CNN – Feb 26 - SeekingArrangement.com reports that female college students made up 44% of the site's total users in 2012. With tuition on the rise, that number will likely continue to climb. Men who engage in such relationships, many of whom are older and married, enjoy taking care of young women and assuming a mentor role in their lives, said Steven Pasternack, who launched Sugardaddie.com in 2002. The average monthly "allowance" sugar daddies on the site said they shell out is $3K, according to SeekingArrangement.com. Surprisingly, sex isn't a given. It's obviously on the table but there are other motivations – to go out to eat or to have someone to talk to. SeekingArrangement.com's Wade said the men who subscribe to his site are discouraged from offering money on a per-date basis to avoid operating like an escort service.
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 26 - HowAboutWe has launched a new commercial alongside a new site landing page with options for both singles and couples. HowAboutWe begins its transition from a traditional dating site to a lifestyle brand for relationships in all stages. Singles pay anywhere between $8 to $35 per month. Meanwhile, couples pay a monthly membership fee of $22 to receive access and discounts on cool dates. The new landing page has shown a 20% bump in conversion rates during its testing period, which was preceded by January. January saw 2x more HowAboutWe couples subscriptions than the previous five months combined.
WOMEN OF CHINA – The recent 2012-2013 Survey Report on Chinese People's Love and Marriage Values jointly issued by the National Population and Family Planning Commission and dating website Jiayuan.com shows that China's population of single people of marriageable age is growing. Unmarried people 18+ account for 18.6% (249 million) of the total population. The male to female sex ratio imbalance is severe, at 26.7 males to 24.9 females. Unmarried men outnumber women by 23M among the three generations. Late marriages have become a social trend. The divorce rate is growing faster than the marriage rate. It was estimated that in 2012, the marriage rate was 10% and the divorce rate was 2.29%. 70% of women prefer men who are ~10 years older.
OPW – Feb 23 – Here are the latest Experian Hitwise Premium International Dating Rankings. We'll also list these rankings on the Official Rankings page on OPW.
THE DAILY BEAST – Bang With Friends, a controversial Facebook app designed to help users find casual hookups, has rapidly grown to 700K users, facilitating 130K matches. Initially criticized for its narrow focus and lack of inclusivity, the app's creators have expanded features to include all sexual orientations and improved discretion. CEO "C" revealed plans to evolve the app into a broader dating tool, promoting more honest interactions and offline connections. Despite the app's graphic imagery and sexual branding, the team aims to attract a wider audience and enhance its functionality beyond just casual encounters.
OPW INTERVIEW – Feb 26 – AForeignAffair is an International dating service that connects women from Russia, Latin America and Asia with guys around the world. John Adams is the CEO and Founder. I asked him about the genesis and nature of his company. – Mark Brooks
What is the founding story of AForeignAffair? AForeignAffair started in 1995 by myself, Ken Agee, and Ron Redburn. Back then newspapers had personal ads where women were seeking men, men seeking women, but you never really knew what the people looked like. We thought it would be great to put photos out there so people could actually see a photo before they meet.
We launched on the BBS system thinking we would do it locally in Phoenix. Then we discovered the Internet, and we thought: “Wow we can do this on a global basis.” We sent Ken to Russia to see if there was going to be any interest from the women to meet Americans. He was very pleased with the reception that he got there. That was kind of the beginning and we started first in St. Petersburg, Russia and Ukraine and then Colombia and all over.
This seems like a very different industry than the Internet dating industry. How would you define it? I would call it the International introduction industry. For people to be successful they're going to have to travel outside the county. I think there is a lot of ignorance in that. Once you start looking at the men and the women who use this, a lot of that ignorance melts away and you understand that these are just normal people trying to find that special someone.
What countries are you in? We are in Russia, Ukraine, Peru, Cost Rica, Columbia, China, Dominican Republic, and others.
