GFN -- Jan 22 -- E-Harmony's discrimination towards gay clients, has led entrepreneurs to rethink services specifically for gay singles. Patrick H. Perrine MA, PhD is the founder and matchmaker behind myPartner.com. GFN spoke to Dr. Perrine about how he went from relationship counselor to online cupid.
GFN: Why enter into the competitive Internet dating world?
Patrick Perrine: I realized there was a major underserved market of gay and lesbians singles. Nobody was providing a place with the right tools and resources to create positive relationships.
GFN: What did you learn from sites like Gay.com to make myPartner different?
PP: We did a tough competitive analysis, and we took our initial user feedback very seriously. Match.com is incredibly successful because they are constantly changing. That was a big model for us.
GFN: Where did you get the financing to develop the site?
PP: I used my personal resources to develop the company. Recently, I did take on some angel investors.
GFN: What is your advertising/marketing plan?
PP: We get a lot of traffic from organic search. October 1st was the start of our major online advertising campaign.
GFN: Do you eventually want to address lesbians?
PP: It may be something we tackle in the future.
The full article was originally published at GFN, but is no longer available.
