Online Personals Watch

Online Personals Watch Exclusive Interview #9 - Friendster's New CEO, Taek Kwon

OPW INTERVIEW -- July 18 -- Taek Kwon joined Friendster last month as President and CEO.  He was formerly the EVP Product Management at Citysearch and VP Engineering and Operations at Hotwire.  Mark Brooks, Editor of Online Personals Watch, interviewed Taek to get his take on the future of Friendster.   

Friendster invented online social networking, as we know it.  How did they lose ground to Myspace, and how do you intend to regain it?
Social networking is very different from when it was invented.  I wouldn’t say Friendster invented social networking; Friendster popularized social networking.  When we first launched, we were the only game in town. Friendster was, and is, a great way for people to connect with new friends and reengage with old friends. Friendster didn’t have a strong secondary call to action for its users beyond finding and connecting with people. Many people used it as a dating tool.  Now, many of the initial uses of Friendster have become commoditized.  Myspace, Hi5 and the Facebook are all growing.  The idea of ‘connecting’ is no longer a differentiator.  It never really was.  We have the ‘platform’ for adding value to users.  But we haven't determined the applications that will sit on top of this platform to make it valuable, sticky, and we no longer have the cachet we did earlier.  Myspace is focused heavily on music.  They have a different approach to networking; I think of a lot of their interactions more as incidental social collisions than what we have on our platform.  They provided users the ability to express themselves with a high degree of customizability and their ability to upload and integrate media is unparalleled.  It’s a freeform experience and a vehicle for self-expression.  It’s proven successful.  Friendster needs to also add context to the site’s friendships.  We don't really have a theme or context to drive activity.  That’s the challenge, which we hope to meet soon. 

What are incidental social collisions?
People are usually invited into Friendster.  They join through invitations.  A lot of people join to meet new people and socialize.  The types of activity and the conversations people have on Friendster are usually based on people you knew before they joined; our networks are generally a little more closed, whereas Myspace is more open.  On Friendster, a higher percentage knows their ‘friends’ offline than on Myspace.  There’s value in both approaches.  Myspace has proven their approach is wildly popular and they have figure out a way to monetize this.  Friendster is focused more on maintaining the networks’ integrity and I feel we will also figure out a compelling approach to monetization.

What is Friendster's target clientele? 
Our demographic skews young.  I’d say the average age of our most frequent users is between 21 to 29 predominantly.  But we have younger and a lot older too. Looking out further ahead our clientele is really anyone who has friends. 

You commented in a prior interview your intention to combine business networking and social networking on Friendster.  Could you expand on that comment?
I believe people, especially young people, are looking for four things.  One, finding a date/mate.  Two, finding a job.  Three, finding a home to live in or a house to buy.  And four, social interaction.  i.e. they want to know what people are doing.  Those four things are what life revolves around for those in their 20's to 30's. I could imagine a world where Friendster acts as a catalyst but doesn't focus on any one. 

Are you interested in events?
We have a very qualified network.  The majority of relationships on Friendster are real live offline friendships.  We are exploring opportunities to facilitate offline interactions.

How will Friendster be making money in one year from now?
We currently make money, a fair amount, from traditional sponsored CPM advertising.  We have a relationship with Google for contextual, text link advertising.  There are other sources that we will experiment with.  Two that may have a role are premium services and lead generation.  We have a relationship with sixapart for blogs where we share revenue on upgrades.  Users can sign up for a blog and pay for more storage and more UI flexibility.  We might introduce more premium services like that.  As you think about possibilities, you’ll not that a fair amount of commerce occurs from social interaction in our daily lives.  Friendster could become a clearinghouse for some of this commerce online through its platform.  One example might be birthday’s alerts.  We could implement a birthday alert and offer users a coupon on hot birthday presents.  I tend to think those types of leads will be more qualified than even sponsored link clicks. 

What lessons learned from your time at Citysearch do you intend to apply at Friendster?
Citysearch was a struggling business.  It was not making money when I joined and had a lot of problems.  Some of their brand equity had been damaged.  They were in a fairly new category.  Others had an interest in local search.  Yahoo and Google were entering the market.  Friendster is in some ways a similar situation. Yahoo 360, MSN, Google and Orkut and even international companies such as Nate.com in Korea have identified social networking as an interesting category they want a piece of and have invested.  The explosion in interest parallels what was happening in local search.  For me, one key lesson learned is how to think strategically in that sort of environment of rapid change, a heated competitive landscape, and investment and M&A activity.  When I left Citysearch they were profitable and growing profits at the fastest rate in our 9-year history.  Unlike local search when it first started, the social networking category already has two of its leading properties in the black and it’s such a new category.  Thefacebook has said it was cash flow positive since Q1.  Also Myspace has said they are profitable.  It’s a very new category.  So, to have two of the top properties in the black is very exciting. 

Who do you regard as the most noteworthy online dating competitors right now?  Are online dating companies really direct competitors?
I don't consider Friendster a dating site although online dating is one  utility provided for many users.  Friendster is a platform that hasn’t committed to any vertical yet, and perhaps never will. The fact is, users use it for dating but there’s a lot more we can and will do in the future.  We don't consider any of the online dating companies direct competitors.  I find eharmony fascinating.  They have a model for building an emotional tie with users during their interview/signup process, taking them through a highly committed screening process and then pushing qualified content to them.  That strategy is something that is not only applicable to dating.  In many ways users are open to pushed content as long as it’s from trusted sources.  Friends are trusted sources.  I could see similar functionality on Friendster.  The idea of pushing content to the user in a qualified way is very interesting. 

What are your thoughts on a mobile Friendster service?
We recently met with some of the folks from Nate.com and Cyworld.com.  Cyworld is a social networking site for Nate, a Korean portal.  SK Telecom owns them.  Mobile internet is fascinating to me.  They offer a tight integration between their IM client, social network, blogging, and profile page submission.  They’ve enabled content access, submission, and editing on any device.  The billing process revolves around the monthly phone bill.  It’s an interesting phenomenon, which we’re not going to be able to duplicate here because the telecom industry is more fragmented here, but the idea of monetizing social networks through micropayments on a phone bill is interesting.  The Koreans have more adoption of mobile internet usage.  There are some interesting lessons to be learned. 

What might Friendster look like in 3 years from now?
We will have more tools built on top of the Friendster platform.  Blogging has had great adoption.  I can imagine a heavy media component to Friendster.  I can also imagine there might be tools and applications that help in organizing friendships offline.  In any event we definitely will move in the direction of adding value beyond being the personal face-book we are today. 

Mark Brooks: Taek is just the medicine for Friendster.  MySpace has stolen some of Friendster's thunder but I think Friendster will find it's way under Taek Kwon (and Jonathan Abrams).   

Online Personals Watch Exclusive Interview #7 - Cupid.com's CEO

OPW CEO INTERVIEW -- July 1 -- Cupid.com probably has the best dating domain in the industry.  Who else can claim 2,000 years of branding history?  Cupid offers a fast track sign up process, does a great job of displaying real pictures of real users on their home page, and has successfully integrated Predating (the world's largest speed dating company) into Cupid.com.  Mark Brooks, Editor of Online Personals Watch, interviews Eric Straus, Cupid.com’s CEO and co-founder. 

What lessons from your radio station owner days have you applied to your time as Cupid's CEO?
Our advertising is done almost exclusively through our partner radio stations so I have used a lot of the radio knowledge I have when I’ve pitched them on Cupid.com.  Beyond that, running a business is running a business and personnel issues are personnel issues, regardless of whether you’re running a radio group or an internet company.

What would you have done differently had you known better?
I would have gotten the Cupid.com domain a lot earlier so I didn’t have to pay through the nose for it.  We would have started our localization campaign and we would have gone into the events business earlier as well.  I think our radio and our local focus are very related.  Localism is our niche so having local events in our markets is our competitive and branding advantage over other dating sites.   

How do events help?
If you go to Cupid.com and type in your zip code, in addition to finding local singles you also find all these local events that are near you.  And we're rolling out more coordinators in more cities.  They will become our singles experts in those markets.  Our ability to do local events and have local experts is our advantage.  The singles experts will provide additional local content; local advice, places to go on dates etc.   This speaks to our localism.

Are you still glad you acquired Predating?
Yes.  We feel our whole selling proposition is localism.  Match.com has mass.  eharmony has scientific matching.  We have localism.  The acquisition of Predating really helped in those efforts.   We have 70 people on the ground and well soon have 100 on the ground, and that’s not something any other dating site has.  There will be other opportunities down the road for other events such as lock and key parties.  Well offer larger singles events, which we think would be especially attractive to our radio station partners. 

