I just got off the phone with Sam Yagan at OKCupid. Sam walked me through a demo of a new site they are launching soon. Without giving away the store, I will say that the new service brings singles together like no other dating site I’ve ever seen before.
The service won’t be for everyone, but it’s certainly innovative, and you know how I malign the dating industry for it’s across-the-board lack of original thinking.
I’m noticing a trend towards small startups creating standalone websites featuring functionality like speed-dating that one would think would be better off directly integrated with dating sites. Why spend nine months hammering away at a biz dev deal with Yahoo or Match, who are going to take $50 of your revenue, or ask for money up front, when you can do an end run like what Speeddate.com has done? Granted, the success of these sites is far from a sure thing, but at least some smaller scrappy startups are getting into the game.
Can standalone versions of functionality meant for dating sites draw enough users to justify being ad-supported?
