M2WOMAN.CO.NZ – Mar 15 – A new survey by EliteSingles found out that 90% of kiwi's don't mind dating someone that came bundled with a child. 69% of singles agreed that having a positive relationship with a partner's children makes them love their partner more. 21% of singles say that they're even more inclined to go on a date with someone who has a photo with their kids in their profile.
by Isaac Taylor
See full article at M2Woman.co.nz
TEXAS MONTHLY – Mar 14 – Bumble now has ~12.5M registered users. Bumble founder, Whitney Wolfe, says she wants the app to be a "hub of connections." She wants women to be in control of all the relationships they build, whether they be romantic (Bumble), platonic (friend-finding Bumble BFF) or professional (the-soon-to-be-released Bumble Biz). Wolfe aims for Bumble to be the inverse of Facebook. "Facebook is good at connecting you to people you know. We want to connect you to people you don't know." Wolfe also wants to expand from digital to physical spaces by opening a number of "social hives," physical locations where Bumble users can meet.
by Suneera Tandon
See full article at QZ
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by Shruti Jain
See full article at VCCircle
SEEKING ALPHA – Mar 10 – MeetMe stock exploded to $6 when the company delivered its Q4. But the stock fell quickly. Here is why… MeetMe is doing an underwritten public offering of 8M shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $5.00 per share. This was a 16% discount to where shares were trading before the announcement. The company effectively by proceeding with this price point shaved 16% of its market cap with a single press release. They need to ensure there are buyers so that way there is maximum cash raised. At this discount it is assured. This is a real hit to shareholders, especially those who bought the momentum this week. Bottom line here is that MeetMe continues to be a winner, but this is an unfortunate short-term slap to the face. No one holding a stock wants to see all of their gains given back in a day.
STANDARD.CO.UK – Mar 14 – Huggle founders Stina Sanders and Valerie Stark talk success, goals and going global. They started Huggle, a friendship and dating app, which shuns appearance matching and connects its users based mutual interests and the places they have in common instead.
Q: How did Huggle go from being an idea to an app?
A: We took our idea to a tech investor who backed Bumble. Once we had gone through the process of securing our investment, we went ahead and started to design the app. We had a soft launch in 2015 and eventually Huggle launched in July 2016 – going global in October.
Q: How long did it take to build the app?
A: It took six months to build the app from scratch.
Q: Where do you think Huggle has bridged a gap in the market?
A: The majority of apps connect people by appearance. We match people based on the places they go. I love seeing who else goes to the places I go.
Q: What made you branch into the dating sector?
A: The app launched as a platonic app but we couldn’t ignore the fact that people wanted to look for dates too.
Q: What advice would you give to other women who are looking to get into the tech industry?
A: Jump in and learn. Be a sponge.
Q: What's next for Huggle?
A: New design, new features, new brand parterships and we are also continuing to build our U.S marketing team.
by Tristen Lee
See full article at Standard.co.uk
"eH+ was a pilot program that we ran from January 2015 until December of 2016. It used matchmakers and our database to provide intensive, personalized compatibility matching. We learned a great deal about a segment of the market that is quite different from the typical eHarmony segment. We started the service at a $5000 a year fee, and quickly found that the customers wanted more services and amenities. The eH+ program was eventually selling subscriptions for $25,000 to $30,000 and providing a suite of very high-end services. Needless to say the customer base was exclusive and affluent.
After considerable discussion we decided that eH+ was not in keeping with eHarmony's mission of providing compatibility matching to a diverse population at a reasonable cost. We had also learned through eH+ of ways we could provide similar services at a more reasonable price. We have an exciting new offering coming soon and we'll be sure to keep you in the loop."
Matchmaking is a tough business to scale, and a very different business than Internet dating. In April I'm headed to the Matchmakers Conference to go through their matchmaker training course. Anyone want to join me? Use MMICON2017MB for a 25% discount on the matchmakers conference and/or certification.
Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks.
OPW – Mar 13 – Courtesy of Steve Baker, formerly of the Federal Trade Commission…
Why was there a case?
In July 2015, hackers stole data of 36M AM's users and made the info public.
What was AM charged with?
How did the breach happen?
AM employed a virtual private network to allow remote access to its systems. To access this, you needed a password and also a "shared secret," that was common for everyone. AM did not seem to have terminated passwords for employees or contractors after they left. At least one server was not protected by a password – thus allowing access to all servers. Many passwords and encryption codes were in plain text on the servers.
What data was stolen and released?
Effects of the AM data breach
The release of this information had a serious effect on the life of the AM members (divorces, some member were subject to extortion attempts, reportedly ~4 suicides).
What flaws did the FTC find in the AM security system?
AM failed to:
Does this case resolve all legal claims against AM?
No. There have been a number of class actions filed against the company.
Why is AM being singled out instead of the hackers?
AM may well contend that it is the victim here. But AM had pledged to keep the info of its members secure.
What will FTC do with the money?
The FTC recovers money in fraud cases to return to victims. If the FTC does not give money back to victims the money goes to the U.S. Treasury. The FTC keeps none of it.
What does the order require AM to do?
Lessons for dating companies
BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 9 – MeetMe, a public market leader for social discovery, will offer shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other purposes, including potentially to fund a portion of the pending if(we) acquisition, and other future acquisitions.
ABC.NET – Mar 13 – An Australian research, published in Personality and Individual Differences, found that women and men were equally likely to troll others on dating app Tinder.
by Evita March
See full article at ABC.net