Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

How Metrics Can Lead Us to Make the Wrong Decisions - Christof Wittig, Hornet, CEO

LTR - Christof Wittig, a distinguished software entrepreneur, investor, and LGBTQ+ advocate, shared his insights. As the Founder and CEO of Hornet, one of the world's foremost queer social networks with ~30M users, he discussed the complexities of decision-making in the dating industry. Christof emphasized the importance of understanding network effects, particularly in online dating, where the value of a network grows with more relevant users.

He explained how taking an average approach to decision-making in different markets can lead to under-optimization. Christof used Hornet's example, where they customized strategies based on specific markets, focusing on factors like pricing and product features to maximize success. He stressed the need to differentiate between waves, tides, and climate change when analyzing data to distinguish between trends and temporary fluctuations.

The September LTR was kindly sponsored by ParshipMeet Group, RealMe, along with Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Dmitry Volkov - Interview With Mark Brooks

LTR - Dmitry, a seasoned serial entrepreneur and investor in 22 venture funds, including Khosla Ventures and 500 Startups, offered valuable insights during the interview. Remarkably, he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 14, establishing his first software company at 21, which impressively grew to encompass 500 employees. He shares how the company focuses on social discovery, connecting people from all over the world, and the unique aspects of their approach. Dmitry also mentions their interest in AI-based social apps and their willingness to invest in companies that align with their values and goals.

Dmitry's entrepreneurial acumen extends to founding one of the world's largest social discovery group of companies, dedicated to addressing issues of loneliness, isolation, and disconnection through the utilization of digital reality. This Social Discovery Group, encompassing ~40 brands, specializes in dating and innovative social and entertainment apps with a focus on AI, video streaming, and game mechanics. Together, these brands boast ~250M registered users worldwide, facilitating ~75M daily messages.

The September LTR was kindly sponsored by ParshipMeet Group, RealMe, along with Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Dr. Jessica Griffin - Relationship Rx: Research-based Strategies and Effective Tools for Couples on Reality TV and in Real Life

LTR - Dr. Jessica Griffin is a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in childhood trauma and family assessment. She is a relationship expert known for appearances on media outlets like NPR, Fox News, and Insider. Dr. Griffin is the CEO of Lovebuilder, Inc., offering online relationship training. She co-authored "Relationship Rx: Prescriptions for Lasting Love and Deeper Connection" with Dr. Pepper Schwartz.

Dr. Griffin highlights the importance of relational health and its impact on well-being. She discusses how stress affects relationships and attachment styles, such as secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized. Addressing the fear of change, she introduces a problem-solving strategy for couples. Dr. Griffin also presents the cognitive triangle, showing how changing thoughts affects emotions and behaviors. Topics covered include physical touch, finances, communication patterns, household responsibilities, and parenting. She emphasizes that relationships are crucial, suggesting strategies for maintaining healthy relationships.

The August LTR was kindly sponsored by technology provider Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Aaron S. Jacobs - Understanding Patents in the Online Dating Industry

LTR - Aaron S. Jacobs is an experienced trial and appellate attorney specializing in technology litigation, including patents. He has litigated cases in various industries, including software and mobile apps. Aaron explains patents as government grants that give individuals or entities the right to exclude others from using their inventions. He discusses how patents are obtained through the US Patent and Trademark Office and emphasizes the importance of the claims in defining the scope of the patent.

Aaron then delves into patent litigation in the online dating industry, using Tinder and Bumble as examples. He discusses Tinder's patent applications and how Bumble challenged them through inter partes reviews. Eventually, both companies settled their court litigation, but Match filed a new lawsuit against Bumble, claiming infringement of a recently issued patent. Aaron hints that Match may continue to pursue legal action with another amendment to the patent.

The July LTR was kindly sponsored by technology provider Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Shweta Khajuria - Wall Street's View on Online Dating

LTR - Shweta Khajuria, an MD and Internet Equity Research at Evercore ISI, analyzes internet companies, including online dating apps, e-commerce, etc. They study the fundamentals of businesses, management strategies, consumer demand, and financial metrics to form opinions on publicly traded companies. Their clients are institutional investors like hedge funds and mutual funds.

They evaluate online dating companies based on five key parameters: market opportunity, value proposition, product differentiation, business model, and management team quality. They estimate the global dating category to be a $7B market, expected to grow at around 9% annually, reaching $11B by 2028. The growth drivers include online penetration, single population growth, revenue per user, and user conversion rates.

Shweta emphasizes the importance of user experience for dating apps and discusses how users often engage with multiple apps. Despite Gen Z's preference for social media, dating apps still hold advantages due to their specialized focus on high-quality matching.

The July LTR was kindly sponsored by technology provider Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Natalie Frangi & Chara Dela - Dating Startup Stories (NUit) - From Idea to Success

LTR - Natalie Frangi, a computational chemist, and Chara Dela founded NUiT, a dating app centered around astrology. The idea originated from Natalie's experiences discussing astrology with people from different cultures. After a personal astrology reading, Natalie realized the potential of using astrology to understand people's behavior and relationships. NUiT uses birth details to provide personalized insights, compatibility scores, and relationship advice. The app also serves as a standalone astrology tool. NUiT's focus on community engagement and user satisfaction has led to positive feedback and successful matches. The founders are currently raising funds to enhance the app's features and expand its reach.

The May LTR was kindly sponsored by technology provider Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

See the top news on NUiT

David Simonarson - Dating Startup Stories (Smitten) - From Idea to Success

LTR - David is the CEO and co-founder of Smitten, a dating app that aims to provide a more enjoyable experience compared to typical swiping apps. He and his co-founder have been creating mobile consumer social networks for over a decade, but their previous dating app, The One, didn't meet users' expectations. After realizing that dating apps were considered boring and felt like work, they decided to create Smitten, a dating app focused on the journey of being single. Smitten stands out by allowing users to explore more than just looks and get to know potential matches through entertainment elements like mini-games. These games provide icebreakers for conversations, resulting in a higher conversion rate from matches to conversations. Smitten gained popularity in Iceland and raised funding to expand to other markets like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and London.

The May LTR was kindly sponsored by technology provider Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

See the top news on Smitten

Daniel Cheaib - Dating Startup Stories (Feels) - From Idea to Success

LTR - Daniel Cheaib along with some friends and hired individuals, built Feels, a software product in the consumer space. Daniel transitioned from working in MMA and strategic consulting to pursue his long-desired goal of building a software product. With the rise of online interactions, especially among younger generations, Daniel wanted to create a safe and entertaining experience for his children and others. Recognizing that traditional dating apps had become monotonous with swipe-based features, Daniel and his team aimed to take an orthogonal approach to create a more engaging product. They focused on two main aspects: content sharing and shared experiences. They encouraged users to share more videos and engage in activities together within the app. Feels provides an immersive experience, allowing users to interact with each other based on the experiences they share. The app features profiles, reminiscent of TikTok, where users can scroll through content without immediately making a decision. The goal is to make the dating experience more immersive and ultimately retain users who may have become dissatisfied with other dating apps. Although Feels has gained traction and a strong community in France since its launch in Apr 2021, there is still room for iteration and growth. Currently, Feels has accumulated ~2.5M downloads and generates revenue primarily in France and neighboring countries.

The May LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

See the top news on Feels

Daniel Salmon - Current Worldwide Trends in Online Dating

LTR - The US Internet research team is headed by Daniel Salmon, who started working at New Street Research in 2022 after spending 18 years as the leader of the US Internet & Media research team at BMO Capital Markets. Dan graduated from Princeton University and currently resides in New York City. Investors and industry experts value his perspectives, and he frequently speaks at industry events and conferences. His quotes have been featured in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal.

Dan presented his research and analysis of the dating industry. He begins by acknowledging the negative sentiment surrounding public dating stocks and the concerns over the saturation and maturing of the sector. He presents a chart showing the historical valuation of dating companies on a profitability metric called Earning Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) and notes that there has been a significant pullback in enthusiasm for the industry in recent years. Despite this, he believes that the dating industry still has growth potential and the larger players have advantages, such as the potential to acquire smaller businesses.

The April LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Joel Simkhai - Challenges and Opportunities

LTR - Joel, an Israeli-American tech entrepreneur, founded Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men based on location. Grindr became widely popular after its launch in 2009 and transformed the way people connect in the LGBTQ+ community. Simkhai was the CEO of Grindr until 2018 when he sold the company to the Chinese gaming company Kunlun Group. He was recognized as one of Forbes' "30 under 30" in the Technology category in 2012 for his work on Grindr. Recently, Joel launched a new gay dating app called Motto, which is different from other dating apps as it only shows users a limited number of profiles per day. Motto is mainly targeted toward casual dating and hookups within the LGBTQ+ community.

Joel discusses the challenges and opportunities of the dating industry. One of the advantages of starting a dating app today is the availability of technology that simplifies building the app and scaling it. However, a major disadvantage is the highly competitive and crowded market space. Simkhai also emphasizes that it is essential to focus on marketing and growing the network to gain more users. He predicts that the future of dating apps will prioritize the value of the network and the authenticity of users. Finally, he predicts that software development will become more accessible and iterative, which will make it easier for anyone to build an app.

