Okcupid: Case Study, Business Model, Revenue Model, Funding, Founding Team, and Many More

Introduction:

OkCupid (formally known as OkC) is an online dating, friendship, and formerly social networking website and application with headquarters in the United States and operations across the world. It includes questions with several choices to match members. It costs nothing to sign up. Match Group, which also owns Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and several other well-known dating apps and websites, owns OKCupid.

Despite earlier supporting a variety of communication channels, the website and app now just support texting. In Time magazine’s 2007 list of the top 10 dating sites, it was included. The Match.com branch of IAC purchased the website in 2011.

Company Highlights:

Okcupid About:

Okcupid (Image Source: thehackernews.com)

For singles seeking for love, OkCupid is a free dating app. The platform, which debuted in 2004, has a variety of distinctive features that set it apart from other online dating websites and applications.

TheSpark was founded by four Harvard University students, and the group achieved notoriety for their work. Later, it adopted the name SparkNotes. It had a variety of amusing personality tests, compatibility tests, etc. SparkMatch made its debut with its match tests and registered users. After SparkMatch, it was created. After SparkNotes was sold in 2001, the team’s focus shifted to OkCupid.

In 2007, the company launched Crazy Blind Date. Many tests on the way of its journey got removed as well. In 2012, the company launched the social discovery service Tallygram but it too got removed in the next year.

Industry:

You may build a profile on the well-known dating app OkCupid and look for matches that fit your criteria. In order for possible matches to get to know you better, you may also answer questions about yourself. While this is free to use, it does offer a premium subscription option that provides you access to extra features, just like the majority of other dating apps. Both iOS and Android users may access OkCupid. It is also accessible via its website.

Founder & Team:

It was originally owned by Humor Rainbow, Inc. OkCupid’s founders were Chris Coyne, Christian Rudder, Sam Yagan, and Max Krohn. In January 2018, OkCupid appointed Ariel Charytan, who was formerly senior vice president of audiobook and podcast company Audible, as CEO. It was founded in 2004 at New York, NY.

Okcupid Founders (Image Source: startuptalky.com)

Okcupid Startup Story:

Humor Rainbow, Inc. used to be OkCupid’s owner. The creators of OkCupid (Chris Coyne, Christian Rudder, Sam Yagan, and Max Krohn) were Harvard University students when TheSpark and later SparkNotes gained popularity. TheSpark.com offered a variety of amusing personality assessments, including the Match Exam, a four-factor Myers-Briggs-style test.

When SparkMatch first launched, it was a beta test that let registered users who had taken the Match Test find and connect with one another based on their Match Test types. SparkMatch was founded as a standalone website and then changed to OkCupid as a result of the site’s rising popularity. They sold SparkNotes to Barnes & Noble in 2001 and then started developing OkCupid.

In November 2007, it launched Crazy Blind Date, a no-cost dating service that set people up on blind dates with little to no notice. The site served people in Boston, San Francisco, Austin, New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Daters would complete an optional questionnaire about their availability, preferred neighborhood for dates and their preferred type of date.

They would meet up at an agreed upon location without knowing how their date would look ahead of time. In April 2010, Time Out reported that the website was under construction for updates, but would remain free once it resumed operation. In 2013, it was relaunched and integrated into the OkCupid platform as an app for iPhone and Android devices.

In 2008, OkCupid spun off its test-design portion under the name Hello Quizzy (HQ), while keeping it inextricably linked to OkCupid and reserving it’s users’ names on HQ. However, the original Dating Persona Test has since been removed.

On March 31, 2014, any user accessing OkCupid from Firefox was presented with a message asking users to boycott the internet browser due to Mozilla Corporation’s new CEO Brendan Eich’s support of Proposition 8. Users were asked instead to consider other browsers. On April 2, 2014, the dating site revoked the Firefox ban.

Mission & Vision:

At OkCupid, they are dedicated to helping people find love and happiness through meaningful connections.

Business Model:

Like Bumble and Tinder, OkCupid functions similarly. You set up a profile with your images and personal data. Following that, you configure your preferences for possible mates. You may select whether to like, SuperLike, communicate, or pass on each prospective match that OkCupid presents to you based on your choices.

Up to 10 images may be uploaded to your profile, and you can also answer questions about yourself to provide prospective partners with additional information about you. Like other dating apps, it includes several features like Boost, SuperLike, Discover, etc. The “Live” function is one special aspect, though. Similar to Instagram Live, you may start your own live stream or join one of your possible matches and request to be highlighted.

The “IQuid” function is yet another distinctive aspect of OkCupid. You may use this tool to answer questions about yourself so that prospective mates can get to know you better. The responses that your possible match has provided to the same questions are also visible to you. Before sending a message, this is a terrific approach to getting to know someone.

Revenue Model:

Registration is free but the entire process can’t be free of cost. It is based on an advertisement model. The company sends emails to the users that, ‘somebody just sent you a message. Eg – Pay 20 bucks to instantly view the message.’ This way the company advertises by selling and tracking given data by the users. Almost every online site makes money in this procedure.

