FORBES - Feb 5 - Now, at least one in every six new marriages are between people who met on a dating site. This, of course, is fantastic news for Mandy Ginsberg, President of Match.com. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Ginsberg shares her own “algorithm” for success, why business school doesn’t have anything on single parenting, and why flirting at work may not be such a bad thing after all.
Q: What advice would you give other women who want to be innovative and “follow the rules” at the same time?
A: Being agile, innovative and decisive are critical.
Q: What’s the best thing you’ve ever done for your career?
A: Pushing myself to do things that were out of my comfort zone.
Q: What your advice is for someone who has a crush on a colleague?
A: I met my husband at my last company while we were working on a project together. Sometimes acting on those crushes at the office might not be a bad thing. Happily, it worked for me.
Q: Match.com is a company that has managed to grow amid a very significant recession. Aside from having a great product, to what do you attribute this success?
A: Even in a recession people want to fall in love. Still, I attribute success to a few things. One, build a brilliant team. Second, take calculated risks. Two years ago we had this unique idea of focusing our TV ads around those first dates. So we asked a few Match.com members if we could film them on a first date. Now over 100 TV ads later from 30 real dates across the country, we have created the most successful campaign in our history.
Q: If you could go back and give one piece of advice to your 20 -year-old self, what would it be?
A: Don’t be afraid of failure.
