April 2017 – Page 5 – Online Personals Watch

How Much Did MeetMindful Really Raise? Amy Baglan, CEO Of Meet Mindful

Posted on April 11, 2017

OPW INTERVIEW – Apr 11 – Here’s Amy Baglan. She’s doing a great job with MeetMindful. Apparently she raised more money than we thought. Watch the video to learn the correct amount, and what’s next for MeetMindful.

See all posts on MeetMindful

Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks.

Dating Apps Are The New Norm In Argentina

Posted on April 11, 2017

BUENOS AIRES HERALD – Apr 8 – ~16M Argentines now own a smartphone. The most popular dating app in the country is Tinder. ~15M swipes are made per day in Argentina on the app. Another popular dating app is Happn with 1.4M users. Grindr is also used locally. While many users will still not admit to their relatives or friends that they met their partner through the dating app, it has become more customary to hear of a friend or relative explaining how they met their significant other through them.

by Santiago del Carril
See full article at Buenos Aires Herald

See all posts on Tinder
See all posts on Happn
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Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

All The Single Women In India

Posted on April 11, 2017

LIVE MINT – Apr 8 – There are 74.1M single women in India. Thats ~12% of Indian female population. Between 2001 and 2011, there was a 39% increase in the number of single women, according to Census data. The lives of single women vary dramatically depending on their socioeconomic status and where they live. For instance, widows and abandoned wives in rural India might be labelled as dayans (witches). In urban India, unmarried women could be seen as fast and loose. "There is an attitude that a woman is incomplete without marriage," says Binita Parikh, an independent communications professional. Parikh, who has never married, is writing a book on being a single woman in India.

by Namita Bhandare
See full article at Live Mint

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Spark Networks To Seek New CEO

Posted on April 10, 2017

OPW – Apr 8 – We have just learned from a reliable source that Spark Networks is looking for a new CEO. That would be the company's 3rd CEO (4th if we count their interim CEO – Mike McConnell) since 2014. Greg Liberman was CEO of Spark for 3 years from 2011 thru 2014 when Osmium ousted him and some of his colleagues. He was replaced by Mike McConnell, followed by Michael S. Egan in December 2014. We have interviewed Michael S. Egan at iDate 2016. The current CEO is Danny Rosenthal from PEAK6 Investments, a company that purchased 5M shares for $7.8M and owns now 16% of Spark's outstanding shares.

See all posts on Spark Networks

Post by Courtland Brooks team

Three Day Rule: How Talia Goldstein’s Journey Started

Posted on April 10, 2017

JEWISH JOURNAL – Apr 6 – Talia Goldstein started her dating company Three Day Rule (TDR) in 2010. In the beginning, TDR focused on singles events. She got the inspiration for the name from the '90s movie "Swingers" and its characters' discussion of the "Three Day Rule." TDR raised $1.2M in 2012. In 2013, she reinvented TDR as a full-service dating company (threedayrule.com) which covers nine U.S. cities. TDR now has 39 employees, including 32 matchmakers nationwide. Currently, 70k people are in TDR's database. In 2017, TDR launched VIP matchmaking packages with two hands-on matchmakers and personalized concierge services ($35k) in addition to its basic packages, starting at $4k for three months of matching in one's city of residence.

by Elyse Glickman
See full article at Jewish Journal

See all posts on Three Day Rule

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Matchpool Denies Co-Founder Claims Its CEO Pulled $1.7M Exit Scam

Posted on April 10, 2017

COIN TELEGRAPH – Apr 7 – The Blockchain project Matchpool raised over $5.7M in 48 hours. However, the community was shocked the next day to discover the company co-founder Philip Saunders' public accusations that its CEO Yonatan Ben Shimon had disappeared with $1.7M. To withdraw funds, a user must receive confirmation from every private key holder (its co-founder, CEO, directors, advisors, etc). So the suspicion grows of a case of fund mishandling and miscommunication from the Matchpool team as they enabled a member of the company to withdraw $1.7M of investor money without requesting him to provide an evidence as to how the funds will be used.

by Joseph Young
See full article at Coin Telegraph

See all posts on Matchpool

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Match.com Accused Of Misleading Members

Posted on April 10, 2017

NEWS CHANNEL 6 NOW – Apr 6 – The B.B.B. has received complaints about match.com and their auto-billing services, stemming from what they think is just a one time fee. "The disclosure that they are going to set up a reoccurring charge is buried three or four pages deep in the box that you are checking to agree," Monica Horton, President of the Wichita Falls B.B.B. said. It is part of the reason Match.com has an F rating from the B.B.B. and the second most unanswered complaints out of 50M businesses. "We have also received a few complaints about fake profiles," Horton said.

by Alex Achten
See full article at News Channel 6 Now

See all posts on Match.com

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

The Matchmaker Who Flirts On Dating Apps For Her Clients

Posted on April 10, 2017

THE CUT – Apr 7 – Meredith Golden is a psychotherapist-turned-dating-coach. She spends her days swiping and messaging on behalf of her single clients. When JDate launched, she got a reputation for being a savvy dating-profile writer. Since then, she has helped several friends find their matches online. She started charging for her services two years ago, when strangers began asking for her help. Golden works with no more than a dozen clients at a time. She is especially successful when she poses as a straight male client. A lot of guys on dating apps never sack up and ask for a first date; Golden makes her (client's) move right away. She is not doing anything untoward, she insists. All she does is swipe, message, and set up first meetings; clients show up to the dates and take the communication from there. Clients pay Golden $900 for the first month of her services, $700 for the second, and $500 for each month after.

by Allie Jones
See full article at NYMag.com

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Matchpool Integrity In Question As Co-Founder Quits Over Funds Handling

Posted on April 10, 2017

COIN TELEGRAPH – Apr 7 – Matchpool Co-Founder Yonatan Ben Shimon is yet to respond to accusations he misappropriated funds from the project's multimillion-dollar ICO. Matchpool, which uses Ethereum to allow users to build matchmaking resources on the Blockchain, has raised $5.7M in a matter of days. Fellow co-founder Philip Saunders stated he was leaving the project: "I have asked internally what is going on with the funds you sent to Matchpool, but have not received a satisfactory answer."