Category: All Interviews

Alex Mehr, CEO Of Zoosk

Posted on February 25, 2010

Zoosk singlesnet interview post picture OPW INTERVIEW – Feb 25 – Zoosk is growing fast and taking no prisoners. We interviewed Zoosk back in June 2009. See the interview here. Here's our latest interview with co-founder Alex Mehr. – Mark Brooks

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How rosy was your Valentine’s Day?
My Valentine’s Day was great personally and more importantly, on the site, we had quite a few promotions that went very well. A lot of people joined our site 4 or 5 days before Valentine’s to find that last minute Valentine.

How big is Zoosk now?
It has just crossed 50 million people.

How are you driving such an incredible growth?
It’s a combination of few different things. We do a lot of online marketing just like any other dating site and we also promote heavily through social networks.

You just did a deal with IMVU. Can you tell us more about that deal? Why go virtual?
The deal was not particularly about IMVU being a virtual world website. It was more a test for us to see how syndicating our site to other websites would work in terms of monetization and added value to the end user. If it is successful we roll it out to many other sites. And we’ve been doing it for a couple of sites so far and it’s looking great.

What are your thoughts on virtual dating in an internet dating environment?
It might appeal to a really young audience. But I think for people who want to go on dates, avatar based dating isn’t a viable method. So we are staying away from it at this point.

Zoosk was started in December 2007 and we interviewed you in June 2009. Since then you’ve raised another $30 million round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Congratulations. What are you doing with the money?
A lot of it is going to go into promoting our product, not just on social networks but also through offline channels. We also have some product development in plan that requires more capital. I don’t want to talk about the specific details but you can expect a lot from us in the coming year.

What site developments are you most proud of since we last talked in June 2009?
There has been quite a lot happening on Zoosk.com in terms of making online dating more social. We have introduced the information sharing. Zoosk has a home page just like Facebook that has feeds.

Profiles on most dating have a structured look. You go to a person’s profile and see the stats and everything about them. We provide that as well but that doesn’t provide context for initiating a contact. Let’s say you see Angelina from San Francisco, she’s 30 and her birthday is coming up in 3 days. That would be perfect for you to initiate a conversation in that context. That has been, by far, the most successful feature we’ve rolled out.

How important is the iPhone platform for you?
iPhone is the way to go mobile. It has been an interesting project for us and we’ve learned a lot. We are rolling out newer versions of our iPhone app. Our plan is to roll out at least one new version every month for the next few months. Pretty soon we are also going to develop for iPad and Android.

Could you see a day when there are more people accessing Zoosk through iPhone and iPad?
You will see a lot of people having smart phones at a very young age and accessing websites through those devices. But I don’t think this is going to happen for another 3 to 5 years. It is a long term planning but we are developing and getting ready now.

What is coming next for Zoosk? How do you intend to give Match.com a run for their money?
We don’t compare ourselves to Match.com. We consider ourselves a social network for dating. We share a lot of characteristics with social networks but at the same time the main purpose of our site is dating.

We’re doing a lot of things and one of them is making our home page smarter with news feed items and information sharing, build more things around social graph.

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Terry Fitzpatrick, COO Of International Dating Ventures

Posted on December 21, 2009

Terry Fitz - photo OPW INTERVIEW – Dec 21 – International Dating Ventures’ holdings include eLove, the first dating service to fuse both traditional matchmaking and online dating. COO Terry Fitzpatrick details the differences between eLove’s two programs and how the company has been able to grow despite the difficult economic climate. – Jenn Rubin

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What is the story behind eLove?
We’ve been in the traditional matchmaking business for the last 25 years. In the last five or ten years 85% of our membership base had tried online dating and it just has not worked for them.

eLove brings together the online dating community and the offline traditional matchmaking service. We have an online dating service and if the users don’t find success, they don’t have to leave eLove to look for a traditional matchmaker. Ideally, we want everybody to stay within the eLove community. This is really so we can efficiently monetize all our online registration and all our leads.

We consider eLove a life stage company. We want eLove to be that one stop service for anybody who is serious about meeting people. If they choose to do the online portion, great. If they need a little bit more help, the traditional matchmaking will also be provided there. We want to be that one-stop solution.

How does eLove differ from other organizations in International Dating Ventures?
A couple of those websites would be TogetherChristian.com and LoveAccess.com, but those are purely online dating platforms. eLove is that unique site where you can choose which path is right for you. Is it going to be traditional matchmaking or is it going to be online dating? So that’s how it differs.

