Online Professional Networking + Dating
Online dating is an interesting business model. I have used dating app since the time when MSN was still our major IM (okay, I confess. I would search for random female users on ICQ when I was studying in secondary school. Was that the ancestor of modern online dating?). Now, I mainly use Tinder.
I wonder what other dating apps are doing. What are their edges? And why? Luckily I found an Esquire post which cited 12 Alternative Dating Apps To Tinder.
But I have not found what I want. Since I have an idea of business networking app back to the year 2013, I wonder if this is possible to merge professional networking and online dating into one single concept. Out of these 12 alternative dating apps, none of them uses some elements of business networking.
I am serious. I think an app combining the concept of professional networking and online dating is feasible. Both purposes need trust. And, common connections between users can serve a critical role in a relationship, whether this is a professional one or a romantic one.
Let’s back to basics. Before we have LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, Match.com, WhatsApp, MSN or ICQ, professional network has incubated quite some romantic stories. At least this is not uncommon to know that a couple knows each other from their work.
But I do agree with most of the points raised by Martin Zwilling who suggested that online dating sites are a business dead end (the reasons are in fact also applicable to other startup ideas).
So what’s my conclusion? A professional networking app which has enhanced reliability and credibility, with add-on feature such as date matching.