Single Ivy Leaguers with money to burn, fear not! You now can find the successful man or woman of your dreams in the world of Love 2.0! Now this is a good one. It seems like some people with deep pockets — in particular, Silicon Valley executives — are outsourcing their search for Mr. or Ms. Right. Now even if matchmaking services aren’t new, the ones described in this story caught my attention since they were specifically targeting Valley executives as clients. Fees for these services are all over the map from basic, no-guarantees membership at $500 all the way to 6 figures a year! Woah! I should consider rethinking my career path here.
Some bits and pieces:
That kind of all-consuming careerism comes with a catch. As the work-obsessed get closer to middle age, opportunities to find romance dwindle. These Silicon Valley Bridget Joneses, who embedded themselves in cubicles during the 1990s high-tech boom, are waking up to what they missed while they were logged on and tuned out to love.
His matchmaker is Amy Andersen, the 30-year-old founder of Palo Alto-based Linx Dating LLC, a company with a unique Bay Area twist: Andersen’s company pairs San Francisco women with Silicon Valley men.
Andersen takes them from geek to chic by revamping wardrobes and grooming regimens (“clip nails, shave the beard, meet my hair guy for a new do”) to boost their confidence and their chances of impressing their dates. Her fees range from entry-level, no-guarantees membership at $500 (which has a long waiting list) to the all-frills membership at $8,500 for 24 months.
“I have a guy with a couple of airplanes, a 100-foot boat. He has it all. He has dated incredible women, including royalty. Now he’s in his mid-40s and he’s going, ‘Wait a minute,’ ” Kelleher said. “He doesn’t want to compromise. He doesn’t want to marry the wrong gal. So he solicited me to come in and hopefully find the Ivy League gal of his dreams.”
Matchmakers help tilt the odds in a Silicon Valley singleton’s favor, said Kelleher, who charges anywhere from $6,500 to six figures a year to help hardworking people on the go meet “the right one.” “We have the caliber. Then it’s just a matter of finding the right chemistry,” she said.
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I am somewhat encouraged that services like this exist, which are customized and more personalized versions of online dating sites like Match.com or eHarmony.com and is yet just another twist on matchmaking. I have some very good friends out there who may be interested in such a service!
But this also reawakens the happy memory of a successful match that I’ve been credited with, involving a dear friend and classmate from childhood and a colleague at work. If this coupling didn’t work out, I probably would have lost touch with one of them forever since who the heck maintains their work contacts on a regular basis? I’ve tried matching another handsome couple at another point in time but with that, I provided a disclaimer and a whole bunch of caveats. Not surprisingly, their engagement flamed out in a spectacular fashion. No problem. I still fancy myself as somewhat of a great judge of character, who can sense compatibility and chemistry a mile away. So if anyone is willing to take a chance with my matchmaking skills, I’m more than happy to oblige! Hey, there’s no charge!
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
This is reminds me of all those ads in airplane magazines. For some reason all the “exclusive” matchmaking services were advertised in airplane mags… strange.
Yes, there are a lot of matchmaking services around, even for the wealthier clientele. But targeting wealthy middle-aged Valley people is a niche I hadn’t heard of yet till now and it hits close to home. I know quite a number of people who are in their late 30’s and 40’s who are still single, eligible and for the lack of a better word, loaded.
One part of me thinks this is absurd, then another part says, “Could they do any worse?”
Arranged marriages are part of many cultures. It works for them.
Here from the Carnival of Cities.
“Yes, there are a lot of matchmaking services around, even for the wealthier clientele.”
Yes, I know a dating site for rich singles named Millionairematch.com. It’s becoming very popular recently.
Dear readers,
My Silicon Valley clients are extremely strategic in how they approach their personal lives. Instead of waiting at home wondering if they are going to “find the one”, they outsource their personal lives to my company, Linx Dating. I encourage them to always create as many powerful connections and resources when it comes to dating. That means, dating through their own efforts, actively asking their friends to set them up, trying quality online dating sites, and working with a high-end and offline private dating network, like Linx. My company definitely does not charge 100K (maybe we should?!!) but starts at 5K for a 2 year membership. When we begin truly discussing finding “Mr or Ms Right”, doesn’t 5K seem pretty minimal? In the end, you can’t really put a price tag on finding love. I encourage you all to visit my informational based website to learn more.
Now this is a kind of outsourcing you don’t hear about as much 🙂
What a great concept! It reminds me of that movie, “Hitch!” where Will Smith played a matchmaker. It could even be a romantic way to meet someone, and what a story to tell the kids (and grandkids) some day!
Ed: Sorry Ashley, this is a family-friendly site, so I had to remove your adult-oriented links. Thanks!
Yes you guys are right. Nowadays, matchmaking sites are playing the good part of allowing the meeting of 2 persons. I have even seen a few channels that work only for this purpose. But don’t you guys think it is half arranged marriage, not love, since at least you can’t say here that it’s love at first sight. Here you get the time to know each other and then decide. What do you all say?
All the way I though outsourcing only goes with IT, finance and legal. Never thought matchmaking could be outsource.
What won’t money buy eh? Why not outsource the things you’re not good at… in this case, these folks have more money than charm it seems.
Amy Andersen is changing the Bay Area dating scene one date at a time in a very important way. A lot of people are watching this (close to 10 year old company) and considering it “the next big thing.” Amy Andersen of Linx Dating works with some of the most elite professionals in the Bay Area (many founders, CEOs, etc) and matches them in an extraordinary way using a honed approach of art meets science. This company has grown in remarkable ways since Jessica of the San Francisco Chronicle featured it on the front cover in 2007. I have attended some of the Linx Link & Drink parties and find them really helpful at bringing together a genuine group of like-minded folks in a relaxing setting who simply enjoy networking the Silicon Valley way. I checked out the website and Andersen will be on ABC News Nightline on February 13th. Very cool Linx and congrats.
Linx Dating? I should check that out — purely out of curiosity and from a publisher’s point of view, of course.