4 ms·

But.. isn't the dating game actually pretty saturated? OkCupid, Eharmony, tinder + a million other companies. OP mentions the startup was taking 25k/mo but need

by yarper 11y ago

But.. isn't the dating game actually pretty saturated? OkCupid, Eharmony, tinder + a million other companies. OP mentions the startup was taking 25k/mo but needed funding to make a crack against big companies. Surely that was the exact turn off for investors?

nailer 11y ago
Search was saturated once Altavista came out and kicked Yahoo's butt. If DatingCircle have a significant competitive advantage over the existing market that may not be relevant.
- endymi0n 11y ago
  Social was saturated when everyone had a Myspace page.
- Ntrails 11y ago
  Right, so what is the competitive advantage? She opens saying "Unless I have an absolutely perfect, bulletproof business (which I do not), I’m easily written off as someone blaming my failures on my gender" and offers nothing to dissuade me from following that. It seems entirely plausible she has been marginalised/dismissed - but I'm not sure I buy into it entirely. Personally, I'd have thought that, in dating especially, a female founder would seem like a real strength. I wish the company luck regardless vOv
- Bootvis 11y ago
  It still may turn off investors though. Google wasn't immediately funded to the brim either.
windernz 11y ago
I agree the market is saturated but that didn't stop other startups in other saturated industries ~ taxis & uber for instance. I don't know what their edge is but I wouldn't write them off because they are trying to crack a saturated industry.
bwindels 11y ago
The author mentions their competitors had no problem finding 9 figure investments. Also, saying that "surely" the reason for not finding investors cannot be related to sexism is saying it's all in her head. Maybe their business plan was bad, maybe it was good. But I wouldn't personally dismiss the issues the author is trying to address so quickly, given that she is in a good position to have an informed opinion about it, the fact that sexism is very prevalent in the tech industry, and that the examples given are quite specific.
notahacker 11y ago
It looks like paid memberships start at £80 per month, so that revenue works out at just over 300 paying members, off the back of a "ton of press". Comparisons with "1 year old Tinder" are more than a little fanciful. They're also doing the opposite of what the other companies in the space are doing: replacing software with human labour. I don't think that most VCs thought "woman" when she pitched, I think they thought "lifestyle business". There's nothing wrong with running a profitable traditional dating agency, but it's not the sort of opportunity that really sets their pulses raising. Her open acknowledgement that she found approaching VCs at demo day's "intimidating" - their fault, naturally, for being older men - suggests she probably wasn't quite as adept at pitching it as she thought she was either. I can understand her being pissed off if a couple of them made inappropriate remarks, but I don't think that attitude is the main reason why 300 emails and 40 meetings didn't garner much interest. Some VCs are even women!

by yarper 11y ago

nailer 11y ago

Search was saturated once Altavista came out and kicked Yahoo's butt. If DatingCircle have a significant competitive advantage over the existing market that may not be relevant.

endymi0n 11y ago
Social was saturated when everyone had a Myspace page.
Ntrails 11y ago
Right, so what is the competitive advantage? She opens saying "Unless I have an absolutely perfect, bulletproof business (which I do not), I’m easily written off as someone blaming my failures on my gender" and offers nothing to dissuade me from following that. It seems entirely plausible she has been marginalised/dismissed - but I'm not sure I buy into it entirely. Personally, I'd have thought that, in dating especially, a female founder would seem like a real strength. I wish the company luck regardless vOv
Bootvis 11y ago
It still may turn off investors though. Google wasn't immediately funded to the brim either.

windernz 11y ago

I agree the market is saturated but that didn't stop other startups in other saturated industries ~ taxis & uber for instance. I don't know what their edge is but I wouldn't write them off because they are trying to crack a saturated industry.

bwindels 11y ago

The author mentions their competitors had no problem finding 9 figure investments. Also, saying that "surely" the reason for not finding investors cannot be related to sexism is saying it's all in her head. Maybe their business plan was bad, maybe it was good. But I wouldn't personally dismiss the issues the author is trying to address so quickly, given that she is in a good position to have an informed opinion about it, the fact that sexism is very prevalent in the tech industry, and that the examples given are quite specific.

notahacker 11y ago

It looks like paid memberships start at £80 per month, so that revenue works out at just over 300 paying members, off the back of a "ton of press". Comparisons with "1 year old Tinder" are more than a little fanciful. They're also doing the opposite of what the other companies in the space are doing: replacing software with human labour. I don't think that most VCs thought "woman" when she pitched, I think they thought "lifestyle business". There's nothing wrong with running a profitable traditional dating agency, but it's not the sort of opportunity that really sets their pulses raising. Her open acknowledgement that she found approaching VCs at demo day's "intimidating" - their fault, naturally, for being older men - suggests she probably wasn't quite as adept at pitching it as she thought she was either. I can understand her being pissed off if a couple of them made inappropriate remarks, but I don't think that attitude is the main reason why 300 emails and 40 meetings didn't garner much interest. Some VCs are even women!