It’s been 3 months since our private launch on Valentine’s Day. It’s been an amazing roller coaster ride ever since. Believe it or not, we’ve made well over 30,000 daily introductions. A LOT of them have turned into SMS connections and in-person meetings, and several of them evolved into relationships—that we know of, but I’m sure there are more. We’ve had our fair share of breakdown moments and panic attacks along the way but these positive early stats and the exciting comments and feedback we hear from our members are what energize us and keep us going. (Note: This may be getting too personal but I lost 8 lbs over the past 3 months, probably due to stress. Can being an entrepreneur be a new form of diet?) I have to say, we’re extremely happy with the progress we have made and grateful for the support we have received so far. It’s only the beginning, but a great one.

We get asked very often where our idea comes from. Our idea was formed at the Art Institute of Chicago last July, when my co-founder/sister and I made a weekend trip to take a break from NYC. We had been looking into the online dating space for a while-both from personal and business perspective. Among many problems we saw in this space, we both wondered why there isn’t a product that people are excited about. For example, I look at fashion brands and see people get so excited about finding the perfect fitting jean from their favorite brand on sale and rave about it. Why can’t we create a brand like that in online dating? Then we thought about Gilt and other daily deal services—the combination of simplicity, curated selection and time component not only made the entire user experience better and less time-consuming but also made it so much more exciting. Bingo. Our mission was set—to provide the world’s most exciting, curated dating experience.

We’re still very far from making that happen. Our user experience needs a lot of improvement and testing, our features need to be expanded and our algorithm needs continuous refinement (BTW, we’re always eager to hear from ML algorithm experts!). But we feel very confident that we’re on the right path and we have what it takes to help our members find the one.

Finally, we have some great releases coming up—including the eagerly awaited mobile app that you have been dying to get. I’m testing it on my Android as we speak, and it’s very cool to see our own app logo on my phone and, well, even cooler to see that it works well. :)

In the next 3 months, we look forward to providing you with a better product. But we can’t do it alone! We ask for your feedback, and most importantly, support in sharing your enthusiasm with your friends and family. After all, more of your friends of friends means better introductions for you. Remember, sharing makes perfect. 

Thanks for reading!