I’ve read of several dating apps that are available for entrepreneurs. Tinder, Bumble, Hinge. The matchmaking feature felt more like a business matchmaking event than it did a typical dating app. This is because these apps focus on professionals who share the same interests, job title, and education level. What became interesting was I had built my blog around entrepreneurship so I had to know what they were offering. After doing some investigation, here are my top 5 dating apps for entrepreneurs.
Online anonymity is one of the reasons for the popularity of dating sites. There is that sense of security in hiding behind your selected profile, curated gallery and interests. However, this valued feature is also its setback. Users often have to rely on common sense and gut instinct to know if the person they are exchanging messages with is genuine or a psychopath looking for a victim. Thankfully, there are sites that offer some level of screening.
The League is known to be an elite dating site. You have to apply to get in, on top of having to pay a membership fee. Like an exclusive club, payment is not an assurance that you can get in. You have to qualify. In the application, you would need to provide your LinkedIn account (“to block you from your coworkers” because who wants their colleagues to know they’ve signed up for a dating site) and your Facebook account.
Once a member, you are able to access features such as in-site video dating. The platform prides itself as a “selective and high-quality dating and social networking community.”
2. ZooskRELATED STORIESGrindr To Remove Ethnicity Filter From Gay Dating App
Zoosk allows you to create a profile easily. However, it has verification options to confirm the identity and reputation of a user. Verifications include uploading a photo that clearly shows the face of the user, providing a Twitter account and linking to a Facebook account. It also has paid boost options that improve your chance of appearing on another user’s “carousel,” which is pretty much where the selection and matching happens.
This platform requires you to continue with either your Facebook account or your phone number. Like most dating sites, you have to pay for its substantial features, like immediately seeing possible matches. This dating site is also flexible with its location options. If you plan to travel to a place and want to arrange a date there, you can adjust your address so you can check users in the area.
Match is the most popular dating site in the United States. It asks you to fill in a profile, which their support team would then review within 24 hours. It’s not clear how they actually make sure you have a real identity, but it does actively remove “bad actors” from its platform.
Meet up based on your interests
Most of the dating sites ask you to answer some questions that help it run its algorithms and match you with your perfect mate. There are also sites that go beyond that.
Upon joining, you are asked to take a compatibility quiz which takes approximately 20 minutes. It includes your preferences in sharing or having separate bedrooms and other situational questions. After taking the quiz not only does the site provide you with matches, it also gives you a personality profile. The catch with this site is you can’t view the photos of your match clearly, they are blurred until you pay for a premium account.
OkCupid, another popular dating site in the United States, has a seemingly never-ending list of questions to help match you to someone with the same answers. You even get to rate the importance of the question to you. These questions range from the most cliché — are you able to forgive and forget — to political views.
OkCupid is also one of the few dating sites that allow you to locate yourself in a different area to meet potential partners beyond your immediate locality. OkCupid also prides itself as being revolutionary and is the first dating site to introduce 22 different gender and 13 orientation options.
Pictured: Merchandise for Valentine’s Day is on display at a supermarket on February 9, 2018 in Washington, DC. Photo: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images
Gender-specific dating platforms
Many dating sites only have men, women and both as options for gender preference. OkCupid was the first to deviate from this. There are, however, more exclusive platforms that cater only to the LGBTQ or even a more specific group in the community.
This is currently the largest social networking platform for LGBTQ. When it launched, it primarily wanted to address the lack of dating sites that allow the LGBTQ community to freely express their identities without fear of discrimination. It is also one of the more progressive platforms, recently removing its racial preference filter to show support to Black Lives Matter.
Launched in 2002, this is one of the first gay dating sites that has survived the shift of many to Grindr and the dating options now offered in popular social media networks, Instagram and Facebook. PlanetRomeo, beyond being a dating site, is also a platform that provides updates and relevant information on the issues faced by the gay community.
This is the only dating site that has businessmen specifically in mind. Expectedly, its interface is very streamlined. To create a profile, you simply write an “Ice Breaker message,” something about yourself, and about your preferred match. As soon as you sign up, you will be able to see other users and interact with them. The catch is, you can’t read messages unless you upgrade to a paid account. The interface allows you to search for matches based on age, country and region. Other filters in the search process are available only for paying members.
Worried you might be past the dating age?
No one is ever too old to date. Dating sites usually have age bracket options for users, but there are also dating sites that are specifically for older users.
This free dating platform is specifically for singles over 50 years old. To ensure authentic users, Lumen requires at least three profile pictures. Finding online dates for mature groups has become a necessity as divorce rates increased. The usual socializing and networking activities might already be limited for older people so it is much more preferable to simply look through online profiles and find others with similar interests and inclinations.
