THE GUARDIAN – Nov 30 – A survey conducted by MissTravel.com, a "travel dating" site, found that heterosexual women consider a British accent to be the world's sexiest. It turns out, however, that straight men don't harbor the same levels of anglophilia – they like their women with an Israeli accent. A Time Out survey from 2015, which polled 11k people in 24 cities around the world, also found that a British accent was the most attractive on the planet.
Month: December 2017
CEO Of Spark Networks To Speak At iDate In January
WEBWIRE – Dec 7 – Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO of Spark Networks, will provide the keynote address at the next iDate (Internet dating conference) that is taking place in January 24 – 26, 2017, in Miami, FL. SparkNetworks has a portfolio of premium brands designed for singles seeking serious relationships. These brands include EliteSingles, JDate, Christian Mingle, eDarling, JSwipe and Attractive World. Formed in 2017 through the merger of Affinitas GmbH and Spark Networks, Inc., the company has a presence in 29 countries worldwide, and is publicly listed on the NYSE American LLC exchange under the ticker symbol "LOV."
Feeld, The Ex Threesome App Relaunches
Users Can Now Search For Specific Interests On OkCupid’s Mobile App
Tinder Accused Of Banning Transgender Woman
THE INDEPENDENT – Dec 7 – Tahlia René, a Public Health Major at the University of Austin in Texas, discovered two days ago that Tinder had removed her profile from the app. The company stated that Tahlia had been "violating our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines in some way." Tahlia came to the conclusion that her profile had been removed due to the numerous reports submitted by male users who had a problem with her transgender identity. This comes after Tinder introduced new features last November to promote gender inclusivity. A Tinder spokesperson said: "We stand behind our pledge to make sure no one is ever removed from Tinder simply because of their gender. "While we cannot share details regarding specific users or investigations, all users are held to the same standards and are removed from Tinder if they violate our community guidelines or terms of use."
Paktor Has A New Friends Matchmaking Feature
Inside Dating App Hater’s Shark Tank Deal With Mark Cuban
FORBES – Dec 7 – Last Valentine's Day, Goldman Sachs alum Brendan Alper, 30, launched his new dating app, Hater, which matches people based on what they hate rather than what they love. At business pitch show Shark Tank that aired Nov 26, Alper struck a deal with Mark Cuban. He will invest $200k in exchange for a 10% stake in the company, valuing Hater at $2M. Just before the show, Alper had raised $500K from a venture firm called Sweet Capital, which bought a 12.5% stake, valuing the company at twice as much.
Q: How did your appearance on Shark Tank come about?
A: They reached out to us.
Q: What was the most challenging part about applying?
A: The application process is very difficult and lengthy. You have to pass several tests at various rounds to proceed to the next stage.
Q: What did they tell you about whether your segment would air?
A: That's the hardest part psychologically. You don't know through the entire process whether you’re going to make it.
Q: What was the taping like?
A: Very stressful. We rehearsed the pitch 100 times. But you don't know what they're going to ask. None of that is scripted.
Q: Which of their questions were toughest to answer?
A: How are you going to make money and what are you going to do about growth? Why should we invest in you based on your relatively small number of users compared to other apps? We have 750K users worldwide.
Q: Match.com has 21M users. How can you compete?
A: Our app isn't just for dating. It's for meeting in a social capacity. We can't compete purely from a numbers perspective.
Q: Why did you do a deal with Mark Cuban when other sharks were offering you more money?
A: To be honest, the one thing we didn't really prepare for was picking a shark. It's a strange thing to have to make a decision in 10 seconds. Also we'd just closed a $500,000 investment from another investor so the money didn't matter so much to us.
Q: But your other deal valued the company at twice the amount Mark Cuban's offer did. Why dilute the value of your company so much?
A: There are a lot of unique benefits that come from working with the right person.
Q: How did your other investors react to you selling a stake to Mark Cuban for half of what they paid?
A: No investor likes to see that happen but they understood the context.
Q: Where does your deal with Mark Cuban stand now?
A: We had to sign a non-disclosure agreement so I can't talk about it. But it's being worked out now.
Q: How has your appearance on the show affected your business?
A: We got a lot more downloads.
This Is How Much Dating Apps Make Every Minute
by Christian Hargrave
See full article at App Developer Magazine
Vote For The 2018 iDate Awards
WEBWIRE – Dec 7 – Voting for the winners are now open to the public at www.iDateAwards.com and ends on January 5, 2018. Both industry professionals and the general public are encouraged to vote for the best candidates in each of the award categories.
Ashley Madison Caught Exposing Cheaters’ Private Photos
by Thomas Fox-Brewster
See full article at Forbes