Cupid is built on radio affiliate marketing, how did you get away with that?   
While I was still owner and manager of my radio stations in upstate New York many of my radio advertising clients said they were having trouble recruiting people. I thought a local job site promoted by my radio stations could help them fill their openings.  I approached Steve Bywater (now CTO) and Bob Chieffo (now COO) and we built RegionalHelpWanted.com.  We had 1,800 radio stations on the Regional Help Wanted side, and many asked for a second product. We thought radio was the perfect marketing medium for a dating site.   I mean, what medium reaches single adults more consistently than radio? The internet space is crowded enough as you can see when buying keywords and online advertising.  It made sense as a business model for our radio partners.  This is where my experience as a radio station owner comes into play.  I’m able to talk the talk with these guys.

Cupid is typically around the 12th largest online dating site according to Hitwise.  What are your goals for growth?
We would love to be in the top five.  We’re looking at possible acquisitions right now and doing some online marketing.   Well do more work with radio stations and further improve our conversion rates, even though they’re very good right now.   

What do you think of True background checks legislation?
I think this legislation is totally bogus.  A brilliant play to get PR.  It probably won’t pass.  It shouldn’t, but if it does, more power to them.  As a businessman I have a lot of respect for what they are trying to do.  I respect them for giving it the old college try.  A lot of guys (other dating companies) think how could they do such a thing?  They have to worry about their own business.  If this legislation passes it puts them in a great situation.   I don’t think it will, but more power to the guys at True.com for thinking this up.

What do you think of eharmony?
The concept is total b.s. and the marketing plan is brilliant, and I wish I’d thought of it first.  Scientific matching is total unadulterated b.s., but I think it is brilliant mktg.  Dr Warren is a marketing genius.  I don’t think he does any better job at matching than Cupid.com or any other dating site.  He just came up with a great marketing ploy.  He designed a great way to solve the problem of women being inundated and guys being ignored that you (Mark Brooks) highlighted for us.  Also, because of the perceived value of this scientific matching hocus pocus, they’re able to charge double.  I can tell you from the emails we get from customers, there’s a lot of dissatisfaction.  They complain its a pain in the ass to do.  Users have told us they like to quickly be able to get, do searches and open communication.  I don’t think you can scientifically decide the best matches.  There are 10,000 women out there that are right for you and its up to timing and circumstance to get together with them.  I can't emphasize enough I think its a genius marketing ploy.   If you asked me if I'd consider dating a Republican female, I'd say no.  I’m a liberal, Jewish and a democrat.  However under the right circumstances I might.  Just take James Carville, Clinton's campaign manager and Mary Matilin who was campaign manager for Bush.  They were arch rivals but  they fell in love and got married.   

We work with a professor at MIT who explained to us something very interesting.  If you look at relationships as a continuum, with the far left end representing never having met someone before, or talked, and the right end representing getting married, how far along the line do you thing online dating gets you?   eharmony proposes they get you  much further along.  I would argue neither eharmony or Cupid get you far along.  Meeting face to face is what gets you further along.  eharmony suggests  you can do more.  Face to face is where it counts; how they smell, how they laugh.  There are a lot of little things you cannot do online.  Online dating allows users to learn a few things about each other.  The eharmony concept is, in my view bullshit.    

Mark Brooks: Your comments please.  Please make sure to add your signature into your comment.  Anonymous comments will be removed.  Thanks ;-)

Online Personals Watch Exclusive Interview #6 - Webdate.com's CEO

OPW CEO INTERVIEW -- June 21 -- Online dating pioneer Webdate.com offers 'webdating' video chat, web chat and mobile phone based dating...all for free.  It's grown to 4 million members whilst maintaining a completely free membership model, much to the chagrin of it's competitors, Match.com, Yahoo Personals and American Singles.  Mark Brooks, Editor of Online Personals Watch, interviews Abe Smilowitz, Webdate.com’s CEO and Founder. 

Is webdate beyond 4 million users now?
Yes.  We've had a consistent growth rate.  Anywhere from 250 to 300 thousand new users a month.  60% is type in traffic from viral, from non-advertising referrals. 

Why did you start webdate? 
We started webdate to be the #1 online personals company in the world.  We identified online dating as a hot industry and decided we wanted to participate and create the best online personals service on the net.  We decided we would add the largest amount of users in the shortest amount of time by moving to a free model, and the rest is history...Now we're #5.  We're the 5th largest online personals company (per Hitwise).  Last year we were the fastest growing online personals company.  We grew 800% where the industry average was 42%.  The guys ahead of us are monsters and we've spent a fraction of what they've spent!  What they spend in a month, we spend in a year.  Some are spending in excess of $5 million a month.  That's unbelievable!  Probably some of the guys below us are spending several multiples of what we're spending...and we're still ahead of them.  It's credit to word of mouth marketing and our user experience.  We think users want a fast, simple, no frills, quick and easy communication oriented site.  They don't want to have to jump through hoops.  We're not overly complicated like other sites. 

Was there a 'magic moment' for you when you were first developing webdate?
The magic moment for us occurred when we came up with the video dating idea.  You can go to any online dating site and see fake pictures.  Then you show up to a date and find your match is older than they looked...it's crazy!  How do you get around the problem of fake pictures?  It just seemed so 'not personal' to us.  Online personals didn't give users much feel for a person's personality.  Users can write down any horse crap, put up a fake picture and the person on the other side has no idea.  Video dating, done properly just crushes that.  It really gives users a feel for a person, not the profile, but the real person. They can interact!  Enabling someone halfway round world to get a feel for someone's personality over the web, with pictures, and movement and voice.  You can see if a woman is sexy, get a feel for her attitude, see if she's funny.  You can pick all that up on video dating.  When you're just reading a profile, staring at multiple-choice questions, just looking at words, those things don't speak to the soul as much.  The way a person moves can say a lot about them.  You can't pick up on body language from a profile.

How on earth can you justify making webdate free for so long?
Our justification is industry ranking.  We've been able to build webdate to our #5 ranking in a very competitive industry.  We have a high number of active users and significant market share now.  Here's a scoop for you; we're looking to move to a premium services model in the very near future.  But, we'll continue to be less expensive than any of our competitors because we feel everyone should be able to enjoy online dating.  Part of our approach has been to extend online dating to all of society with webdate mobile.  Minority groups are generally more mobile oriented.  That's a totally different approach.  Our mobile service is $3.99 a month.  So, beat that!  And our mobile users can interact with the entire 4 million person webdate user base.  It's an inexpensive alternative to being on the website and it has most of the features of an online service.  You can see pictures, browse profiles, we stand alone in the industry as far as mobile goes right now. 

How does this compare with Match's mobile offering?
We've integrated the entire mobile aspect into the webdate.  Match breaks it up into two sites.  Ours is the only fully integrated service.  Which is the future of mobile applications, fully integrated.

What will webdate look like 5 years from now?
It will be fully mobile.  Everything you can do online, you'll be able to do on a cell phone, and that's what we're trying to do now. 

What's the end goal?  Do you want to be bigger then Match.com?
The end goal is to offer the best online personals service on the planet.  If we're the biggest, great.  Our philosophy is, if we build the very best product the users will come.  But, it has to be the best integrated, have the best features, be the easiest to use, and be fully integrated with mobile and video.  We're building the best mousetrap but not necessarily to beat Match.com in users.  We think that we will beat them in users eventually, because our product is going to be better.  The users will acknowledge that.  Users will often join several sites when they start online dating, and then end up sticking with the one they like the best.  We want to be that one.  In order to do that we need to give them great combinations of features, ease of use and value...which means not charging them an arm and a leg for the service.

Does the public really care about mobile and video chat yet?
The video dating, absolutely!  Over 50% of users have tried video dating.  The video is here and it's here to stay.  It's not pie in the sky or something for down the road.  It's here now and it's only going to get bigger.  As far as safety is concerned...We were thinking about safety two and a half years ago!  Video dating allows people to go on first dates in the safety and security and comfort of their own homes...without putting them in uncomfortable or dangerous situations.  They can get a sense of chemistry from the other users, hear their voice and look into their eyes before taking it to the real world.  Mobile dating is still something that is not mature.  There's no doubt it's where the future lies.  There will always be online dating though.  You can't completely duplicate online dating with a cell phone.  There's not enough room, but there's no doubt mobile will play a huge role in the future.  Our goal is to be the innovator and shape the way online dating progresses, with a mobile perspective.  The companies offering it now will shape the industry down the road.

What does the future hold for webdate?  Where will webdate be in two years time?
We'll be the best personals site to get in touch with the 'right person.'  We're working to give our users as many options to communicate as possible in as time efficient a manner as possible.  Users can see who's online, who's on video chat, who's new on the site, who's viewed their profile, who's emailed and IM'd them, who's network of friends others belong to.  You shouldn't have to click five times to find what you want.  You only have to click once on webdate.  Everything users could possibly want is right there, laid out one click away from the home page.  We're building the best online personals site and in two years we'll be at the top of the online dating rankings. 

Mark Brooks: People, essentially, are the 'product' that online dating sites sell.  Webdate has invested heavily to build a considerable member base, get people talking (hey it's free!), and offer some great next generation services.  One to watch.

Online Personals Watch Exclusive Interview #5 - True.com's CEO

OPW CEO INTERVIEW -- June 17 -- Online dating upstart, True.com, states on it’s home page that married people will be prosecuted, has driven online dating background checks legislation, and challenged the integrity of it’s competitor’s personality profiling systems.  What will it do next?  Mark Brooks, Editor of Online Personals Watch, interviews Herb Vest, True.com’s CEO and Founder. 

Why the True employee layoffs August last year?
We got a little too big for our britches and were going in too many directions at once.  We decided to cut back and focus our direction. 

You're a newcomer, an outsider, you could have just been a VC without getting personally involved.  What made you be want to be personally involved?
I'm an entrepreneur at heart and like to be involved in running the business.  A VC is more akin to banking than entrepreneurship so VC's are not necessarily real good entrepreneurs, and vice versa.  I'm more socially oriented.  I want to make a difference.  What does society need?  One thing is money, the other is love.  I handled the money with HDVest, and so I then decided to try my hand at love.  I know we can lower the divorce rates.  They're way too high.  I believe True can do something about that. 

In your book you mention revolutionary entrepreneurs.  What is a revolutionary entrepreneur?
We tend to be social outcasts, not necessarily well liked in the corporate world.  We are very good leaders but not very good followers at all.  A revolutionary entrepreneur seeks to change society for the better by using their business powers. 

And what are the top 'principles of war' you've applied to True.com?
The main principle of war, business, and life in general is the principle of the offensive.  I think in general in life and business and in war you have to constantly be on the attack.  That is the thing that I have learned in life.  If you go on defensive you're going to lose.  You always have to be out their stretching and pushing the envelope and digging at the competition.  I like the competition to worry about me rather than me them.  In my book, Instructions To My Officers: A Revolutionary Approach to Entrepreneurial Strategy, I talk about the race car driver, which is one of the better parables.  It covers the principle of focus; focusing on the curves but being aware of other curves ahead.  You have to set yourself up for the future curves otherwise you’ll slow down and give the competition time to regroup.  This is the approach True is taking right now.   

How is True different than PerfectMatch and eHarmony?  How is the site better?
eHarmony is going after a particular group which represents around 20% of the market; those looking for a long term relationship.  The people at True believe that love is a continuum.  When you come off a relationship you may say, ”wow, I never want to do that again,” but it may not be too long before you wind up looking for another relationship.  So, if you have people who are looking specifically for long term relationships without regard to where they are in life, they tend to fail.  They are going into life with the idea that, “I'm going to find my partner.” I think, going in to a relationship to have a good time and ‘perhaps’ find a partner, makes more sense. 

What would you say to Dr Warren and Dr Pepper?
eHarmony and PerfectMatch are actually trying to tout tests that purport to measure compatibility between couples when in fact there's no scientific evidence that they do.  I think they are highly misleading.  I would like the industry to look at compatibility testing on a more professional level.  I’d like to see these tests certified against principles set up by professional psychologists.  I think the public is going to wake up and feel duped unless we conform to professional standards.  It’s going to completely destroy the industry.  It’s a very serious situation.  We need to establish generally accepted principles.  We need to look at the methodology, conclusions, findings and algorithms used in these tests.  Once independently verified, professionals should publish their testing manual on their site, as we've done.  You can find that on True.com.  We've also had Dr James Houran publish results in professional journals and invited criticism from other professionals.  This is the way science has always been done; the generally accepted principle.  I am appalled we're not applying that as an industry.  We'd like to do something about that eventually.  We’d like to poll all dating sites to adopt a professional method of testing that has been accepted by the scientific community, or, if they don't do that, then they need to label their tests as ‘fun’ tests.  They can't imply reliability.  It’s very dangerous for the public and we think something needs to be done about that. 

How will True influence society over the next 5 years?
We plan to lower divorce rates in this country, and others, with scientifically backed matching.  We also need to improve the courtship process.  We will work on testing methods, dating tests and things like that.  There’s a big difference between dating and long term relationships.  For long term relationships it’s important couples agree about raising kids, finances, household chores etc.  For short term dating, the relationship factors are not so important as sense of humor, mindset and interests.  We want to facilitate both sides of the equation, for the long term and short term mindsets. You will see more and more testing on True; matching base upon users goals, whatever they are within the dating continuum. 

What’s next on the agenda?
We have ambitions far beyond just online dating.  As a relationship company, in the next couple of months we will introduce pre-marriage counseling, pre-commitment counseling and self help guides combined with a referral service to specialist counselors.

Can you give me an example of why this is needed?
My wife and I occasionally argue, as do all married couples.  We stumbled on a technique where we become each other’s attorney.  We’ll put each other on the stand and pretend to be each other, taking the others view.  True will introduce conflict resolution techniques over time.  Every year suicides occur because of failed relationships.  People need to think through issues before they become hot issues.  Many problems can be averted.  I have had a lot of experience with conflict resolution over the years.  There’s usually something that can be done.

Any plans to move True into Europe?
Definitely, but much more long term.  We’re focusing on the US market.  We have every reason to believe that couples problems in the US are the same as international problems, but, we want to research this more.  We will be moving internationally.  One step at a time. 

What does the future hold for True? 
In a short time, just one and a half years, we’ve already taken a substantial leading position in the industry.  We will hold and gain.  You’re gonna see a whole lot more of us, raising a lot of ruckus.  We made progress with safer online dating.  The industry needs to get more serious about full disclosure and doing a great job for the consumer. 

OPW Exclusive Interview #4 - PerfectMatch's CEO

OPW CEO Interview -- June 1 -- Duane Dahl is CEO of Perfect Match and the former CEO of Kiss.com and Udate, which were acquired by Match.com/IAC.  Perfect Match is eHarmony's most direct competitor.  It's the only other top tier dating site that requires all it's users take a personality test.  - Mark Brooks

How is Perfect Match different from eHarmony?
Dr. Neil Warren has done some excellent things within the Christian ministry and his Christian oriented publications.  However, he doesn't hold a candle to our Dr. Pepper Schwartz.  We've made Dr. Schwartz available and accessible to our PerfectMatch.com members, which we believe is key.  Neil, on the other hand, is a spokesperson who appears on TV and that's all he is.  Our vision has been to leverage experience and expertise for the good of our members through several Dr. Schwartz vehicles:  Her Q&A, chat, monthly column, etc.  Also, we do not condone exclusionary practices.  I think people want to know how people are being matched.  People are starting to question the matching.  If you're going to discriminate, you need to be up front and disclose why you're discriminating.

How does your matching philosophy differ from eHarmony?
Transparency is the key.  eHarmony has a black box approach.  We’ve worked very hard to create a matching algorithm that members can actually use, benefit from and work to their advantage.  Take a look at the True.com test.  They contracted doctors to come up with a test.  It's a good test on a poor site.  We want to put our members in a position to impact results. We encourage our members to review results of their tests and identify with those they had relationships with in the past, so they can get an idea of who would be a good match for them in the future.  Also, wouldn't it be nice, while users are waiting for their matches, for them to be able to search the database freely?  On PerfectMatch.com that’s a highly prized option.  On eHarmony, you just wait for someone else to decide your future.

What are your thoughts on the progression of matching technology?
It's still very, very early days in the business.  I think the business has grown so quickly,  the technology hasn't been able to keep up.  As the space evolves, it's going to become more specialized...more member centric.  We make sure every single one of our members has the ability to have their profile reviewed on the site.  There are millions of members who don't quite get it and they need assistance.  So, we have a comprehensive 10 point review, from photo selection to the content in their profiles.  This review is available with our standard membership.  It's very important to make sure the membership is educated and someone takes the time to teach them what works and doesn't work.  We've developed our own leading-edge technology to have our member services team review all profiles.  We're constantly reinforcing to our membership 'they're not alone here.'  A few years back we saw a Jupiter report and most online personals members were on three or four sites.  The reason?  They don't really know how to use online dating.  They're just going to three  or four 'bars' at different times of the week.  We're making sure our members can leverage the vast experience we have, and greatly increase their odds of success.

