach management for their Energy for Performance courses; partnered with the Global Community Impact team to build out requirements for their Social Responsibility solution and was appointed to be on the Mental Health Diplomat Leadership team focusing on external affairs and young talent in the mental health domain.
 

After his friend’s passing with mental illness, Zach dedicated himself to helping people with mental illness. He launched a $9,500 project on CaringCrowd (a crowdfunding platform for non-profits) with the funds going to the National Alliance on Mental Illness – NAMI New Jersey, USA’s largest grassroots mental health organisation. 

He attained his goal within 2 1/2 weeks with the proceeds going to the NAMI Basics program, which supported 360 parents with children who have a mental illness. He has also launched another project with the goal to raise $30,000 on CaringCrowd to support 600 families where at least one member of their family had a mental illness. The funds went to NAMI El Dorado. He attained this mark within 3 weeks.

In this regard, Zach teamed up with his best friend David in 2017 and launched the mental health Slack community, 18 percent. Presently, he is the co-founder of Filteroff, a video speed dating app for brands, nonprofits and influencers as a way to provide their audience & members to connect romantically. Filteroff was featured on The New York Times and BBC, and is also ranked #1 product on Product Hunt. 
 

His vision can be found in a recent interview with Dinis Guarda.

Dinis was interested to know the driving idea behind setting up Filteroff. Zach told him that he was fascinated by the idea of building connections outside the friend circle. That was when he observed the challenges in the current online dating industry, supported himself with technology, and established the virtual speed dating app.

"For me, the video was something I was very, much interested in. when I started a video call with someone before meeting them in person, it was a more efficient experience in terms of understanding and seeing the person and working out on the chemistry.", he told Dinis. 

He also explained an outstanding feature of the app- virtual events, where influencers and brands can create events for their communities for engagement and connections. Dinis asked Zach about the ways in which Filteroff is combating serious concerns like online bullying and scamming. Zach explained how Filteroff's 'Reporting functionality' algorithm identifies scammers and siphons them off for a seamless experience for users.
 

Concluding the interview, Zach said:

"The beauty of Filteroff is that we create a new paradigm, being at the forefront of the online dating industry when it comes to video first, having a real human experience, and introducing communities to provide that level of trust when it comes to our platform. It's not just focussed on the profile.”