How many members does eLove online dating have?
eLove has over 2 million members online and offline it would probably be in the tens of thousands. In offline, we currently are in 22 States. We have 43 physical locations.

What are some of the unique features on the online dating site?
You’ll find the same services on eLove that you would find on Match.com.

If I went to eLove.com and clicked on the matchmaking section, what would happen?
First, we need to make sure that they live in a zip code that we have a physical location. We also need to make sure they’re of the right age. Traditional matchmaking works best for people in their late 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. We’re not looking for people in their teens or early 20s.

If they qualify, they will receive a phone call. We ask them about their criminal background history, because if you do become a member, you will have to go through a background check. From there, they would set up an appointment and meet with the local matchmaker. At that stage, it takes about an hour to two hours with a matchmaker to put together a profile on what they are looking for in a significant other. From there, dating begins. Most people will go on their first date within seven to 14 days.

How is eLove online dating different from the matchmaking program?
You don’t have the personal attention online. Offline, you’re dealing one on one with a matchmaker who will be able to help you with dating coaching and tips. What is very unique with the offline is after you go on a date, you will call your matchmaker back and discuss the date. We need feedback on what you liked and didn’t like about the person.

Can you tell me a little bit about some of the matchmaking membership rates?
Traditional matchmaking usually starts around $2,000, and you will be able to meet 8 or 10 people. Prices do increase if you need more help with relationships coaching.

What is the eLove online dating memberships?
The basic one is $29.95 a month.

What are some of the biggest challenges in the next 12 months for eLove?
It’s probably keeping up with our growth plan. To do that we need to find talented people to work with us. It’s very difficult to find the right matchmaker.

Have these difficult times hurt your business at all?
The economy has touched all companies, but we’ve been very lucky. In 2009, we opened up more stores then we have ever opened up.

How do you predict eLove will look in the next few years?
Hopefully, if you look at eLove two years from now, we’ll be in 50 States with over 100 physical locations in the United States. We’re halfway there now, so we’re getting there.

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Jonathan Crutchley And Adam Segel, Founder Of Manhunt And CEO Of Online Buddies

Posted on December 14, 2009

Jonathan crutchley adam segel interviewOPW INTERVIEW – Dec 14 – Online Buddies runs Manhunt.net, one of the most prominent gay dating sites. Manhunt recently acquired DList.com, a social networking site for the gay community. We have interviewed the founder of Manhunt, Jonathan Crutchley, and Online Buddies CEO Adam Segel about the merge and their marketing plans for DList.

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For those not familiar with DList, can you describe the site?
Jonathan: DList is a social networking site for younger gay men. Users post videos and music clips and hang out chatting with friends, who could be anywhere, unlike with Manhunt, which was intended for guys to meet each other locally. DList was founded in 2006, and Online Buddies recently acquired it.

How did the idea to acquire DList come about?
Adam: We had been friends with the owners of DList for quite some time, and we were watching the development of the social networking space. Manhunt is more a dating and connections website, while DList is a place for people to meet friends, explore art, music, etc. It was a different offering, and we wanted to make that available to men.

Our ultimate goal is to be the largest and best place for men to meet men on the Internet. If they want to meet each other through a site like Manhunt, then that’s terrific. If they want to meet each other by sharing art, photos and things like that on DList, then that’s fantastic as well. We want to give all the mediums possible for men to be able to interact and meet each other.

How many members does Manhunt and DList have right now, respectively?
Jonathan: Manhunt has at least 2 million member subscriptions. Just under half of those are in the United States, and the rest are international. DList has about 180,000 subscribers at the start, and the idea is to grow it beyond that.

Adam: We have already started marketing DList just this week, and we’ve already quintupled the number of people joining each day.

Jonathan: We’re doing more marketing under the new ownership than the previous owners of DList were able to do.

How are you marketing DList?
Jonathan: It was a couple of years ago, but we advertised Manhunt on MySpace one weekend. On the Friday night the ad appeared, the responses crashed our website. The place to advertise an Internet product is on the Internet.

Adam: We started off by marketing DList through the Manhunt website and to the younger Manhunt members. We’re also marketing DList through events and promotions and through Facebook, MySpace and Google. We also advertise on some adult interest websites. The adult ’tube sites seem to do well for us.

Tell me more about these DList promotional events.
Adam: We work with the gay and lesbian organizations at a lot of different colleges. We’re coming up with some different contests and promotions, like traveling DList parties. We just did our first party at Harvard. It was a joint with MIT, and we had tons of guys come. We want to continue to host these parties at other campuses across the country.