Do you really think you can trounce eHarmony?
I have no doubt.  For us, my team got back into the space so we can compete and win.  We are actively seeking out partners.  Every time we compete with eHarmony on a proposed deal, we win.  Sitting back and looking at it, why are we winning?  We're not spending more money.  We are, however, willing to go beyond traditional ads and be creative.  Major brands will not work with eHarmony in this regard.  If I can be in situations head-to-head for business development, I love that.  Christian content is just not mainstream.  We look forward to crushing eHarmony.

eHarmony doesn't favor webcams?   Does PerfectMatch favor them?
A few years ago we thought webcam usage would ramp pretty quickly.  One of the difficulties is the inability to audit what is going on in a community.  This is why many sites have struggled.  The same goes with recorded video.  We just don't have time to review it all.  Also, when we work so hard to build a brand, the last thing we want is a someone uploading inappropriate content. 

eHarmony excludes homosexuals.  What’s PerfectMatch’s position on homosexuals?
We never have and never will judge our members.  We built a community to allow people to find sincere relationships, so of course, we allow individuals to pursue same sex relationships.  I find eHarmony's exclusion of homosexuals almost as appalling as the notion of them excluding people who've been married a couple of times...because the assumption is they never will be happy in a relationship.  To me, it’s absolutely laughable for some 70-year-old guy, who is sitting on the king’s throne in Pasadena, to judge men and women in this culture in such a way.  Relationships go bad.  But, that doesn't mean these people are not worthy of ultimately finding love.  It's really ridiculous. 

What does the future hold?
We're very excited for the online relationship and dating spaces.  Some exciting things are happening at both sites.  Dating sites like Yahoo Personals and Match, but we're still troubled with True's approach, though. We would like them to get away from the business of having to use suggestive female photos to drive members.  I think that hurts both the dating and relationships space.  We remain very committed and excited about the future.  We’re there to compete and win.  And, when we win, our members will win, by finding that special person. 

Mark Brooks: After the interview Duane gave me a heads up on the following upcoming Dr Phil show...

"Finding Your PerfectMatch, June 3rd on Dr. Phil Dr. Phil wants to help make some love connections! Along with PerfectMatch.com, he's setting the entire studio audience up with their "perfect match!" Then, he kicks off "The Dating Game" ... Dr. Phil style! See what happens when Bree, who's been unlucky in love, quizzes three bachelors who are supposedly right for her and then chooses her man. And, Dr. Phil sends two singles on a date that will test their true compatibility ... as future parents. If you haven't met the partner of your dreams, find out what you could be doing wrong."

OPW Exclusive Interview #3 - Click2Asia's CEO

OPW CEO Interview -- May 27 -- Click2Asia is focused solely on the Asian dating market and competes with AsiaFriendFinder and AsianAvenue.  Pierre Wuu co-founded Click2Asia in 1999 and talks about his company and the Hong Kong internet dating convention (photos). - Mark Brooks

Pierre Wuu - During the internet heyday Click2Asia was an Asian online portal.  In late 2002 we adjusted our business model and focused on Asian online dating.  Now we have two major divisions; nationwide events and online dating.  We get quite a lot of Yahoo and Match defectors because we're so focused.  They offer 'Asian.'  We offer 23 breakouts so there are a lot more Asian subcategories for people to search on.

How is Click2Asia different from Asiafriendfinder and Asian Avenue?
Many of the Asia FriendFinder women are overseas Asian and many of the men tend to be non-Asian.  Our site focuses more on the core U.S. Asian community.  We don't have many overseas women.  Asian Avenue tends to be a much younger demographic. Their average age is early twenties whereas our demographic is more late 20's. 

Where are most of your members?
L.A. and San Francisco followed by NY and pockets of Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta and Vancouver.  All in line with US census.  Asians represent 4% of the U.S. population which is roughly 12 million.

How did the Asian internet dating convention go?
It went well, Marc did a great job.  We got to network and learn a lot about the Asian market.  It opened my eyes in terms of what they are doing in China.  Especially the mobile and seeing how much further advanced beyond the USA they are.  It's a huge market with a lot of upside but it has it's share of challenges; namely pricepoint and payment procurement.  You can have tens of thousands of subscribers but may only get $4-$7 a month.  Also, payment can be up to 3-6 months delayed.  For example, with China telecom, we could be waiting 3-6 months for payment.  Online dating in Asia is huge but it shouldn't be treated as homogeneous market.  Korea, Phillipines, China, Singapore, Vietnam, all need to be treated very differently.  Finally, the advancement of the mobile technology is way ahead of North America; texting, paging, use of mobile devices and how they pay with mobile. 

