Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2012, as startup news, and its figures, 1,200 sign-ups in two weeks in New York and plans to expand to other cities, are from the launch. The site’s current status, pricing and admission rules may have changed.
We’ve seen all kinds of new social networks, from a social network for dogs to a social network only for good-looking people and even a women-only social network. What Sparkology offers isn’t a social network but a dating site, and that’s a field with fierce competition, with real giants like Match.com and Meetic.com.
To open an account, users have to be university graduates, and not from just any university. They must be studying or have studied at one of what are considered the most prestigious universities in the United States, or at a world-renowned international university. Each profile is reviewed before the candidate is accepted, to make sure they meet this single requirement.
Alex Furmansky, the startup’s founder, was asked whether he thought he was being too discriminatory by only letting in this kind of person. Alex replied that this careful selection is precisely the key to success. He surveyed hundreds of people and collected their complaints about existing dating sites, which he describes as fraud: he says online dating sites are full of sleaze and deception.
The idea came to him one night in a bar, when he noticed that the educated, shy, reserved men in suits and ties tended to be the ones women paid least attention to, since they went for the most forward, physically attractive men (the gym-built type). Alex wants an incurable romantic with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers to be more attractive than a purely superficial taste. On his dating site, the aim isn’t a one-night fling but a lasting romance, because, in his view, two people with a similar socioeconomic background would be a perfect match.
That’s the audience his business idea is aimed at, and these are precisely the kind of people who won’t mind paying a higher subscription fee, since they’re being offered a select service.
The results of his business idea so far: a big success in New York City, where it reached 1,200 sign-ups within two weeks, so it won’t be long before the dating site opens its doors in other cities and countries.
Put simply, Alex has created an elitist model that has already drawn its first criticism. What do you think of this startup?
Further reading
- HitchMe, a dating site for LinkedIn professionals
- 5 profitable startup ideas that encourage saving, not spending
- 9 social networks for specific professions
Featured image: Smallbones, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
