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TRANSGENDERDATE - Feb 21 - TransgenderDate members are now able to let other members know they are interested in them with a single click. TransgenderDate has ~450K members from 80 countries worldwide.
See full article at TransgenderDate
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TECH CRUNCH - Feb 27 - As subscriptions continue to grow into a sizable revenue stream for mobile app developers, Apple issued stricter guidelines around how subscriptions are to be presented to consumers, and it made the setting for canceling existing subscriptions more accessible. Now, Apple is rolling out new tools for developers that will help them retain their current customers. Apps with auto-renewable subscriptions will soon be able to offer their subscriptions at a discounted price for a specific period, as a means of growing and retaining their customer base. To create the offers, developers have to download the latest Xcode 10.2 beta and will need to implement the new StoreKit APIs. Apple said the offers will be made available to the public soon.
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
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PRESS RELEASE - Feb 26 - Hily, a US-based dating app, is launching in the UK at the beginning of March. The unique feature of the app is the usage of AI. Hily analyses users' likes, matches, and dialogues to create a personalized set of potential partners. The more the users swipe, the smarter the machine gets and the higher are their chances to find someone special.
See full article at Internet Dating Newswire
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THE BEACH REPORTER - Feb 25 - Veteran wedding planner Constance Curtis launched The List for elite singles in Southern California. It combines "old fashioned intuition with science and technology." "I saw a space in the industry between the dating apps and matchmaking," said Curtis. "Many people using a matchmaker spend between $14,000 and $25,000 for the service." Curtis charges $2000 initiation and a subscription fee of $99/mo. The List is powered by real-life matchmakers and relationship experts with 15 years of combined experience. Elite members are met in person, and receive a personal matchmaker, and receive feedback after each date. The app is free. User's create a free profile and are added to The List's database of potential suitors for its elite members. Free members have access to the site, but not actual matchmaking services. For $1.99, non-elite members can also purchase "coins" to send messages about suitors they are interested in to the matchmakers. They've had 400 downloads, and have 15 elite clients.
by Genie Davis
See full article at The Beach Reporter
Mark Brooks: There really is a gap between dating apps and matchmakers. Noone has quite cracked it yet. Although, I believe Tawkify are occupying that space, Three Day Rule had a go at it, and It's Just Lunch have been working at it for years, but I don't really regard them as matchmakers. It's actually tough to deliver proper matchmaking services for anything less than $5k a year.
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DIGITAL INFORMATION WORLD - Feb 25 - Android is the world's leading operating system. Android's presence in the US is currently 38%. However, its market share worldwide is 72% and is expected to cross the 85% mark by 2022. In Q3 2018, the global tablet shipments contained 61% Android powered tablets. Android's biggest mobile phone manufacturer is Samsung, covering 46.3% of the manufacturers' market share, followed by Huawei (9.5%), Xiaomi (6.9%), Oppo (4.7%), Motorola (4.2%) and others. Candy Crush Saga, Pokemon GO and Tinder are the most revenue generating apps on Android with $59 M, $51M and $37M respectively in November last year.
by Ali Siddiqui
See full article at Digital Information World
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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
See all posts on Coffee Meets Bagel
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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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OPW - Feb 24 - I interviewed with the HBS testimonials team about my career in Internet dating, and my experience with the Harvard Business School PLD program. The dating industry has gone through some significant disruption with the rise of mobile dating, Tinder, and POF. Here's my story.
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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
See all posts on Sugarbook
See all posts on SeekingArrangement
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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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ENTREPRENEUR - Feb 22 - The app industry is one of the fastest and trending businesses in the world today with ~75% of the population being a mobile phone user, 67% of which uses smartphones. According to Statistica, an average of 6,140 mobile apps were released through the Google Play Store every day from the Q3 of 2016 to the Q1 of 2018. When asked about combating competition in the dating app industry, Melissa Hobley, CMO of OkCupid, says, "We are proud of our machine-learning based algorithms." Ishaan Sethi, Co-founder and CEO of Delta App shares that for millennials giving them the security especially on a dating app, can help win the trust of users.
by Bhavya Kaushal
See full article at Entrepreneur
See all posts on OkCupid
See all posts on Delta app
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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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SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL - Feb 20 - Tinder is set to take over 30K square feet in a newly built Palo Alto office blocks. The deal represents a major Silicon Valley expansion for Tinder. Tinder currently leases about 1,733 square feet office.
by Janice Bitters
See full article at Silicon Valley Business Journal
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