Okcupid Business Model (Image Source: mashable.com)

Products & Services:

It provide online dating, friendship, and formerly also a social networking website and application.

Funding & Investors:

OkCupid has raised a total amount of $6 million in funding from 1 funding round. It has got only 1 investor recently. Great Oaks Venture Capital is the most recent investor.

Employees:

OkCupid has employee profiles, including CEO Ariel Charytan.

• Ariel Charytan CEO.
• Alex Dumitriu CIO.
• Michael Cirello CTO.
• Chris Aurelio Director of Operations.
• Jasen Balmat Director of Moderation.
• Anson Wang Software Engineer.
• Andrew Fiorille Senior Product Designer.

Challenges Faced:

There is no details of it.

Acquisitions:

It was acquired by Match Group for $50M on Feb 2, 2011.

Growth:

As of September 2010, OkCupid claimed to have 3.5 million active users. Compete.com reports that in February 2011, the website received 1.3 million unique visits.

Partners:

There is no details of it.

Competitors:

The top competitors of the company are Zoosk, Taimi and Rendeevoo.

• Zoosk is the top competitor of it. The company is headquartered at Lehi, Utah and was founded in 2007. Zoosk operates in the Application Software field.
• Taimi is the #2 competitor of OkCupid. It is headquartered at Las Vegas, NV and was founded in 2017. It works in the Application Software industry.
• Rendeevoo is also one of the top competitors of OkCupid. It is headquartered at London, England and was founded in 2012. The company competes in the Personal Services industry.

Awards & Achievements:

There is no details of it.

Future Plan:

One of the most exciting new features coming this year is selfie verification. Safety is a top priority at OkCupid, and soon daters using the app can look specifically for dates who have verified their profile with a selfie.

FAQs :

What does Okcupid do?

It is an online dating app with millions of users around the world that matches you on what matters to you.

When was Okcupid founded?

It was founded on 2004.

Who is the founder of Okcupid Corporation?

Chris Coyne, Christian Rudder, Sam Yagan, and Max Krohn are the four founders of OkCupid.

Who is the CEO of OkCupid Corporation?

Ariel Charytan is the CEO at OkCupid.

Who are the main competitors of Okcupid?

The top competitors of the company are Zoosk, Taimi and Rendeevoo.

What are the benefits of OkCupid?

With OkCupid Basic, you’ll be able to send unlimited Likes, set Dealbreakers for Preferences that are non-negotiables, avoid ads and see all your Intros at one time. Intros are initial messages or ice breakers from users who have liked you.

Does OkCupid work without paying?

It is free to use, and the majority of its features can be used without a paid subscription. You are able to “like” other users, update most of your preferences, use the “Quickmatch” function, and see all of your matches for free.

Who can see you on OkCupid?

In order to view OkCupid profiles, you must be a logged-in OkCupid member. We will never show your profile to anyone who is not logged in, including in Google search results.

Does OkCupid require a photo?

A photo of you is required to send and receive messages on OkCupid. Also, if you don’t have a photo, you won’t show up anywhere on OkCupid. If you’d prefer your photo not be visible to everyone, you may want to upgrade to Incognito Mode.

Do people use OkCupid in India?

Globally, there’s been an overall 30% increase in messages sent on OkCupid each day since 2020. In India, we witnessed a 26% increase in conversations with over 91% of millennials still looking to date virtually and find love.

Conclusion:

In May 2016, a team of Danish researchers have made publicly available the “OkCupid dataset” project, containing (as of May 2016) 2,620 variables describing 68,371 users on OkCupid for research purposes (e.g., for psychologists investigating the social psychology of dating). The data release spurred criticism, and an investigation by the Danish Data Protection Authority.

In December 2017, it rolled out a change that would require users to provide their real first name in place of a pseudonym as was previously encouraged. Although the company quickly backpedaled by saying that nicknames or initials would be acceptable, the announcement was received with widespread criticism and condemnation for potentially raising the risk of harassment of individuals, especially women and minorities, to doxing.

It was pointed out that, unlike other dating sites that encourage the use of first names, OkCupid “encourages long profiles full of intimate details, including candid answers to questions about sex and politics”, making connecting that information with a real name more problematic to users.

In 2017 it reported on Twitter that they had removed Christopher Cantwell’s user profile for being a white supremacist after a woman reported receiving a message from him. This raised questions from some users who wondered about the ease with which the company could eliminate users from its platform.

A February 2019 report alleged that many users reported lost access to their accounts in a manner consistent with either a data breach or a widespread “credential stuffing” incident. “Credential stuffing” describes using passwords stolen from one service (like another dating site) to attack another service, on the assumption that many people will reuse passwords across websites. It denied any data breach or system errors.

Sai Sandhya

My name is Sai Sandhya, and I work as a senior SEO strategist for the content writing team. I enjoy creating case studies, articles on startups, and listicles.