Gen Z is tired of turning their lives into a performance. That’s the bet Fizz is making as it quietly becomes the default social app on college campuses across the U.S.
What started as a pandemic-era group chat frustration has grown into what co-founder and CEO Teddy Solomon calls “the biggest college social app since Facebook.” Instead of chasing viral moments, Fizz is built for what he describes as the 99% of life that never makes it into an Instagram grid or TikTok highlight reel.
On TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, senior reporter Dominic-Madori Davis sat down with Solomon live at Disrupt to unpack why he thinks traditional social media stopped being social — and how anonymous posting is suddenly back in fashion with the generation that grew up online.
Why anonymous, why now
Solomon argues that Instagram and TikTok have drifted into pure entertainment platforms. They’re great for creators and algorithms, less great for messy, real-world student life. That shift, he says, created an opening for something more intimate and less polished.
Fizz’s answer is a hybrid model: users are part of verified college communities, but much of the posting is anonymous and hyperlocal. The result is a feed that feels more like a dorm common room than a global stage.
Moderation as the moat
Anonymous apps have a long history of going off the rails. Solomon insists Fizz’s safety infrastructure is what makes this wave different. The company relies on a network of around 7,000 volunteer student moderators, backed by AI tools, to keep conversations from tipping into harassment or abuse.
That combination of human context and machine scale is central to Fizz’s pitch: real talk without total chaos.
Beyond campus and toward “Global Fizz”
Fizz might own the college moment, but the company’s ambitions don’t stop at the campus gate. On Equity, Solomon talks through Fizz’s expansion plans beyond universities and what the team means when they talk about “Global Fizz.”
The core question: can the same anonymous, hyperlocal model work for wider communities once students graduate and scatter to new cities?
Why build in New York, not San Francisco
Solomon also makes a case for New York City as the better home base for a consumer startup. While Silicon Valley is still the default for many founders, he explains why being closer to culture, media and a dense, diverse user base matters when you’re trying to build the next big social app.
Listen to the full conversation
Catch the full episode of Equity to hear:
- Why Solomon thinks Instagram and TikTok became pure entertainment platforms, and how that opened the door for Fizz
- How Fizz uses 7,000 volunteer student moderators plus AI to keep things safe
- What “Global Fizz” could look like beyond college campuses
- Why Solomon believes New York is a better place than San Francisco to build a consumer company
You can listen to this Equity episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and other major podcast platforms, and follow the show on X and Threads at @EquityPod.
