Who Killed Meetup? Three Owners, Zero UX

A platform born from 9/11 grief to fight American loneliness — sold to WeWork, fire-sold during COVID, and now strip-mined by Bending Spoons. Meetup.com is one of the most heartbreaking UX murders we've ever investigated. In this episode, Brian Crowley and Eve Eden follow the evidence through three ownership changes in seven years, a broken RSVP system that's been ignored for over a decade, dark-pattern subscriptions that users can't cancel, and a search bar so busted it returns yoga in New York when you're looking for tech in Cologne. We investigate: • How WeWork bought Meetup for $156M and let it rot while chasing a $47B IPO • The $2 RSVP fee "experiment" that blew up in their faces • How Bending Spoons — the same company that gutted Evernote and WeTransfer — laid off the US team and now also owns Meetup's biggest competitor, Eventbrite • Why the people who actually built Meetup's communities (unpaid organizers) got squeezed the hardest • The founder's quote that says it all: "I should have not taken the complaints too seriously" The loneliness epidemic is worse than ever. The tool built to fight it has a 1.3-star rating on Trustpilot. This one hurts. — 🎙️ UX Murder Mystery investigates product failures through true-crime storytelling. Hosts Brian Crowley and Eve Eden are UX practitioners who examine what went wrong, who's responsible, and what we can learn from digital disasters. 🔗 SOURCES & FURTHER READING: NBC News — "Meetup was a darling of the tech industry. But can it survive WeWork?" https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/meetup-was-darling-tech-industry-can-it-survive-wework-n1106676 Gizmodo — "The Mess at Meetup" https://gizmodo.com/the-mess-at-meetup-1822243738 TechCrunch — "What is Bending Spoons?" https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/25/what-is-bending-spoons-everything-to-know-about-aols-acquirer/ Medium — "The Alternative to Meetup.com" https://medium.com/@ciaran_92884/the-alternative-to-meetup-com-8f47f1342004 UX MURDER MYSTERY HOSTED BY Brian J. Crowley Eve Eden EDITED BY Kelsey Smith INTRO ANIMATION & LOGO DESIGN Brian J. Crowley MUSIC BY Nicolas Lee A JOINT PRODUCTION OF EVE | User Experience Design Agency and CrowleyUX | Where Systems Meet Stories ©2025 Brian J. Crowley and Eve Eden Email us at: questions‪@UXmurdermystery‬ .com Thank you for watching and or listening! Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts are commentary and speculation, not statements of fact. All discussions about real companies, individuals, or organizations are based on publicly available information, media reports, and personal opinions offered for the purpose of critique, education, and storytelling. We make no representations or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of any information discussed. Nothing in this podcast should be interpreted as a factual assertion about the actions, motives, or intentions of any individual or corporate entity. Listeners should conduct their own research before drawing conclusions. The creators and guests of this podcast disclaim all liability for any loss, harm, or damages arising from reliance on any information or opinions presented. Names, characters, and events may occasionally be dramatized or fictionalized for illustrative purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is purely coincidental.