OkCupidBest For Progressive PeopleCredit: Okcupid / AppleSpecs
- Free version: Yes
- One week of premium: $12.99
- One month of premium: $22.99
- Three months of premium: $46.99
- 12 months of premium: $139.99
Buying OptionsSee Details
The gist: OkCupid is a great option for busy young professionals who want to dip their toes in the water of dating with thoughtful profiles — but who might be too overwhelmed with a work project to go through the entire questionnaire eHarmony and EliteSingles sit you down for. You can answer as many or as few initial questions as you want that range from what you’re on there for and whether you want kids to fetishes and political views, but the one thing you need to answer is what you’re on the app for: short-term dating, long-term, hookups, or new friends. It’s a great way to be efficient about prioritizing the motivations and qualities that are important to you but leave some room for chance by perhaps not answering some of other the questions, too. (Plus, the preferences can act as ice-breakers — or just unspoken facts — during your first messages or on your IRL date.)
While OkCupid lets you be as casual as you want, if you really want to get serious about your search, you can upgrade to one of a few subscription options that let you send unlimited Likes, choose Dealbreakers, and see people who like you before you like them. The latter feature, included in Premium, reduces a ton of fruitless time spent on the app by reducing the pool to people you’re guaranteed to match with.
Why it works: If you’re a young professional, this app is designed for you: Most users are between 25 and 34, and most are in the same work situation you are. By the end of the workday most of us are pretty fried. After eight hours in an office or on your sofa with your laptop, it can feel draining to sit and try to be creative when filling out a dating profile — and even more draining to swipe a dozen times with only one match as a result. OkCupid is great because it gives prompts and ridiculously detailed questions that help you out in showing your true colors without having to think too hard about it. For those short on time (or patience), it’s also a great way to quickly scan people before you spend an extended period of time with someone who has clashing views or interests that you consider a total deal-breaker.BumbleBest For Women Who Don’t Have Time To WasteCredit: Bumble / AppleSpecs
- Free version: Yes
- One week of Boost: $8.99
- One month of Boost: $24.99
- Three months of Boost: $16.66 per month
- Six months of Boost: $13.33 per month
- Lifetime: $119.99
Buying OptionsSee Details
The gist: Founded by a former Tinder employee, Bumble is the app that turns the tables and has the ladies make the first move. Similar to Tinder, setting up your profile on Bumble is pretty straightforward and follows the “swipe left or right” method. After signing up, just fill out a brief bio and prompts and start swiping. When two people both swipe right (for yes) on each other, a “connection” is made. At this point, the woman then has 24 hours to start a conversation. If she doesn’t make a move within the time limit, the connection is lost. *However* if guys see that time is running out but don’t want to miss out on a match, they have the option to extend the connection for an extra 24 hours. The catch is: you’re only allowed to do this for one match per day, so best save if for someone you think is extra special. In same-sex matches, either person is able to make the first move.
The app definitely skews younger, with most users in their 20s and early 30s — and because they know their users are busy, there’s a daily swipe limit (which is both a blessing if you tend to spend hours swiping instead of working, and a curse if you’re not super-pleased with the crop the app’s found for you today.)
Why it works: Women do not have the time or patience to sift through a hundred “hey” messages, and a lot of women like the fact that the power is in their hands with this app. Plus, the 24-hour time limit helps keep the conversation going, which helps to establish a connection quickly and might just translate into an IRL date. Bumble helps to empower women and weed out some of the unwanted sleazy messages they might receive on other dating apps (should any hate speech or lewd messages arise, though, there are lots of security measures that help protect users). Bumble is a win for the guys as well though, since they can use the app knowing that all of the matches they receive are from women who are interested — meaning there’s less time wasted for both parties. ShipBest For People Who Always Consult Their SquadCredit: Ship / AppleSpecs
- Free version: Yes
- One month: $14.99
- Three months: $9.99 per month
- Six months: $8.33 per month
Buying OptionsSee Details
The gist: The geniuses at Match Group launched Ship in 2019, and it puts the power of dating in your friends’ hands. It’s great for people who literally don’t have time for dating in their lives, who are burnt out on trying to keep up with other apps, or have friends who are super-involved in their lives.
On the app, you basically create a profile for yourself, pick some preferences when it comes to partners, and then assign a group who can swipe for you. When someone swipes on a match, the profile enters the group chat — but nothing goes anywhere until you swipe yes on them yourself.
Why it works: We all have that one friend who’s begging to “Tinder” for us, and in 2021, there’s an app for that: Ship is the modern take on having your friend act as a wingman or wingwoman at the bar, but using swiping instead of an awkward “Hey, my friend thinks you’re hot.” When you’re busy with projects and deadlines, dating often takes a backseat — this takes the job out of your hands and puts it in the hands of those who know you best. (Or at least they might think they do, and they might be right).
Conclusion
Hey guys! I’m Cole, and I created this page to help other entrepreneurs (like myself) who are struggling with dating apps. Now, don’t get me wrong — there are a lot of great dating apps out there. But they can also be extremely frustrating for people like you and me — we’re busy, we need something effective and efficient. So, I decided to put together a list of my top 3 dating apps for entrepreneurs like us: