love 2.0     dating 2.0

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.

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!