Month: September 2018

Blue’s Founders Learned To Make Their Startup Standout In A Crowded Market

Posted on September 28, 2018

Blue screenshotsFORBES – Sep 28 – Tai Tran, 25, Jesse Salas, 24, and Benna Iqbal, 25, created the app called Blue. Blue aims to make dating more conversational both online and offline through features like smart icebreakers and relationship literacy.

Q: What was the driving factor in developing Blue?
Tai Tran: To have a human-centered focus in online dating. One of our core features is Instant Match Live, where we ask three questions to users at 7 P.M. If two users respond the same way, they will receive each other as an Instant Match.

Q: How do you suppress bad behaviors and promote good ones?
A: To promote more positive behavior, we introduced a "smart ice-breaker" which gives users more control over how conversations start. Until both members answer the icebreaker, you can't begin to chatting with your match.

by Frederick Daso
See full article at Forbes

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SeekingArrangement On The Morning Show

Posted on September 28, 2018

Seekingarrangement logo 2017YAHOO NEWS – Sep 28 – SeekingArrangement.com is the controversial dating site that's connecting older rich men with attractive younger women. For the first time, the Seeking.com team is bringing their Sugar Baby Coaching Sessions to Australia. Seeking Arrangement's coaches Brook Urich and Alexis Germany talk about the involvement of being sugar daddy/baby.

The full article was originally published at Yahoo7, but is no longer available.

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Why Young Single People In Japan Are No Longer Having Sex

Posted on September 28, 2018

Konkatsu partyNZ HERALD – Sep 28 – For a country with ~127M people, very few are choosing to go on a date, or even get intimate with another person. Japan already has one of the world's lowest birthrates. With a population that has been shrinking for the past decade, Japan is projected to drop a further one-third by 2060. Young people are just "too busy" for a relationship. According to a 2011 survey, 61 % of unmarried men and 49% of unmarried women age of 18-34 were not in any type of relationship. Another study, said 30% of men in their 30s, and the same proportion in their 20s, admitting that they have no experience of dating a woman. Local governments have set up speed-dating services. The practice is known as konkatsu, or "marriage hunting".

See full article at NZ Herald

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Bumble Responds To Match Group’s Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Posted on September 27, 2018

Bumble logo whiteTECH CRUNCH – Sep 27 – Bumble is continuing to go on the offensive against Match Group by serving Match Group with papers. Bumble is taking Match Group to court for fraudulently obtaining trade secrets during acquisition talks. Today, Bumble is also officially responding to Match Group's suit against it, which claims patent infringement and misuse of intellectual property. "Bumble has today formally responded to Match's lawsuit from March 2018 alleging patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. We believe all of the claims are baseless, and are seeking to have several claims dismissed immediately, given their lack of merit." Bumble says Match Group filed its original lawsuit against it to make it less attractive to other potential acquirers. The claims Match Group makes around patent infringement involve Bumble's use of a stack of profile cards, mutual opt-in, and its swiped-based gestures.

by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Match Makes A Move On Bumble In Tinder IP Dispute

Posted on September 27, 2018

Match group logo jan 2017WIPR – Sep 27 – Match has asked a court to remove a state lawsuit filed by competitor Bumble against Match's brand Tinder, as the allegations in it should instead have been addressed by counterclaims in the parties' federal IP dispute. The dispute between the dating apps started in March, when Match filed a complaint for patent, trademark and trade dress infringement, and trade secrets violation. Its lawsuit accused Bumble of infringing IP relating to Tinder's look and functionality. Bumble subsequently filed complaints against Match in a Texas state court, alleging that Match Group tortuously interfered in attempts to sell Bumble. Match Group said that these claims should have been filed in federal court as counterclaims to the initial suit against Bumble, but Bumble instead sued Match in a Texas state court. Match asked the court to remove Bumble's state court action to enable all issues raised by both parties to be heard and adjudicated in one forum.