What is the advertising budget for DList?
Adam: Marketing for DList is part of the overall marketing budget for Online Buddies, which is between $3 and $4 million per year.

Who would you consider DList’s competition to be?
Adam: One of them is called Connexion. Another one is called JustGuys.net. But they’re much smaller. Plus, they don’t seem to have the traction that DList has, especially now with the power of Online Buddies behind it and the marketing might we’re able to give it.

How does DList currently make money?
Adam: There are a few people who pay for some premium features. But the vast majority of the site is free, and the revenue is generated through advertising.

Do you plan to make any changes to the revenue model?
Adam: We aim to keep the website free so that more and more guys will use it, and thus we will be able to fund the website with advertising dollars.

We have a steady stream of advertisers now. We actually have advertisers waiting for us to make even more inventory available.

Any changes to current DList content offerings?
Jonathan: I don’t know if we plan any immediate changes in content. I think the first problem will be marketing and increasing the number of subscribers.

Who are some of your advertisers?
Adam: Most of them are through ad networks. In the past, we have worked with American Express, BMW, some of the clothing companies, some movies, etc. Lady GaGa is someone who advertises on our site.

Does Online Buddies offer any packaged advertising deal across all its sites?
Adam: Not yet, but it’s something we’re planning.

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Wayne Stillerman, Founder And President Of Datebility

Posted on November 23, 2009

CIMG1003 OPW INTERVIEW – Nov 23 – Wayne Stillerman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 23 years ago. The disease and his recent divorce became his inspiration for Datebility.com, which he launched in early 2009. His site caters to daters within the disability community. – Jenn Rubin

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Why did you want to start Datebility?
I have multiple sclerosis, and I was diagnosed 23 years ago. MS is a progressive disease, and mine progressed to the point where I was having trouble walking.

Several years ago, I found myself going through a divorce. I was single and on my own. I went on traditional dating websites, and I didn’t find them to my liking. I felt like I was being prejudged based on my disability. I wanted a place I could feel comfortable exposing my disability and telling people about it.

Can you estimate the size of site’s membership base?
We’re currently closing in on 500 members.

How has the site been customized for the disability community?
We have bloggers that are from the disability community who understand our members. There is Gary Karp. He’s a paraplegic, but he’s also an author, keynote speaker and expert juggler.

We also have Dr. Jenni Skyler, who founded the Intimacy Institute. She’s a sex therapist and provides useful information anyone can use.

Tell me about the site’s virtual dating feature.
Virtual dating is wonderful, especially if you’re disabled and have mobility challenges.

A member goes on Datebility and invites another member on a virtual date. They’ll set up an avatar, which is computer image they pick. The virtual date takes place in a nice setting, like a beach cafe or restaurant. You can type in various messages as you do on a traditional email. If you type in “LOL,” your avatar laughs. You can you even blow a kiss or hold your partner’s hand. A virtual date can also be used as a tool to pre-screen your date.

Have you created the virtual date platform yourself?
We’re partnered with OmniDate. We actually have a contractual arrangement with them, which allows us to use their software to bring it directly to Datebility members.

Besides OmniDate, who are some of your other partner organizations?
We don’t do a lot of advertising, so we’ve tried to work with a lot the organizations and foundations that are in the disability community, like Gilda’s Club, The Wellness Community and the MS Society. We have even co-hosted presentations with these organizations around South Florida, where we are based.

How do charitable contributions play a role in these partnerships?
We have the ability to put a “Donate Now” button for any charity on our website. It’s a secure system. For example, members who would like to donate to the National MS Society can just click, and the money will go directly to the charity.

Are there other sites out there similar to Datebility?
There are a couple of websites out there that are for the disability community, but they don’t have the features that I mentioned.

What is Datebility’s Lifetime One-Time membership plan?
In today’s tough times, many people do not have a lot of disposable income to be spending monthly on a dating website. We have a membership called Lifetime One-Time. For $37.99, they can have a lifetime membership to Datebility.

Nobody knows how long it’s going to take to find that special partner. This membership plan takes the pressure off people. Also, they don’t have to worry about a monthly auto renewal on their credit card.

What type of financial resources does it take to get a site like Datebility up and running?
It took about $75,000, but we’re using programmers that aren’t here in the United States. It makes it a little less expensive that way.

Are only those with a disability allowed access to the site?
We are a fully inclusive dating site and want everybody to enjoy the features that we have and welcome anyone to join.

