Month: June 2015

Exclusive Dating App “The League” Is A Big Success In NYE

Posted on June 24, 2015

The league logoNY POST – June 23 - The League dating app came to New York last month. The app's founder Amanda Bradford has received 30K requests to join. Only 7K have been accepted so far. 37% of New York Leaguers have graduate degrees, 13% are CEOs or founders, and 56% have attended “highly selective” schools. Singles can be referred by current users, which bumps them to the top of the wait list and increases their chance of admittance. Women must be 22-36; men 24-40.

by Dana Schuster
See full article at NY Post

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Binder Is The Tinder Of Breaking Up

Posted on June 24, 2015

Binder logoTELEGRAPH.CO.UK – June 23 – "Binder" allows users to enter a partner's gender, name and number and then swipe right to "bin" them. Within seconds, the unlucky soon-to-be ex then receives a text message and short pre-recorded phone call with the reason for breaking up.

by James Titcomb
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Google Billionaire Invests In Matchmaking Startup, Banihal

Posted on June 24, 2015

Banihal profile screenshotECONOMIC TIMES – June 22 – When Google was looking for investors in 1998, it was Dr. David Cheriton who wrote the first check. Today, the billionaire and Stanford University Computer Science professor invested in Banihal, an Indian matchmaking service. Banihal is in the early stages of startup in the company's first market, India.

See full article at Economic Times

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Coffee Meets Bagel Attracted 100K Users In Hong Kong In 3 Months

Posted on June 23, 2015

Coffee meets bagel logoEJINSIGHT – June 22 – Dating app Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) launched in Hong Kong, the app's first stop in overseas expansion, three months ago. Since then, CMB attracted 100K users, and is in the top 10 in Apple's App Store. Co-founder Dawoon Kang said the app has huge potential given ~2M Hong Kong FB users age 21-35 are single and they have 768 friends on average. To become a CMB member, a user has to register through Facebook. The app will then analyze the user’s friend group. Every day around noon, CMB randomly picks one of the matches and sends it to members who can then access the personal info of the recommended person for 24 hours. In that time, they can decide to proceed or pass. After Hong Kong, Toronto will be its next stop.

See full article at Ejinsight

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

CEO Of Three Day Rule: Why I Hid My Pregnancy While Fundraising

Posted on June 23, 2015

Three day rule talia goldsteinFORTUNE – June 22 – After hearing negative comments about pregnant founders, Talia Goldstein, CEO of Three Day Rule, says she felt that the only way to raise money was to hide her pregnancy. During this time, a well-known LA investor wrote a blog post about his struggle over whether or not invest in a company run by a pregnant CEO, which included the chilling line: “A pregnant CEO is going to fail her company.” (Ultimately, he did invest.) In April 2014, Three Day Rule raised a Series A from IAC/Match. Since then, they’ve launched in six cities. "The difficulty I faced while fundraising as a pregnant woman is only one example of the prejudice against mothers that remains pervasive in startup culture. Now, as I begin another round of fundraising while pregnant again, I am determined to take a stand", she said.

by Talia Goldstein
See full article at Fortune

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Dating App Happn Hooks Up With Spotify

Posted on June 21, 2015

Happn-spotify_0IBTIMES – June 18 – Dating app Happn is partnering with Spotify so users can send music to each other and share their favorite songs on their profiles. Happn is a dating app that helps users discover people they have encountered in real life and provides a platform to connect. The app launched in early 2014 in Paris and now has 4M global users in 20 major cities. Spotify will be automatically added to every Happn user’s profile, regardless of whether they subscribe to Spotify. Nonsubscribers can hear 30s worth of a track, while Spotify Premium members can play the whole song.

by Saira Mueller
See full article at IBTimes

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Lulu Launched In UK

Posted on June 21, 2015

Lulu logoTELEGRAPH.CO.UK – June 19 – Lulu, the controversial dating app that lets women rate men, has launched in the UK, following success in the US (it had ~ 200K users after two months, and a 60% retention rate). It allows women to comment on and rate the men they know and have dated.

by Daisy Buchanan
See full article at Telegraph.co.uk

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Chinese Dating App Momo Is Helping Locate Lost Kids

Posted on June 21, 2015

China lost kidTECH IN ASIA – June 18 – Chinese dating app Momo has launched Momo Shouhu initiative, which enables users of the app to identify missing children in their local area. China has a huge problem with missing children. Often, they’re kidnapped and sold by organized rings. As many as 70K children are lost, or feared kidnapped, every year in China.

by Rohan Malhotra
See full article at Tech In Asia

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Apple New iOS May Be A Mobile Ad Killer

Posted on June 21, 2015

Apple iosOFFERVAULT – June 17 – Apple's newest version of it’s iOS 9 will roll out this fall. The new iOS will enable user to block mobile ads on their device. Considering how many people have an iPhone versus an Android, that could be a lot less ads being viewed.

See full article at OfferVault

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Plentyoffish Shutters Fastlife

Posted on June 19, 2015

Fastlife closedOPW – June 19 – It seems POF is refocusing its business, and high-end speed dating company Fast Life is no longer part of its plan. Plentyoffish acquired the company 21 months ago. The company operated in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and UK and was unique because of its high price points and offering exceptional venues and service. I think POF had the intention of moving up the value chain, and rounding out its offerings a la Match. Likely this proved to be too much of a diversion. Events are tough. They pull attention. But they can be powerful real-world experience and branding pieces.

If you're planning on acquiring a company as a strategic asset, I generally recommend keeping the team as an autonomous unit. I'll be presenting a special session on innovation at iDate London in October, bottling some of what I learned from Clayton Christensen at HBS, and discussing innovation through acquisition.

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Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting