This was another busy week spent reconnecting with people like Joe Tracy of Online Dating Magazine and introducing myself to a number of dating-related startups. Tim Johnson, one of the best Silicon Valley PR I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with, reached out on Facebook. Shortly afterwards I saw Eric Eldon at VentureBeat write Voice startup rollup continues: SabSe buys Jaxtr. I met Tim when he was working with Jangl, which provides the anonymous calling feature at Match.com. Read the post to get some perspective on the current state of anonymous calling services.
I’ll try to give some more shout-outs over the weekend, so much great stuff is going on right now, doing my best to ride the wave and introduce you to some of the up-and-coming companies which are going to be on the radar very soon.
There are about 10 companies I want to start right now in the online dating space, who wants to run ‘em?
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10, really?
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Various providers have been trying to get the dating industry to bite for the last few years. Ultimately, none, including Jangl, got traction. Jangl got the furthest. Others had horrendous usability or were simply completely the wrong solutions for the industry. The ultimate voice solution will allow iDaters to talk via their phones, anonymously, within 3 clicks, will include voicemail, and will cost 15c to 25c a minute. (Full Disclosure: Jangl is a former client of CourtlandBrooks.com).
I’ve been talking with the latest crop of anon calling providers. Adult seems to be where the money is these days. Most people simply don’t feel the need to use anonymous calling services. It’s remarkable how singles have avoided useful services like anon calling and ID verification services.
You can’t set up an account within 3 clicks, but it’s getting there. Nobody is going to bill cents per minute, fixed costs are the only way to make money in the dating space.