

Ask HN: How to launch a casual dating site (similar to OkCupid)? - shaohua

What is the best way to get the first set of users and keep them engaged?
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Peroni
The biggest challenge with a dating site is attracting your first few thousand
users simply because no-one will be interested in your site if there aren't
any members to browse.

Companies such as <http://www.whitelabeldating.com/> provide a white label
platform that allows you to launch a dating site with a shared user-base so
that from day one your site has active members to search.

Even with an established user base, it's incredibly difficult to build a
successful dating site due to the amount of competition. It requires a catchy
niche and some seriously heavy PR & marketing to make any serious money.

Caveat: I work for the company that owns whitelabeldating.com

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beat
Think about the culture you want to create. Who do you want to attract as
customers? How will they be able to express themselves? And how will they find
others they're interested in?

If you're thinking actual social space startup, that's a HARD row to hoe right
now, unless you have a really crystal-clear new idea. It's a mature, saturated
market that isn't in terrible need of disruption that I can see. The only
really interesting entry in that field that I've heard of lately is Bang With
Friends.

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pacifi30
There are many dating websites in the market, if you want to create one you
have to decide your target audience. Also one of the biggest trend these days
is t focus on offline meeting and apps like Grouper, Truffle.io, let's date
are filling that void. When I started my dating website, I first went to all
my female friends and asked them what is something they really hate in current
dating website model and then started building on that.

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thesmileyone
Concentrate on advertisments for monetizing it rather than Premium membership.

Plenty of Fish recently set their site so you cannot search for an "intimate
encounter" unless you pay for Premium, as a result a lot of its userbase moved
on.

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namenotrequired
Have something original and distinctive that is not similar to a well-known
competitor.

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t0
You could gather emails before launching, then stage a big launch event where
everyone starts at the same time.

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27182818284
Attract women first. That's all that matters.

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Mz
Search for info on "chicken and egg" problems.

Some links here: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2126209>