Where do you hope to see the site a year or two from now?
I see us with probably about 10,000 to 15,000 members in the next year. The disability community is 54 million strong in the United States, so it’s a big market. It’s over 650 million worldwide.

What about in terms of content development?
We are in the process right now of soliciting a new speaker to write about the travel industry. Anyone who is disabled and has to travel knows it’s a difficult thing at times. We’re also looking for a diet and nutrition blogger.

How do you see your personal dating journey playing out?
I met my fiancée on a free site, PlentyofFish, which is a very, very popular site. She was able to look beyond my disability and see me for the person that I am.

If you met your fiancée on PlentyofFish, why would you advise daters in the disability community to use Datebility over more-established sites?
We specialize in the needs of the disability community and see a wonderful opportunity to bring people together. We don’t feel we’re in competition with the traditional sites, such as Singlesnet, Match, eHarmony, PlentyofFish, etc. I’d encourage people to try a few different websites to see where they’re most comfortable.

Brendan O’Kane, CEO Of messmo Q And A Interview

Posted on November 11, 2009

Brendan2 OPW INTERVIEW – Nov 11 – Mobile is starting to gain more attention from dating site owners as a method to enhnace the member experience and generate additional revenues. Recently, Courtland Brooks conducted an interview with Brendan O'Kane, CEO of messmo on the status of mobile applications and online dating. – Mike Baldock

Define “Mobile” in the context online dating (what is it, what should it do)?
The average member spends less than 10% of their day at a PC. Mobile is about reaching members the other 90% of the time and letting them stay up to date with what is happening to them personally. Mobiles are a really personal device and the member experience should reflect this.

Historically, Mobile solutions have failed to deliver a rich end user experience…why is this and do you see this changing? 
A mobile experience is not trying to take 100% of a site's functionality and cram onto a small screen. So the best experience has to be timely, personal and  directly relevant to them – and it has to be easy to use! A mobile user will not stand for stepping through 5 layers of menus, and while they will buy things on mobile, they do not like having to pay to receive information on mobile.

Applications are a critical component in Mobile technology…compare the differences between web based mobile applications and native applications?   
Good question. Mobile is in a state of change – wonderful native Apps like those on the iPhone, and yet virtually no site can afford to develop a native App for every platform. Hence Web Apps are attractive as they deliver an instant user experience without the download barrier and at a fraction of the cost. Over time mobile Web Apps will become richer and richer.

What should dating site owners consider when contemplating (when developing in-house or outsourcing) a mobile strategy for their site? 
The critical issue is there is no single unifying platform like Windows. Hence on mobile look for strategies that are low cost and cross platform, plus offer monetisation options.  A "hero App" like an iPhone App can be good for the brand, but recognise why you are doing it, and adopt low cost, easy to deliver solutions across the rest of the mobile universe. Handsets and data speeds are changing so fast, that the wrong big investment spend today, will require big maintenance and re-investment spend tomorrow.

You mentioned monetisation?
Yes, mobile is one of the greatest billing platforms ever invented. Carriers are realising that and so they are increasing their payouts and revenue shares. Plenty of third parties are now offering terrific payment solutions and this will only get better. Apple has announced in App billing. If you look at the success of mobile as a payment device in Korea, you see where what an enormous opportunity this is. So I don't think you can build a mobile strategy without thinking about payment solutions.

The “online” experience is shifting very quickly to the “mobile” experience, how do you see the two augmenting each other over the next 5 years? 
They will complement each other very well – because we are on mobile so much, it will be the primary communications tool, so sites need to run with that and deliver targeted personal communications experiences. The PC will still be the home of extensive searching, browsing and profile updates as well as communications when the user is at their desk. The statistics though are that the average person with a phone is 90% more likely to be reached on mobile than a PC.

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Steve Odom, Founder Of Gelato

Posted on November 9, 2009

Odom-headshot OPW INTERVIEW – Nov 9 – Gelato combines online dating and real-time search. Profiles are created by pulling information from members’ accounts across Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and other commercial sites. I spoke with founder Steve Odom about Gelato’s revenue model, the site’s API usage and how his own dating life has influenced his work. – Jenn Rubin

Why did you decide to start Gelato?
I got divorced a couple of years ago and found myself on dating sites that I felt could be so much better. About the same time, I started using Twitter. I found that if I followed somebody on Twitter for a couple of weeks that I really got to know them. I knew their schedule, what they complained about and what they liked.

