SLATE – Feb 25 – Dawoon Kang, CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel dating app, talks about co-founding the company with her sisters, her effort to make online dating less overwhelming and the challenges of raising money. Full podcast.
by Seth Stevenson
See full article at Slate
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BASEBALL DAILY NEWS – Feb 25 – Equities analysts predict that Match Group will post $447 million in sales for Q1, for a year-over-year growth of 18%. Analysts expect 2019 sales of $1.72B. Match Group showed a net margin of 21.24% on $444m quarterly revenue. 8 analysts have rate the stock with a hold rating, 11 issued a buy rating, and 2 have a strong buy rating. Match Group operates a portfolio, including Tinder, Match, PlentyOfFish, Meetic, OkCupid, OurTime, and Pairs, in 42 languages in 190 countries.
by Carl Hest
See full article at Baseball Daily News
FULL DISCLOSURE: PlentyOfFish is a former client of Courtland Brooks, and Mark Brooks currently owns shares in Match & IAC.
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BBC – Feb 23 – Not-for-profit Safe Soulmate has been launched by Christine O'Neil and Vicky Baddeley. About 130 people have signed up to its first event in Cambridge on Saturday. Safe Soulmate, which caters exclusively for adults with autism and learning disabilities, is due to run as a pilot for six months after receiving £10K from the National Lottery Community Fund. Mrs O'Neill said there would also be a twice-weekly social group in Cambridge for people who wanted to "find like-minded friends and love".
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NZ HERALD – Feb 23 – SugarBook runs a sugar dating app and claims to have 10K members signed up in New Zealand. Its Malaysian creator and CEO Darren Chan, 31, wants to extend its online service to set up an office in New Zealand and Australia because of the "rising trend of sugar relationships down under". Sugarbook is being watched by police in Singapore and accused of facilitating illegal prostitution in Malaysia. Another sugar dating website, SeekingArrangement, based in the US, claimed last year to have ~50K members signed up in New Zealand.
by Lincoln Tan
See full article at NZ Herald
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MAXIM – Feb 23 – According to a survey conducted by a flight-shopping website US.Jetcost.com, 1 in 10 travelers are having sex at the airport. There's an airport hookup app called App in the Air, which allows passengers on the same flight to message each other, grab a drink together, and more. Normally, the app works as a "personal flying assistant" that checks on the flight status, shows airport maps, and logs users' miles. The messaging option is a new feature.
by Zeynep Yenisey
See full article at Maxim
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THRIVE GLOBAL – Feb 22 – Jean Meyer is the CEO and founder of Once, a dating app that selects one match a day for its users, focusing on quality over quantity.
Q: What brought you to this specific career path?
A: I was studying at Columbia Business School in New York. Whilst there, I made a website 'Date My School' for people to connect from different schools. It was huge and I became a dating entrepreneur overnight! I decided to go back to Europe and focus on creating a new style of dating app.
Q: Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you?
A: When I was trying to raise money to launch Once, I got in touch with a private banker who had a wealthy client who was interested in investing in me. I went to Nice and took a cab to his property and ended up in a meeting with a mob guy! Another funny moment was right at the beginning of setting up my company, and I wanted to raise money. I only had two employees so I wanted us to look bigger than we were. I hired actors to look like my employees, so when investors visited the office we looked bigger. It worked.
Q: What do you think makes your company stand out?
A: Once champions slow dating. Once isn't a "swiping app with a marketing twist", it is different. You can have the best idea you want but you need the right people to make the idea a reality — ultimately, I have the best team around every day making Once a reality and grow.
Q: What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?
A: Ownership: give people ownership. Trust them and delegate tasks accordingly.
Q: How do you define "Leadership"?
A: Three words: sharing, trust and work.
Q: What advice would you give to other CEOs about the best way to manage a large team?
A: You can't manage more than five people. Create smaller teams within the company who have direct reports.
Q: What are your "5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became CEO" and why.
A: 1. It's going to be much, much harder than you think.
2. Be careful with who you bet with.
3. Take the time you need to hire your team, especially the first person.
4. Do first and think after; try lots of things and make mistakes. This is how you learn.
5. Work more.
Q: Can you give us your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"?
A: J F Kennedy, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." I love this quote because the harder the problem, the less competition there is!
by Fotis Georgiadis
See full article at Thrive Global
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by Bhavya Kaushal
See full article at Entrepreneur
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OPW INTERVIEW – Feb 22 – The Yak Network creates entertaining "getting-to-know- you" games for online daters. We have interviewed Marci Rubin, the Founder & CEO of Yak Network.
What is Yak Network and how can people use it?
It is an icebreaker that combines video chat with Q&A games on any topic, anytime. The games can be played by 2-6 players per game room each getting a question and a turn to answer, with the option of including an audience. Players accumulate points which can be redeemed in the Treasure Chest. Other features include leaderboards, brand focused interstitials, and metrics data tracking.
What types of games can people play on Yak?
Yak is a "getting to know you" Q&A game format that can be created on any topic such as: relationships, or general trivia. E.g. Who should pay on a first date? Where did the bagel originate?
What type of businesses can utilize Yak?
Yak is perfect for dating sites, gaming sites, educators, corporations, and website communities.
We heard you just got a patent approved! What is it?
The patent was awarded for combining video chat with gamification.
Can you create custom games in Yak?
Absolutely, all of Yak's games are customizable, giving the company an opportunity for an additional revenue stream by offering advertising partners the placement of brands as interstitials, and also redeemable products in the Treasure Chest.
Does Yak offer game design and custom templates?
It is a step by step tool to customize and create any game platform. Yak also offers plans to design and customize white label games for companies.
What do you think is the value of play and gamification in forming relationships?
It brings spontaneity and joy back into meeting someone new.
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by Janice Bitters
See full article at Silicon Valley Business Journal
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