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Nathaneo Johnson, a co-founder of the AI-powered social network Series, has spent the past two weeks in Cambridge, employing unorthodox marketing strategies to promote his company to Ivy League students.
The Yale University senior started Series, which uses AI to match and connect users, in 2023 and said he hopes to take the app to universities across the nation.
For now, he’s starting with Harvard. In an attempt to lure students he has brought a robot football fan, free matcha, and a banner plastered with students’ headshots .
“It was strategic in a way where we wanted essentially to go after an audience that was very prone to try new things,” Johnson said. “I think that Harvard’s a good example of that.”
Series users enter profiles in the app, describing interests like finding a startup cofounder, a freelance video editor, a date, or a party planner, and the program matches them with AI chatbots embedded in iMessages. Then the chatbots match users with other students — with the goal of making instant connections and forming a sprawling, but accessible, social network.
Johnson said that the goal of his campus tour is to make people “remember the name Series.”
“The continual pattern of unconventionalism sparks curiosity,” he said. “And the only way to really stay relevant, I think, in today’s age and media, is to do interesting things.”
The startup raised $3.1 million in pre-seed funding during a two-week period in April. Its founders have big goals: helping students form relationships without running aground because of stereotypes or social anxiety. But despite Johnson’s best efforts, Series has yet to gain traction at Harvard.
The Crimson spoke with more than 15 students who said they were unfamiliar with the app or its extravagant marketing techniques. Some said they had been caught off guard by the tactics — and a few were surprised to find themselves as the faces of Johnson’s advertising campaign.
Nadia N. Olsen ’29 was leaving the Harvard-Brown game on Saturday when something unexpected caught her eye: a short, metal robot threading through the crowd below the stands.
“We went down the stairs and I almost bumped into the robot,” Olsen said. “It was at some point almost chasing us, as in, we were leaving and it changed its path to track us. It was a very discombobulating experience.”
Olsen was not alone in her confusion. Though the robot was meant to be an advertisement for Series, its plain metallic body left many students unsure of its purpose — and its human chaperone didn’t explain when asked, according to Riya S. Shah ’29, who saw the robot in the stands.
“There’s a lot of stuff at Harvard to do with tech and stuff, so we just figured it was something for a club,” she said.
While the robot mingled with attendees in the crowd, Series employees set up a stand outside of the stadium where they offered students free matcha if they downloaded the app.
Layden H. Kennedy ’29 said he took the company up on their offer and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the AI-powered chatbot.
“I was impressed with — and taken aback a little bit. For a sec, I actually thought I had texted some other human user,” he said.
But despite his initial enthusiasm, Kennedy said he was ultimately only in it for the matcha. He deleted the app soon after receiving the drink.
Harvard-Brown was not the only campus event that Series has crashed this semester. On Sunday, Johnson erected a large banner outside of the Smith Campus Center that displayed the faces of fourteen Harvard students.
“I believe in unconventional marketing. Try my AI,” the banner read.
At least two of the fourteen students pictured on Johnson’s banner told The Crimson they were not aware their pictures would be displayed on Harvard’s campus.
Idalis S. McZeal ’27, one of the students pictured, said she had been talking with Johnson at Shabbat 1000, Harvard’s largest Jewish celebration, on Sept. 12 when he asked to take her headshot.
“I knew he was legit, and he also was like, ‘Oh, this will be posted in Forbes and Business Insider,’” she said.
“But I did not expect it to be in front of Smith and everything. That was shocking,” McZeal added.
Dea Kamberi ’29, another student displayed on the banner, wrote in a statement that though Johnson told her the picture would be used in marketing material, she was surprised to see her face outside of Smith.
Johnson wrote in a statement that Series employees “clearly explained the process to each student, got their verbal consent before taking the headshot, and followed up with all students taking out those who voiced to us they wanted to be removed.”
“We did our best to respect opt-outs and create something fun for Harvard to look back on,” he added.
Johnson said in an interview that Series plans to keep organizing events at Harvard and other universities. The startup’s plan, he said, is to host a competition based on event attendance, with the winner receiving a free trip to Europe over spring break.
“We’re gonna start hosting formals, parties, events, etc., that will be school wide,” he said. “We’ll count the school that has the most amount of users by the end of that calendar year, and then the winning school, whoever was involved in those events, will get that Spring Break trip.”
Though Johnson has already managed to attend an array of Harvard events, he did not always do so with support from the University. Johnson said he tried to display the banner in Harvard Yard before Securitas guards escorted him away.
Securitas did not reply to a request for comment.