I wanted that type of experience on a dating site, so I started building Gelato about a year ago.

What would I do first upon arriving at the site?
We don’t ask for email addresses or passwords. You sign in with either your Facebook or Twitter login. Next, you have an option to import what you want from, say, your Facebook profile, whether it’s your relationship status, your profile picture, the books that you like, etc. This forms the basis of your Gelato profile. You can also sync your Gelato profile with accounts on Twitter, Netflix, Flickr and more.

Are you partnering with Facebook, Twitter and these other sites directly?
All of these sites have application interfaces, or APIs, which allow you to integrate this user information.

Why did you decide to merge Gelato with content from various social networking sites?
The problem that I found on other dating sites was that it took a long time to create a profile. Despite having to write a lot of information, many of the profiles still sounded the same. We all like long walks on the beach and to have a good time. I wanted to make it easy to create a profile on Gelato.

For instance, instead of just writing about my favorite movies, I can also show you what I’ve rented at Netflix. That tells you more, and it gives you a richer view of what kind of movies I like.

Second, I wanted Gelato’s profiles to be more authentic. We’ve all heard of people fibbing on their profile. Gelato pulls information from the stuff you’re doing on Twitter or Flickr, so it’s more authentic. You get a better idea of who I really am.

How do you plan to grow Gelato’s membership base in the months to come?
We launched this fall at the Demo Conference in San Diego. We have less than 5,000 users. We’re not focused on growth right now. I still need to understand the metrics of the site, what users are doing, how long they’re staying and how long until they’re coming back.

How will Gelato make money down the road?
I don’t think that we’re going to have advertisements. The way Gelato will make money is a premium option. So for some amount, say $10 a month, you’ll get additional features like analytics — who has viewed your account, how long they stayed, real-time alerts and more.

Tell me more about the real-time alerts feature.
With a premium account, I can create an online alert to ping me on my phone or email if someone signs on who is, for example, a woman 30 to 40, non-smoker in Austin, Texas who mentions World of Warcraft in her profile.

Who are some of Gelato’s backers?
I’ve been the sole backer. The great thing is you can build a site for less than $100,000 these days. We’re not at the point yet where we’re ready to take on additional capital.

There are hundreds of online dating sites. Why should singles pick Gelato?
Gelato helps you find others who share your specific interests and present yourself in a more authentic manner. If two people are authentic, you have the basis for a good connection.

What is your goal for the site over the next year?
The next big feature we will be releasing is recommendations and compatibility. We have a lot of interesting data about who you are. We plan to leverage that and be able to show you other people that are compatible with you.

See all posts on Gelato 

Michael Norton, Assistant Professor At Harvard Business School

Posted on September 29, 2009

Head shotOPW INTERVIEW – Sep 29 – Michael Norton is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. In 2008, he co-published the report entitled “People Are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates.” – Jenn Rubin

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Mike, the first sentence of your report declares “online dating frequently fails to meet user expectations.” How did you and your team come to this conclusion?
We were trying to figure out what was right and what was wrong with online dating. So, we created our own online dating site called TheMatchUp.Net. Our online daters were probably in their 20s and 30s and mainly from Massachusetts and New York.

We found that people have these really high expectations for online dating – maybe unrealistically high. They thought they would look through these people, find their soul mate, get married and live happily ever after. Then, when they went on dates and those expectations weren’t quite met, they ended up getting disappointed.

Why else were online daters frustrated?
We asked people how happy they were with their online dating experience, as well as if they were looking for a long-term relationship or a short-term hook up. What we found is women who are looking for a short-term hook up and men who are looking for a long-term relationship end up happy with their experiences. Yet those two groups of users are about 5 percent of the population.

It is the huge groups of people that are looking for the opposite that don’t seem to be having as much fun or success on these sites.

Tell me about some of the other interesting findings from the study.
One of the things we found, which was a bit sad, was that online daters thought when they met someone, they would grow to like them more and more as the dating process advanced. In fact, what we show in our data is on average the more you get to know someone, the less you like them. We called another one of our papers “Why Familiarity Breeds Contempt.”

What specific features do you recommend online dating sites implement?
We found that when we sent people on virtual dates before they met in person, they tended to click better when we actually had them meet in person.

We designed virtual dates ourselves. You would have an avatar and wander around a virtual space. Our virtual dates were designed in general to be cheesy first dates, like going to a museum. The two of you could wander around in this space and chat with each other about the artwork or the other people who were also on dates.

