

Ask HN: Rate my startup- CrushTease - jiganti

Three weeks ago I asked what I should do: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1625791<p>Thanks to you guys I found a partner and have a product today:<p>http://www.crushtease.com<p>In short, it's an "anonymous matching/crush matching" service, with the twist that when two people are confirmed interested in each other, instead of telling both of them, you alternate between who you tell. This provides the uncertainty that makes relationships fun and interesting in their early stages.<p>You can read about it more on: www.zachjiganti.com<p>Please check it out and let me know what's good, bad, and if you think people will use it.
======
run4yourlives
_This provides the uncertainty that makes relationships fun and interesting in
their early stages._

Um, isn't the "uncertainty" the whole reason that you haven't just asked them
out in the first place already? Isn't it the whole idea of not wanting to ruin
a friendship or 2 or more (in the case where you or the other person are
"taken") the whole reason that a person keeps their feelings secret to begin
with?

How does this app actually aid with those issues at all?

~~~
jiganti
This and other crush-matching apps aid with these issues by eliminating the
chance that you could be rejected. CrushTease isn't really novel in this
sense, other apps provided a medium so rejection won't happen, but there was
no "happy medium" (no pun intended) that prevented rejection but maintained a
level of uncertainty. That's our goal.

------
tincho
I think it's a great idea. congrats. I would change a little bit the way it
works. You could ask when someone registers if they would preffer to approach
or be approached. You could mix up the probabilities of getting the info
according if you are more likely to approach the other person or not (I'm
guessing your ultimate objective is to form couples) Best of lucks! Martin

------
jiganti
Clickables:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1625791>

<http://www.crushtease.com>

<http://www.zachjiganti.com>

~~~
mahmud
Congrats :-)

~~~
jiganti
Thanks, I appreciate your help, it definitely progressed my outlook on the
concept by getting a fresh perspective, especially from someone who knows the
field well.

------
sga
This concept of "anonymous matching/crush matching" was the basis of eCRUSH.
The founder did an interview on Mixergy <http://mixergy.com/ecrush-ranker-
clark-benson-interview/>

Here are some additional links: [http://www.startup-review.com/blog/ecrush-
case-study-why-tim...](http://www.startup-review.com/blog/ecrush-case-study-
why-timing-the-ma-market-is-tricky.php) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECRUSH>

Maybe there are some lessons you can glean from the eCRUSH story that will
help you out.

------
dzlobin
There is a startup out of dogpatch NYC who's doing a similar idea, but last I
heard it was limited to college students.

www.goodcrush.com

Edit: It looks like they pivoted away and turned into something I thought
about doing a while back.

------
philh
I'm a little curious about this:

>As a general rule, women lose interest once they know the other person is
interested in them.

If a girl and a boy crush on each other, and the girl gets told and loses
interest, the boy is in a worse position than before. Do you feel the
uncertainty of "does he know I like him back?" will help keep her interested?

When you sign up it doesn't ask for permission to access relationship status.
Does that mean you're not keeping track of your "success rate"?

~~~
jiganti
What I meant was that past services that tell both people make the
relationship a little flat. Flirting becomes a little pointless, which is no
fun.

In the instance you specified, she is still uncertain as to whether _he knows
she's interested_ , which is enough to keep her wondering and somewhat
emotionally invested.

As of right now we aren't keeping track of "success rate", but I think we'll
eventually put up numbers as to how many people have both displayed their
interest in the other person.

------
hasenj
I can see people abusing this by saying they have a crush on everyone on their
friend list, just to see if anything sticks.

~~~
jiganti
There is a limit to the amount of people you can crush, it's set now at 20.
Thoughts on this number?

~~~
hasenj
I don't know, 20 seems rather high. Maybe 3?

~~~
pinksoda
It has to be a number that works for social butterflies too. "Crushing" means
something different to everyone; friendship, dating, hookup, marriage, etc.
People also change their 'crushes' at different rates depending on their
lifestyle and personality.

------
pinksoda
It's interesting because when two people have a mutual crush, and you are told
of the crush, you won't know if they were told unless they mention it. So you
have a confirmed connection of some sort, but you still need the balls to act
on it. Or maybe you won't act on it?

Think about it the other way too: They were told, but you weren't. You think
she just doesn't crush you, but maybe she did and you weren't told. What if
she was told and she starts flirting with me?

The mystery is glorious.

