The M14 Dating Industry Newsletter – 16th February

Robyn Exton, HER

Every fortnight we interview an inspirational member of the dating industry.

This week we talked to Robyn Exton, CEO and Founder of LGBTQ+ community ‘HER’.

How has HER evolved and changed since it was first launched as Dattch in 2011?

Dattch was a lesbian & bisexual dating app, whereas HER is about the full LGBTQ+ community of women, non-binary and trans people. We’re really focussed on bringing lesbian, bisexual and queer people together. The app is strongly driven around community, including content, events and friendship options. And we now run events in nearly 30 cities across the world, bringing our community together at events for up to 1000 people.

What has driven the majority of the changes you’ve made? Was it changes within the industry, or a growing understanding of your audience?

Ours has been completely based on our audience – really getting to understand their needs and communication styles, and constantly trying to improve the experience to suit their behaviour.

Click here to continue reading the interview, including Robyn’s top business lesson.

The truth about Singles in America ….

For the seventh year running, Match.com asked singles across America what it means to be single in the US. Over 5,500 individuals answered the questions, and the results were released on Valentine’s Day.

• 57% of millennials answering the survey admitted to being lonely.
• 29% of singles believe phone calls from a suitor are a turn-off.
• Not being on social media turns 26% of singles ON.
• Millennials are 125% more likely to admitting to being addicted to dating than any other generation.
• iPhone users are 21 times more likely to judge Android users negatively.
• Men are 3 times more likely than women to use a one-night stand to start a relationship.
• 53% of women have received a d*ck pic, and 49% of all women didn’t request it.

First Date Realities

Figures released by Barclaycardyesterday provide some interesting insights into first date spending, and attitudes to splitting the bill in the UK. Brits spend up to £132 on a first date, and the research found dates are becoming shorter and shorter.

Over a third of those surveyed have been on dates which lasted just 15 to 30 minutes.  One of the most interesting areas of the survey covered ‘going Dutch’.  27% of women explained they would be offended if the men attempted to pay for everything.  But 77% of women agreed it would be completely unacceptable for a man to not try to pay for anything on a first date.  Chivalry + Equality + 2017 = All highly confusing!

Enter the Dragons!

There will be a familiar face on BBC2’s Dragon’s Den on Sunday night as M14 Industries’ John Kershaw pitches to the five ruthless investors.

If you have Google Alerts set up for the topics ‘online dating’ and ‘dating apps’, it’s likely that romance scams will have featured a lot on your radar recently.
Action Fraud have reported a 32% rise in romance scams in the last two years, with over £40 million lost in the UK alone last year.  There were almost 4,000 reported incidents.

A Love / Hate Relationship

Hater app has been killing it with publicity in the last few weeks! The tagline says it all ‘Meet someone who hates the same stuff’ as you!