The notion was let’s insert a virtual date, where people can learn a little about each other but not have crazy expectations that this person will be the greatest person in the world.

Yet in the report, it states, “Search time invested fails to pay off in a commensurate number of face-to-face encounters.” How is virtual dating a solution to this issue?
One of the tricks with having to meet somebody face to face is how much time it takes. You have to go somewhere. So, you have travel time, and you also have to get ready to go. With virtual dates, we designed ours to be brief, five-minute interactions. The notion was we can give people a lot of flexibility as to when they go on these dates and save them time in case they end up not liking their partner.

In this in-between space, are we really interacting? It’s certainly more so than just exchanging e-mails but clearly much less so than meeting face to face.

Participants in your study reported though spending an average of 5.2 hours per week searching through profiles, along with another 6.7 hours writing and responding to e-mails. Clearly, online dating can be time-consuming process. Does this benefit online dating sites from a business and revenue standpoint?
That speaks to a very tricky aspect of running an online dating company. If you have an online dating service where you find people instantly on Day 1 that are your soul mate, you might not have a sustainable business model. At the same time, if you have people who are on your site for five years and never find somebody that they like, they’re probably going to switch away from your service.

So, there is an interesting middle point at which you want users to be on your site long enough to be able to experience enough people and also ideally to charge enough membership fees that the business is sustainable. Yet you also at some point need to figure out how to meet their needs, so they find someone that they really do click with and then will spread positive word of mouth about your service.

Free sites, paid sites, niche sites – Is there a format that you find to be a notch above the rest?
It’s difficult to say across the board which site is the best as opposed to thinking that there are different people with different relationship needs. These different services can map onto different customer groups in terms of matching what it is they’re looking for.

Do you have future online dating studies planned?
We are not doing any right now. There are people who are looking at funny things like, for example, how honest people are in their dating profiles. There is a finding where the average height of men on online dating sites is above the population, so male online daters slightly lie about their height. However, their weight is exactly what the U.S. population would be. Whereas for female online daters, the height is exactly what the population is, but the weight is thinner than the average person.

Sam Yagan, CEO Of OkCupid

Posted on September 21, 2009

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OPW INTERVIEW – Sep 21 – Sam Yagan is CEO/Founder of OkCupid.com. Here’s the story of how he started OkCupid, and CrazyBlindDate.com. – Mark Brooks

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Sam, you have a history of starting renegade companies. What services that you’ve created in the past are you most proud of?
I started 3 companies in the last 10 years. In each case, I was passionate about bringing a community of people around free products or online services and in particular, products and services which had traditionally been paid for by consumers.

My first company was called SparkNotes and we took the idea of Cliff’s Notes as a line of study guides which have been around for 50 years. My partners and I started SparkNotes back in 1999. We grew it to be the largest brand of study guides on the web. We ended up selling the company to Barnes & Noble and they built it into the largest offline series of study guides as well.

After SparkNotes I teamed up with another friend of mine who had started a company called eDonkey, which was a peer to peer file sharing application, which we grew into the largest file sharing network in the world.

We ran this company until 2006 and while it was winding down I got back together with my co-founders from SparkNotes and we decided to start OkCupid. We believed that the Match.com business model was not right. They did not really think about modeling online dating to offline dating.

First, we looked at how people go and date in the real world. In the real world dating is social. One girl will call up her girlfriend and say, “Hey, let’s all go out tonight.” They all get dressed up and they never explicitly say, “Hey, we’re looking to get picked up by a guy.” They just tell themselves that they’re going out to have a good time. No one had ever invited me to join Match.com. No one ever said “go to Match.com, you’ll have a great time”. Match.com was a very lonely experience. So our vision from the very beginning was to build an online bar, a place where you go with a bunch of friends, you observe other people and decide which ones seem the most appealing to you. Then you gradually and slowly begin to strike up a conversation with them.

We also take matching very seriously. If your friend tells you he knows a great girl, no matter how much you trust your friend, you’re going to ask him a series of questions before you meet her. We were able to model that process online by having users upload their own questions and then select their own desirability and weight those on a 5 point scale. So each person was customizing their own algorithm based on their preferences.

You have started another site recently called Crazy Blind Date. Can you tell us about how that came around?
The Crazy Blind Date story actually has its roots comingled in the founding of OkCupid itself. In 2002 my partner Chris came up with an idea to create a dating website where there was a blind date button. If you push the button, you are guaranteed to go on a date that night. Of course, the problem with the blind date button is, in order for that to work, you have to have a huge database. We always had this idea of the blind date button in our back pocket. A couple of years ago we started getting serious about it. We had a big enough site that we could make a blind date button work. A blind date button on OkCupid would be great but we thought that launching it as a standalone site would be really flashy and get a lot of press.

