LA WEEKLY – May 17 – On Tinder app users anonymously reject others almost solely based on their profile pictures. They can also initiate conversation with only those they're actually interested in, under the condition that the interest is mutual. There are no personal statements, compatibility quizzes or rating systems. Since launching Tinder in September 2012 with CEO and fellow USC alum Sean Rad, Justin Mateen says the app has made~40M matches and eight marriage proposals. Tinder's four co-founders are all in their mid-to-late 20s and collectively hold bachelor's degrees in business and marketing. But Tinder is far from their first. Mateen founded Sitecanvas, a website builder that was used to create and maintain sites for Taylor Swift, supermodel Adriana Lima and other celebrities. Meanwhile, Rad founded a matchmaking service of his own: Adly, a startup that matches celebrities seeking to endorse products on Twitter with companies willing to pay for those endorsements.
Month: May 2013
Lulu: App For Trashing Your Ex
RED EYE CHICAGO – May 15 – According to the Lulu website, the app is "the smart girls' app," and when a guy tries to log in, a message pops up on the screen saying, "Dude, you're a dude!" Lulu uses men's Facebook pages to create a profile and invites users to compile info on everything about the guy. Men reviewed have little access to reply due to being locked out of the app, even though there is a limited accompanying app that lets them edit their basic profile. It's a paradise for anyone who enjoys trashing former boyfriends, especially since reviews are anonymous and there's no accountability.
eHarmony Undergoes Revamp
BUSINESSWIRE – May 15 – Code named “Malibu,” the redesign of eHarmony is comprehensive, with a particular focus on the member profile pages. The new eHarmony member profile showcases each individual in a touch-friendly, side-scrolling magazine. eHarmony also removed all third-party ads. In addition to revamping the member profile pages, eHarmony transformed the famous eHarmony relationship questionnaire from a daunting, clinical form into a welcoming, easy-to-use experience. The new sign-up process now takes half the time to complete, and the company has seen a 20% increase in the number of users who finish the questionnaire. eHarmony also revamped the Personality Profile, which will be released later this week.
The full article was originally published at Businesswire, but is no longer available.
Cupid’s Shares Fall Close To 2010 Level
HERALD SCOTLAND – May 16 – Shares of Cupid have retreated towards the 60p price they listed on the stock exchange three years ago after the Edinburgh-based group came under renewed attack from short sellers. They are now down 16.3% since the start of May. Cupid's pre-tax profit rose 31% to £9.2M in 2012.
by Tim Sharp
See full article at Herald Scotland
High-tech Tools For STDs
CNN.COM – May 14 – At any given time, 110M Americans have a sexually transmitted infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Young people contract half of all new cases. They're also tech-savvy, and that's driving the development of new high-tech STD prevention tools geared toward them. Qpid.me users can share their verified test results for HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Their status comes directly from their own U.S. health care provider. It shows when they got tested and includes a disclaimer that notes the user may have had sex since then. Another STD tech tool helps people have difficult conversations with past lovers such as sotheycanknow.org. Another STD tech tool out there is an app called STD Triage. Worried you might have symptoms of an STD? This service lets you take a picture of a rash, for example, and for ~$40, you can send it in and get a response back from a doctor within a day about what it might be.
by John Bonifield
See full article at CNN
Founder2be Took A Lesson From Online Dating
FORBES
– May 15 – Back in 2011, Oliver Bremer was seeking a partner, a
co-founder, with which to kick off a B2B-type software startup. He was
not having much luck. Then it struck him that if people take to social
internet sites to find love and find jobs, why not startup co-founders?
And so Founder2be was born. “It’s like Match.com
meets LinkedIn for startups,” Bremer said. “It’s online dating to find a
cofounder.” People sign up for the service and create a profile that
reflects what they are all about in the hope of attracting like-minded
potential partners. So far there are~ 14K profiles across 100 countries.
by Karsten Strauss
See full article at Forbes
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch.
eHarmony Wants To Help You Get A Job
WASHINGTON POST – May 14 – For over a decade, eHarmony has been helping people find a date. Now, the company wants to help people find a job. eHarmony is developing a career service that would connect employers with job seekers. eHarmony is entering an already crowded market dominated by Dice and LinkedIn. And while critics have knocked traditional job boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder as outdated, these sites still accounted for ~18% of external hires in 2012. eHarmony product is still in development and is estimated it will launch in the Q2 2014.
New Dating Startup: WednesdayNight
TECH CRUNCH – May 13 – With a new startup called Wednesday Night, users connect their Facebook accounts and are then given three recommendations. If they’re interested in dating one of them, they then pay $50 and are set up with a date on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. They’re also connected with a dating coach who can provide advice via email or text. The website comes from the team of Jared Tame and Teng Siong Ong who are already working on two other dating services — Flock and CupidWithFriends. (They sold their previous startup, Y Combiantor-backed GraffitiGEO, to Loopt.)
eDarling Managing Director Steps Down
VENTURE VILLAGE – May 13 – German dating site eDarling, which last week bought back its shares from US partner eHarmony, has lost its Managing Director, Christian Vollmann. Vollmann will, however, remain on as an investor in the company and also likely as an advisor. The investors in eDarling all contributed to buying back the company from eHarmony, including founders David Khailil and Lukas Brosseder along with Rocket Internet and Holtzbrinck Ventures. The exact reasons behind the buy-back remain unclear.
The full article was originally published at Venture Village, but is no longer available.
AYI Introduces Native Android App
TMC NET – May 13 – Snap Interactive launched of AYI native Android app along with integration of the Friends of Friends feature on AYI's mobile-web and iPhone app. ~2M connections have already been made through friends with ~72K users messaging their friends directly to learn about a potential date.