Dating Business: Pursuit of perfection in something that can never be perfect

By Rajesh Setty on Mon 14 Jan 2008, 6:01 PM - 7 Comments

Some background first:

We will be working with a few dating companies as there is an OEM opportunity for one of my portfolio companies. So I started thinking about this business a bit.

Fundamentally, the promise of a dating website is to find the “right” match for you.

Let’s think about some other businesses who also promise to provide you the “right whatever they are selling” for you.

Dell built a business on customization but it is Starbucks took it to the next level. You can go to Starbucks and order a “Grande with whip and glaze Oranges and Creme Frapuccino LIGHT Blended Creme” (courtesy: WikiHow article – How to Order at Starbucks)

You can see examples of “Do It Yourself” and “Build Your Own” options being offered by many businesses.

In other words, you can get that “perfect” item just made for you.

I think people are getting used this so much that now a lot of people try to apply it to human beings. With a few clicks they can go to their choice of dating sites and start looking for that perfect match. They may find someone that is almost there but why stop search when you “might” be able to find that “perfect” one?

So the quest continues

As long as people are in pursuit of perfection in something (in this case a human being) that can never be perfect, the dating business will continue to flourish.

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Posted in the Business Models category.

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Murali on January 15th, 2008

I am not sure people that are searching on Dating sites are trying to find a perfect match. There is no evidence that shows that people entered into committed relationships through a dating site. In contrary, there are reports on PEW that dating sites are making whole ‘relationship’ a very difficult aspect.

Most occasions, people who are searching on Dating sites are only looking for a Date. Nothing further. Since 54% american adults are not ready to commit, for whatever reason, dating sites for sure will flourish. So do, drug companies that flourish on Depression. As these adults enter into 35-40s, they become imminent targets of depression medication market. So, huge market in either ways.

Rajesh Setty on January 15th, 2008

Thank you for your comment Murali.

My earlier take on these sites here:
http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/2006/07/15/online-personals-you-fail-and-they-succeed/

Best,
Raj

Anil on January 26th, 2008

I don’t understand why dating sites should actually flourish. Looking at the current trends, there are billions of social sites flourishing. People who really want to find dates just have to login to there already existing orkut or facebook account and do a search. I don’t see why they should pay for such a service.

http://greenpreneur.blogspot.com/

Mike Kanazawa on January 29th, 2008

Raj,

It’s all in a pursuit to show yourself to the world. In a different way than a dating site, I’ll pass this on to you. Phil Gerbyshak of Slacker Manager tagged me with a fun game circulating amongst bloggers to share 6 little known facts about yourself. I’ve tagged you.

http://bigideastobigresults.com/archives/47

Hope you enjoy the exercise…

Mike