How much are they willing to pay?
In China people are willing to pay 20-25% of the U.S. online personals memberships; $4-$7 a month.  However, for events, we should be able to get 50% of the U.S. market rate.  There's definitely a group of people who will pay a higher price point at events, there's a finite number of tickets, but it's better to be less expensive with online dating to maintain critical mass. 

How about the presentation on the Indian market?
The presentation on the Indian market opened my eyes.  They don't typically date.  They are more interested in marriage.  It's a totally different approach. 

What does the future hold for Click2Asia?
We're looking at Asia and expanding our network within North America.  When you look at the Jewish market, Jews in North America represent half of the Asian market.  So you can see the ethnic online dating market has huge potential.  We want to make inroads on the kinds of numbers Jdate are doing.  Jdate is a good comparison for our future potential. 

OPW Exclusive Interview #2 - Tribe.net's New CEO

OPW CEO Interview -- May 1 -- I've been intrigued with Tribe.net for a while now; 'Craigslist meets Friendster.'  Marc Pincus started it not long after Jonathan Abrams started Friendster (purportedly friends).  But Marc is handing the CEO's baton to former Pepsi and Proctor and Gamble exec Jan Gullett.  I interviewed Jan to find out a little more about Tribe and where he plans to take it.  - Mark Brooks

Is Tribe.net a dating site? - Dating is a fairly specific activity and we're a general social community.  Building relationships is at our core, but dating is only one kind of relationship.  We’re much broader in scope and certainly not a dating specialist.  We have a local focus and we help get people together.  Knowing who people are is really critical to knowing if you want to do business with them.  We think people are hungering for relationships with people they can trust and ‘community’ relies on people knowing one another.

You mentioned recently you'd be taking a more proactive approach to marketing, but given that Tribe.net is a social network, why the need, it grows itself? - We’re not as big as other social networks but we have good organic growth, so additional marketing will accelerate our growth.  We have attractive fundamental metrics that we want to take advantage of.  We’ve had a nice compound annual growth rate for the last year now.  It just remains to be seen how fast we can step on the accelerator. 

What do you think of Craigslist? - Craigslist is a great service to the community.  Tribe.net is quite different in approach, and people are better off for having both of us.

Why did you decide to join Tribe? - Tribe.net is a real benefit to the community, it’s fun, and I believe there’s a great opportunity for growth.  We had an individual who had cancer and raised $100k from local people through the site. This just wouldn't have happened if he went out and stood on a street corner.  Helping people pull together to help one another is of great interest to me. 

Is there any similarity between Tribe and Starbucks? - Besides being equally addictive?  The reality is we have incredibly intense usage by our members.  The involvement, time and relationship with the site is really very strong.  People hunger for relationships and friendships and being a part of a larger social group.  There’s a hunger to be in groups of people with similar interests.  As we live in more crowded areas, with less public space and fewer places to hangout…it seems like most of hangouts have gone by the wayside and are being replaced by commercial real estate.  Starbucks and Borders have become the new local hangouts.  In a way, we’re the online version of that.

What's the caffeine? - Personal satisfaction from high-touch human relationships.

What do you think of the background checks legislation? - In the early days people communicated anonymously online.  Now there’s the concept of wanting to be known as a real person online, no longer wanting to do stuff surreptitiously.  I believe in honesty, and being comfortable being a real person in the online world is important.  For young people, the online world is their world.  It’s not artificial for them, not a separate playground.  It’s where they live and they want to be associated with others as real people.  That’s why we’re investing a lot of time and effort in building out the ability of our users to represent themselves on the web.

And what of Yub.com’s ‘affiliate program for everyone’ site model? - Amway made a lot of people successful.  I would say there's business promise.  But there’s the sanctity of social friendships based on merit and fundamental essence of goodwill.  We don’t want to pollute Tribe.net with an external economic motivation.  We’re an online hangout…for very good and valid reasons.  Gratifying reasons.  Rather than capitalize all out, we’d rather benefit everyone from the Tribe.net goodwill.

What have you learned from Tribe.net users? - We measured response rates of listings from people with profiles and those without and the difference is phenomenal.  We have actual proof of the value and leverage of having real people, known in the Tribe.net community, list items...they get an order of magnitude greater response rate to their listings.  This is at the core of who we are: providing a rich environment where local people can connect with each other  ‘Thin’ services run the risk of burnout. 

How will Tribe.net make money? - We’ve put a lot of thought into this.  We’re a media business...sponsored tribes, listings and display advertising. These are just different types of marketing messages which we intend to monetize.