See full article at WIPR

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Gender Roles Still Dominate The World Of Online Dating

Posted on September 27, 2018

Gender rolesMETRO.CO.UK – Sep 27 – In one of the largest studies into online dating, researchers at Oxford University and eHarmony analysed 150K profiles over 10 years to look at common patterns. They found that men were 30% more likely to initiate conversation than women. Women who make the first move see 15% less engagement. Men also appreciated confidence in potential partners, sending more messages to women with a higher level of self-rated attractiveness. Good looks were less important to women – men who scored between 5-9 on attractiveness actually received more messages than men who scored 10/10. The way women view male income has also changed. While 30% considered it to be important, it was less significant to the majority.

by Faima Bakar
See full article at Metro.co.uk

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Why Companies Like Bumble And 7-Eleven Are Trying To Sell Skin Care And Makeup

Posted on September 27, 2018

Bumble baseball capVOX.COM – Sep 27 – Bumble is launching its own line of skin care. Bumble "spent several months working with psychotherapists and dermatologists to make serums that simultaneously solve skin and emotional issues." The details are still fuzzy, but the line will launch in 2019 and will reportedly include products with names like "Breakup With Bad." All kinds of companies seem to see beauty as their own next step. 7-Eleven announced it was launching its own line of makeup to be sold in its stores. Spotify teamed up with a famous makeup artist to sell products. Even Expedia and Estée Lauder had a collaboration. So while these unrelated partnerships may seem completely absurd, it's actually a sign of the selling power of beauty right now. People buy beauty products as much more than just a pragmatic purchase – they are looking for self-care, comfort, and self-confidence.

by Cheryl Wischhower
See full article at Vox.com

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The Inner Circle Launches In Australia And Singapore

Posted on September 27, 2018

The Inner Circle Sydney LaunchPRESS RELEASE – Sep 27 – The Inner Circle, the selective dating app, launched in Sydney last night with a big party at the Argyle. The app claims 32K members on its waiting list, 12K singles have been approved. Inner Circle also launched in Singapore last week with a big party. Since its launch in 2012 in Amsterdam, The Inner Circle expanded to ~30 major cosmopolitan cities around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris. The community has grown to ~1.2M members worldwide.

See full article at Internet Dating Newswire

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Increasing Number Of Jewish Singles Are Choosing To Stay Out Of Relationship

Posted on September 27, 2018

Jewish coupleCJN – Sep 26 – According to the last comprehensive study of Canadian Jewish demographics (National Household Survey, 2011), the last 30 years has seen "growing numbers of single adults in the population". The incidence of singlehood among the adult population is not a uniquely Jewish phenomenon. But the study found that Jewish adults aged 18 to 26 had a much lower likelihood of being in a steady relationship, compared to their non-Jewish counterparts. Libby Bear, who just finished her PhD thesis, titled Singlehood by Choice or by Necessity, at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, says there are three main factors: 1. more women participate in higher education today; 2. the economic change made it more difficult for young adults to attain economic stability; 3. other, non-marital relationships are becoming legitimized.

by Alex Rose
See full article at CJN

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OKCupid’s Founder Shares 3 Innovation Tips

Posted on September 26, 2018

Sam yagan2FORTUNE – Sep 26 – In his seven-year tenure as CEO of Match Group, Sam Yagan learned a few things about innovation. The first lesson Yagan shared in a presentation at Fortune's Brainstorm Reinvent conference in Chicago was to "build a culture of failure and reward it." Match Group was the first company Yagan had helmed that was the market leader rather than the disruptor. His executives were experiencing accomplishment and success; none of them had ever failed. To foster the innovation, failure had to be a part of the recipe. So, he incentivized failure, asking executives in their reviews to share a failure from the year prior. If their mistakes hadn't cost the company money, they wouldn't get their bonus.

Yagan's second lesson was to throw conventional wisdom out the window. This allowed Tinder to get off the ground. Yagan knew when Tinder was pitched to him that it went against all of the rules in the industry like keeping dating separate from social media and needing a national marketing campaign to succeed. But Yagan said he suspended his disbelief and took a risk by okaying the idea.

Third tip for innovators: "Protect your baby from your own organization." As Tinder became wildly successful, executives within Match Group began feeling threatened, Yagan said. He could have sold the business or caved to pressure from others, but Yagan stood strong in support of Tinder.

by McKenna Moore
See full article at Fortune

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