BENZINGA – Feb 9 – Ashley Madison, a controversial dating site that was launched in 2001, has received heavy criticism over its premise. The site serves as a platform for married persons to engage in marital infidelity.
Q: What drove your decision to foray into this world?
A: More and more people who were already in relationships took advantage started joining dating sites. My paradigm was, why not build a social network of their own where these married people could connect with one another, as opposed to having to pose as something they weren't.
Q: One of the statements you've made is that your commercial in a 30-second spot is not going to convince anyone to cheat. But what about those that would shy away from starting an affair in the workplace?
A: We can't create prohibition. It fails every time that we do so. I'm part of the landscape that says, “Let people be who they want to be and pursue what they want to pursue.”
Q: So is it a question of cannibalizing this behavior, like you say, and putting it in a place where it's not affecting other people? Or is your stance closer to your previous comments, in which you said this can actually help a marriage?
A: Ashley Madison is not some kind of home-wrecking service. Some people are looking to pursue something outside of their relationship to preserve their primary relationship.
Q: Describe the growth trajectory of Ashley Madison over the past few years?
A: Our site has gone from 800,000 to 900,000 users to 7.8M users in the span of the last two and a half to three years.
Q: You had an IPO in the works back in February. Why was that put on hold?
A: I don't have a ton of insight into that because I personally wasn't necessarily pursuing that directly. I, for one, am totally happy with Ashley Madison and Avid Life Media being a privately held company.
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