What would you say surprised you the most about the way internet daters behave? Have there been any shocking aberrations in human behavior that you really wouldn’t have predicted?
A lot of people look at a profile and they’re immediately looking for negatives. They’re looking for reasons to reject the potential date. In the offline world people tend to be looking for reasons to make it work.

How does OkCupid help people find somebody who is a match that they also have chemistry with?
There are two elements how we handle the chemistry issue. The first is the expectation. We’re not promising that our algorithms are going to look through all the profiles on our site and find the one who is the best for you. We’re trying to facilitate you going on first dates that don’t suck. The second one is the analogy of a bar I was talking about. On OkCupid there is a big opportunity to see someone over a course of time. We allow a lot of ways for you to express yourself.

So there seems to be a bit of a trend recently with free dating sites starting to charge. Isn’t advertising revenue enough?
It’s not about enough. It turns out that there are opportunities to make money off subscription fees and also off advertisement. We’re going to see a convergence of free and paid dating sites. If you’re on a site that allows you to just post a profile and then if you want to communicate you have to pay, you’re on a paid site. And if you can communicate for free, you’re on a free site. We want to be known as a free site, but there are a bunch of things that we can offer our users who are most serious to pay for a better experience and there are things that we can offer them that are premium.

I would love to know what your vision is for the internet dating industry. What is it going to look like in 2015?
We’re going to have one big free site, maybe two, and we’re going to have a solar system of subscription sites all around them. People will still go to e-Harmony for marital, people are still going to go to places for one night stands but there is always going to be this big free site in the middle that everybody feels they have to be on.

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Ilan Leibovich, COO Of 6rounds

Posted on August 31, 2009

Profile Picture SNW INTERVIEW — Aug 31 — 6rounds, a Webcam-based social networking site, allows users to get together online and play games, watch YouTube videos and even browse Facebook. The site won’t officially be open to the public for another couple months, but Social Networking Watch readers can click here for a special preview of 6rounds’ video chat service. Just enter the code “6snw.”

Social Networking Watch spoke with 6rounds COO Ilan Leibovich about how the Israeli company got started, its white label solutions and what he thinks of other Webcam dating sites, like WooMe and SpeedDate. – Jenn Rubin

Why did you decide to found 6rounds?
We came up with the idea for 6rounds about 1 ½ years ago. We started out doing speed dating sessions for users. As we began developing the program and our platform, we thought about ways for people to meet while they’re waiting for the speed dating sessions. Also, if they met someone that they didn’t really like, they could still do games together, watch videos or just pass the time in the most fun way.

Can you chat with more than one 6rounds member at a time?
It is currently just one-on-one video chats, but we’re developing a wider system that will allow up to six people to talk at the same time. That is why we call it 6rounds, and because Rounds.com wasn’t available.

The site’s name also comes from the Beach Boys lyrics, “Round round, get around.”

How does 6rounds differ from other Webcam dating sites, such as WooMe and SpeedDate?
Both WooMe and SpeedDate are doing a great job. However, our platform is not just focused on dating and on speed dating. It’s also for networking, socializing and meeting friends. That’s why we like to call it a live meeting point.

Can other Web sites integrate your platform?
6rounds is built on a platform called Gixoo. It can be a full-blown, white label solution, including different designs, different features and so on.

Just in the trial stage, 6rounds has already lured members from around the world. Were you purposely pursuing an international audience?
There was a piece about us on CNN Spanish, and afterward, a lot of people from Latin America came to the site. We’ve had articles on TechCrunch and a few other blogs. Those articles had an invitation code for readers to come to the site and try out 6rounds. So, I’m guessing people are trying it currently from everywhere.

You and CEO Dany Fishel received $150,000 from friends and family in order to start 6rounds back in February 2008. Today, the company has raised $1 million in seed investments. Who are some of your backers?
We got $350,000 in October 2008 from a company called Startup Factory, which is an angel group based here in Israel. It has about 50 members, and each of them put a little cash into the company. We just recently closed a round of $1 million from a group called Rhodium, which is also in Israel, and a U.S.-based private equity fund. A few other angels, whose names probably mean more to the Israeli crowd, are Zeev Bregman, Ivan Ferrer and Uri Shinar.

