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NewsvineDespite the widely-held notion that Stanford’s dating scene leaves something to be desired, two Graduate School of Business (GSB) alums are attempting to revolutionize the dating world by introducing online speed dating.
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Dan Abelon MBA ‘07 and Simon Tisminezky MBA ‘07 are the co-creators of Speeddate.com, a San Mateo-based startup designed to provide customers with online speed-dating capabilities through the use of Web cams and computer microphones. The creators believe that online speed dating will ultimately provide a better sense of the chemistry between two people compared to traditional online dating sites.
“For most other online dating services, meeting each other in person is the last step of the process,” Abelon said in a telephone interview with The Daily.
The basic format for Speeddate.com is based on the typical speed date model, in which a group of strangers meets at a bar or a restaurant and each guest rotates from one person to another, having short “dates” of only a few minutes each.
In the online version, customers enter a few basic points of information, such as their name and ZIP code, and have a number of speed dating sessions of three minutes each. Following the “date,” both participants are asked to respond “yes or no” if they would like to know more about the other person and are added to one another’s match lists if they both agree.
This model runs in almost direct opposition to the standard format of big name dating sites such as Match.com and eHarmony, in which members fill out extensive questionnaires and personality profiles and communicate through email long before meeting face-to-face in real life.
Abelon said the idea for the site was born out of a project he and Tisminezky worked on for one of their GSB courses, “Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital,” in which one of the co-lecturers was Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
“A lot of MBAs are constantly trying to come up with new business ideas,” Abelon said. “Simon had used a lot of online dating services and [he was getting frustrated with them].”
On Oct. 4, the company hosted its first online speed dating party for San Francisco residents. Abelon said that the event was a great success for the site and that approximately 230 people participated from the beginning of the event at 8 p.m. until as late as 2 a.m. This Thursday, another event will be hosted for anyone from the Bay Area beginning at 8 p.m.
“Our ultimate vision for the site is to have a site where you can date as long as you want,” Abelon said.
In an Oct. 3 piece in The New York Times, J. Galen Buckwalter, vice president of research and development for eHarmony, was quoted as critical of the concept behind Speeddate.com. He warned potential members of the site that physical attraction and initial chemistry are often poor indicators of long-term relationship success.
Abelon claimed that speed dating is a tried and true technique in the offline world. He argued that, while most speed-daters know not to expect an instant serious relationship, having face-to-face interaction for only a brief time can still tell a person much about his or her compatibility with someone else.
“I believe the only real way to know if there’s chemistry is to interact live,” Abelon said.
Among Stanford undergraduates — who many claim have abandoned traditional dating practices — there is disagreement over whether the idea of a speed dating Web site is a good one.
“I think that it would be a good idea because it would be like seeing someone in real life,” said Abraham Berhane ‘11. “In chat rooms, you don’t really get a real first impression, where as with this it would be like you were meeting them in real life.”
Others were skeptical of the whole idea of online dating.
“I guess it’s a good idea,” said Victoria Yeh ‘09, “but I’m not really interested in that kind of stuff at all.”