From Stranger to Real Friend — Tackling Male Isolation, with Eric Schlossberg (Founder of Pulse) In this episode of The TRUUMAN Podcast, we sit down with Eric Schlossberg — founder of Pulse, a social platform designed to help people move past awkward first meetings and actually build lasting friendships. After moving 10 times across 5 countries, Eric became an expert at making friends from scratch. But he also saw first-hand how, for many men, building deep, consistent friendships is much harder than it looks — no matter how many social apps we have. A former opera singer turned software engineer, Eric brings a rare mix of creativity, tech insight, and lived experience to this important conversation about connection, isolation, and why male friendships are often more fragile than we realise.

In this episode, we cover:

🤝 Why meeting someone new isn’t the hard part — keeping the connection is

🧠 The psychological roadblocks that stop men from forming close friendships

🌈 Eric’s experience as a gay man navigating male friendships across cultures

📱 Why most friendship apps fail — and how Pulse is different

📅 The underestimated power of rhythm in relationships

🗣 Why “Let’s do this again next week” might be the most important sentence in your social life

Eric shares:

“Male isolation isn’t just about loneliness — it’s about the absence of consistent, meaningful connection.”

“Most of us treat friendship like dating. We focus on the first meet-up and forget it takes repeated, intentional time to build something real.”

“For straight men especially, vulnerability with other men is often unpracticed — and that’s where the work begins.”

Why you’ll want to listen:

You’ve felt the sting of isolation — even when surrounded by people

You want deeper, more consistent friendships as a man

You’re curious why male friendship patterns differ from female ones

You work in mental health, men’s groups, or community-building

You’re tired of “networking” and want real human connection

Find out more about Pulse:

https://pulsenow.app

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-schlossberg/

https://www.instagram.com/lewishackney/

https://thefoundrycic.org.uk/

https://truuman.io/30-days/