How will the site make money?
The Web site is free, and we won’t charge people for using it. However, users can pay to personalize and customize the chat rooms. For instance, during a round, members can purchase certain activities and backgrounds. We’re also thinking of having advertising during the rounds, as well as sponsored games, activities, gifts and so on.

Tell me a little bit about the 6rounds team.
We currently have eight people based here in Israel. Dany and I are the only people who are not developers.

Any plans to expand into the mobile market?
Of course. We’re thinking about creating an application for the iPhone, but it is something we’re planning probably for late 2010.

Besides the official launch, what are your plans for the site in the coming year?
We’re planning Facebook and MySpace applications, as well as Firefox plugins. We want people to be able to enjoy our video experience platform from everywhere across the Web, from their favorite social networks to their favorite applications and even their personal blogs. Our ultimate goal is to offer a wide platform for sharing experiences in a live atmosphere.

Ted Verani, SVP Sales & Marketing At Jumbuck

Posted on August 26, 2009

Jumbuck logo OPW INTERVIEW — Aug 26 — Jumbuck powers some of the top mobile chat and mobile dating services on the planet. Here’s our interview with Ted Verani, the SVP Sales and Marketing at Jumbuck. – Mark Brooks

How was the company started?
The company was started in 2000 by Adrian Risch, who is our CEO. It was around the time mobile data was taking off. He created one of the earliest mobile chat services.

What are your main products?
Power Chat is our biggest original product, and it’s a mobile-only service. All these users are connected globally. Overall, we have three main products – Power Chat, Fast Flirting and Mobilove.

With Power Chat, you enter into a chat room. There is a list of users who are online. You can watch them communicate and jump in at any time. People can chat about anything, but the reality is most are flirting. There is also a one-to-one messaging option.

Fast Flirting is a live service, too. You see a list of people who are online. You can check out profiles and photos. Then, you invite someone into a flirt request. If both people opt in, they can have a timed, 10-minute flirt session.

Mobilove is our more classic dating product. It would perhaps be more closely aligned with your traditional mobile dating or online dating services.

Do you think a lot of your users are using Internet dating services, as well?
No, I think the demographic of our users are younger. They’re using it for fun, flirting and entertainment but not for finding a partner or getting married.

How does the service make money?
Power Chat is $2 a month, Fast Flirting is $3 a month and Mobi Love is $4.99 a month, which also includes premium alerts. You can get alerts to find out when someone is online now or when you have a message in your inbox.

Do you have any applications that use location-based services (LBS)?
We don’t do true LVS in the sense of geo-coded targets, but we do use proximity. In this case, we would use zip codes. Even some of our chat rooms, you can go into a specific geographic room, like the West.

Is that mainly because of the carriers concerns over liability to LBS?
Partially, it was how it was designed in the beginning.

I think LBS is great for social networks that are more friend managers. You already know this person in an offline sense. You want to keep track of them and their activities. However, I think with dating products you have to be a little more cautious. At most you would want to use proximity for someone nearby rather than giving them your actual location.

Still, there is lots of excitement and enthusiasm right now for LBS as it is beginning to open up. Originally, carriers would have to give you the LBS information. Now, with devices like the iPhone and other smart phones, you can get the coordinates right in the phone.

I’ve heard iPhone applications monetizes far better than any other platform. How do you think the iPhone is changing the game?
It certainly has changed the game from the standpoint of they made an amazing device, and it has raised the bar for how other handset manufacturers need to respond. So, you’re seeing more and more phones coming out. You also see a change in how carriers are going to monetize and work with content providers.

With the iPhone, they’ve now opened up to smaller developers who have creative ideas. Apple probably approves 96 percent of the apps provided to them.

So it’s created a challenge from the content provider’s point of view in terms of discoverability and getting your application noticed. However, they have certainly changed the market in terms of customers wanting to consume content and data.

Now, the carriers have realized that offering up the likes of MySpace, Facebook and other social networks on their phones improves their retention. Have there been any other points of realization on Internet dating side of the house – the chat and flirt?
They love us, because we do consume quite a bit of data. We do probably a billion page views a month worldwide, so that’s quite a bit of traffic.

How easy is it working with the carriers?
Working with carriers is great, and it’s challenging. We have obviously a unique advantage. We’ve been around since 2004 and having really created arguably the largest mobile social networking application. We work with about 80 plus carriers worldwide.

We can talk about iPhone and other ways to get in the market. However, working with wireless carriers is going to be the surest way to get your application in front of as many eyeballs as possible.