It is crazy to think that a matching algorithm based on answers to seemingly pointless questions can predict the success of a future relationship. There is no substitute for interpersonal connection in real life. Those looking for love and meaningful relationships should get off of their computers and meet people in person. This is the problem with the majority of dating sites out there-too much focus on the online experience of users rather than the offline interaction. The internet is a great way to network and meet new people but nothing can replace spending time with a person in real life to determine whether or not you will get along with them.
We are very fortunate that Yale makes the process of taking time off so easy. I emailed my Dean the day before registration and didn't need to do anything else. We do plan on going back and graduating.
Thanks for the comment! We're gathering a lot of different events that cover a variety of interests, so we're hoping that we will have something to offer for everyone.
There is definitely room for a ton of innovation and improvement in the online dating industry. Online dating isn't going anywhere and will continue to grow. Social networks and dating sites can be a great way to meet new people. We want to limit the online interaction and have people share an offline experience together as soon as possible. The artificial contact that current online dating platforms provide cannot replace the interpersonal connection that happens in the real life.
Thanks a lot, certainly more helpful than a best of luck wish.
1) What we're doing really isn't any different at all than people just going to events with friends and then meeting potential friends to date. We want to replicate the way dating works in the real world online. So we are providing an online platform to generate more of these interactions. There is certainly the recognition that people are looking for dates so that changes things a bit.
2)Users will be able to search for dates for themselves or set their friends up on dates as a matchmaker. We're coming up with ways to incentivize the matchmakers but for the meantime are hoping users will find the experience of matchmaking fun. There is concern that the matchmaker will be put in an awkward situation if the date does not go well for their friend, but that really isn't any different than setting someone up offline.
3)There is no cost to businesses to use TLF. We help businesses solve the "butts in seats" problem so they are happy to work with us to arrange a deal that allows us to have users prepay for their dates.
4)We are starting with singles events.
5)We completely agree. Our focus is on the offline interaction between users. Our site will only serve as a means for quickly setting up a shared experience offline.
We are actively looking for a woman to bring on board! When developing the concept we gathered feedback from as many of our girlfriends as we could.
P.S. Although we may be two college guys who read HN we'd like to think we have a decent understanding of the fairer sex.
Friends of ours started an open lecture/workshop series called HackYale. Besides that there are a ton of great resources on the web. My best advice would be to just start building something and practicing a lot. Tutorials and classes are a great place to start but there is no substitute for actually starting a project from scratch and figuring things out as you go along.
We decided to take time off from school because we wanted to fully commit to whatever idea we pursued. We realized that we could not create something meaningful in our spare time. It has already been a tremendous learning experience and we don't regret our decision.
We appreciate the feedback! Like every dating site we will have to address the chicken and egg problem of getting a solid user base (particularly women). However we are working on some clever ways to attract women to the site. More specifically we are developing a matchmaking component which will allow users to pick out dates for their friends and decide not only who their friend goes out with but also what they do.