The April LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Geoff Cook - Do Things That Don't Scale – Then Scale Them

LTR - Geoff is the former CEO & co-founder of The Meet Group, a social dating and live-streaming company. He's also former co-CEO and GM of video for the parent company ParshipMeet Group. He successfully transitioned the company from 90% advertising revenue in 2016 to 60%+ user-pay revenue while dramatically expanding revenue by investing heavily in live-streaming video.

Geoff joined the dating industry in 2005 and pioneered one-to-many video. He discussed the challenges that startups face in their early stages and the importance of scrappy tactics, such as manually recruiting users or focusing on a narrow market. Cook emphasized that building a better mousetrap is usually not enough to launch a successful startup; it often takes something remarkable, and founders must be willing to do things that are messy and don't scale in order to get there. He also shared how this philosophy was used at The Meet Group to roll out their live-streaming product.

The February LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Professor Paul Dolan - How to Connect With and Use Academics to Inform Your Product Strategy

LTR - Currently, Professor Dolan holds the position of Professor of Behavioural Science at the LSE and serves as the Director of the Executive MSc in Behavioural Science. He is an internationally recognized authority on happiness, behavior, and public policy, and conducts original research on the measurement, causes, and consequences of happiness. With more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and 31K citations, he has collaborated extensively with policy-makers and private companies.

Professor Dolan discusses the benefits of collaboration between academics and the dating industry, particularly in the areas of economics and psychology. He explains that academics are interested in establishing cause-and-effect relationships between interventions and changes in behavior. This is best achieved through observing human behavior in natural environments without them knowing they are being watched. In the dating industry, manipulating people's profiles can help establish causal effects, but ethical considerations must be taken into account. Professor Dolan also mentions that there is currently less collaboration between academia and the dating industry than in other fields such as health and finance.

The March LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Ruben Buell - Monetizing Dating Apps Via Gifting

LTR - Ruben is the CEO of RealGifts, which provides a platform for users to access top-selling products from various brands and send personalized gifts through mobile apps and websites.

RealGifts is a platform that allows people to send physical gifts across social and dating platforms. Ruben Buell, who has a lot of experience in the dating industry, spoke about RealGifts and its potential benefits for dating platforms. He explained that gift-giving is an important aspect of building and strengthening relationships and can help people stand out on dating apps. The RealGifts platform offers a way for people to send gifts that recipients will love, creating a positive feeling and a dopamine rush. The platform is customizable and generates revenue for channel partners.

The March LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Carmelia Ray - the Future of Content Marketing, Social Selling, and Brand Recognition Through TV and Media

LTR - For 30 years, Carmelia Ray has been a prominent figure in the dating industry, serving as a celebrity matchmaker, TV host, and online dating expert. During this time, she has helped ~8K matchmaking clients and engaged in ~65K conversations with singles from around the world about matters of love and relationships. She is recognized as one of the most successful matchmakers, having worked with renowned entrepreneurs, corporate executives, celebrities, and influencers. Carmelia is also the host and associate producer of her reality dating show called "Mom vs Matchmaker," and has appeared on several TV programs. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with various matchmaking agencies, top dating coaches, and major online dating sites.

Carmelia talks about her experience as a matchmaker and how she has used media to increase her visibility and authority. She shares ideas on how to attract media to a brand and reach a target audience through content marketing, social selling, and brand recognition. Carmelia discusses the three types of media: paid media, owned media, and earned media, and highlights the importance of producing content to establish one's voice and stand out. She advises taking advantage of crises to solve problems for people and attract media attention. Finally, Carmelia emphasizes the power of leveraging media to create instant visibility and authority. She also advises on how to get featured in the media, including building relationships with producers and writers, creating video content, and following up with enthusiasm. Carmelia emphasizes the importance of being authentic and sharing personal stories to connect with audiences.

The February LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Steven Macecevic, CEO of Datefit, Spoke About Influencer Marketing at LTR 18

LTR - We run LTR events a few weeks after each event, so more people can enjoy and learn from them. LTR stands for Love, Tech, Relationships and is where IDEA members learn, share and connect online. See www.IDEA.gp.

Steven is a lifetime entrepreneur who's spent the past 8 years developing and operating online dating communities, including DateFit. With a strong passion for fitness and healthy living, Steven built a community for singles that provide them a place to find others with the same passions and zest for life. Datefit launched in Jan 2019. Steven spoke about his experience with influencer marketing - finding the right influencers, negotiating with them and managing them, and creating effective content.

The December LTR was kindly sponsored by technology providers Livebox by The Meet Group, RealGifts, Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com