It really seems like the opposite of Internet dating, because most Internet daters don't want to travel more than 20 miles. According to studies, these relationships tend to last longer than domestic relationships. One of the reasons for that is the fact that it does take more effort, it does take more commitment to make something like this work.
So how's your National Geographic promotion happening? We've always been open to the media. National Geographic is just another step in that progression of opening access and trying to illuminate this industry.
They did a wonderful job. I was there… Nothing was scripted, everything was as you see it. They had three separate crews, they were following the guys as they were going on the different dates, they were filming the dates, the socials, the reactions after the dates. Some were good and some were bad. It's not all fairy dust and blue birds singing around your head. It's about going over there and having options. You still have to make something happen.
What do you think this industry is going to look like in 5 years time? What's your vision of the future for AForeignAffair? I think it is going to become more mainstream. Our world is becoming smaller every day; we can communicate so much easier and it's instant and transparent. In order to be successful, you have to provide more customer service to both the men and the women, and more functionality. Not just introducing them, but helping them through the whole dating process, and helping them to be successful in marrying.
How do you think the idating industry can work with this industry? There must be a way for the two to work together. I think there is. We've talked to some of the local matchmaking companies, some of the more traditional ones, and we are still in talks with some. Partnering with us will allow them to offer more options to their clients.
PRESS RELEASE – Feb 25 – Social discovery service, MeetMe, is now available in Chinese (Traditional), Russian, and Japanese and is expected to launch soon on Android and iOS devices. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and German language versions became available in the third and fourth quarters of 2012.
DAILY HERALD – Feb 24 – Sam Yagan, a 1995
graduate of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, will
be speaking about the importance of a technical education and what it's
like to be an entrepreneur.
Q: What will you discuss during your speech? A: I'll be mostly focusing on the decision to become an entrepreneur and how to go about thinking about that decision.
Q: What makes a good entrepreneur these days?
A: Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty.
Q: Is there a typical career path in entrepreneurship? A:
The defining characteristic of a career is success in one job leads you
to the next, there's this ladder. I've started four successful
startups, so when I go to start the next company, I'll have some
advantages; I'll be able to hire and raise money more easily.
Q: What did you learn about entrepreneurship during your time at IMSA? A: You have to be willing to fail.
Q: How does your startup accelerator, TechStars Chicago, assist budding entrepreneurs? A: In the '90s when I got my start, what you really needed to succeed
was cash. But now what really differentiates successful startups is
whether you have access to the brainpower and the mentorship of people
who have been there and done that. TechStars Chicago basically brings
together this army of mentors.
Q: What should high school students with big ideas do to set themselves up for careers in online entrepreneurship? A:
The biggest thing is to get a technical education. And if you want to
be an entrepreneur and you want to build things, just start building.
BBC.CO.UK – Feb 24 – Customers of Cupid plc have voiced concerns that they may have been lured into paying subscriptions by potential dates who did not exist. Men who signed up to a number of sites owned by Cupid plc said that flirty messages they received as free members rapidly tailed off when they became paid-up subscribers. Cupid plc said it did created staff profiles, but only for "the express purpose of monitoring the site for quality assurance and moderation purposes". It categorically denied the company sent communications in order to tempt free members to pay subscriptions.
CNN – Feb 26 - SeekingArrangement.com reports that female college students made up 44% of the site's total users in 2012. With tuition on the rise, that number will likely continue to climb. Men who engage in such relationships, many of whom are older and married, enjoy taking care of young women and assuming a mentor role in their lives, said Steven Pasternack, who launched Sugardaddie.com in 2002. The average monthly "allowance" sugar daddies on the site said they shell out is $3K, according to SeekingArrangement.com. Surprisingly, sex isn't a given. It's obviously on the table but there are other motivations – to go out to eat or to have someone to talk to. SeekingArrangement.com's Wade said the men who subscribe to his site are discouraged from offering money on a per-date basis to avoid operating like an escort service.
