I just read on Twitter that the Inc. Magazine article about PlentyOfFish is live. And the Money Comes Rolling In covers much of founder Markuk Frind’s personal as well as professional life, including his site’s rise as one of the most popular web destinations.
Entrepreneurs, do not read the article near sharp objects or firearms, you will want to use them on yourself when you’re done reading. Or, you will be inspired to crush Plentyoffish and take over the free dating market. I hope you choose the latter. Markus unapologetically tells the entire online dating industry that you’re doing it wrong. I for one disagree, because traffic doesn’t equal success and the site is practically unusable to me, but the sentiment rings true in many ways.
Markus doesn’t have anything good to say about Match or Yahoo Personals, yet their ads are all over the PlentyOfFish home page. Love the irony.
So much for spending an hour on the phone with the Inc Magazine reporter who wrote the article.
He came out of nowhere, and he didn’t seem to give a shit,” says David Evans, who writes the blog Online Dating Insider.
I’m more nuanced than that during press interviews, really. I think I called him ignorant and obstinate too, but in a good way.
What do we learn about Markus:
- Plenty of Fish is on track to book revenue of $10 million for 2008
- He works 10 minutes a day
- His girlfriend is afraid of ghosts
- He discovered a string of 23 prime numbers, the longest ever (2002)
- The site creates an estimated 800,000 successful relationships a year
This quote had me searching for a tall building to fling myself off of.
“The site pretty much runs itself,” he explains. “Most of the time, I just sit on my ass and watch it.” There’s so little to do that he and his girlfriend, Annie Kanciar, spent the better part of last summer sunning themselves on the French Riviera. Frind would log on at night, spend a minute or two making sure there were no serious error messages, and then go back to sipping expensive wine. A year ago, they relaxed for a couple of weeks in Mexico with a yacht, a captain, and four of Kanciar’s friends. “Me and five girls,” he says. “Rough life.” As Frind gets up to leave, I ask him what he has planned for the rest of the day. “I don’t know,” he says. “Maybe I’ll take a nap.”
Let us look in the direction of Vancouver and silently nod our heads to a guy who has built an incredible company and lives a lifestyle we all wouldn’t mind living. Now step away from the ledge and get back to work.
