Working for a Dating Website (2015)
A dating site is #2 or #3 on my personal project backlog.  I have significant successful (and unsuccessful) experience as a user, and I have identified some significant improvements to be made (from the user perspective).There's really no point optimizing for profit only, as it almost certainly results in a bad experience for users.  Sure, a company can make money (and likely eventually be bought by Match Group, so -cash out-)... but sometimes it's worth actually building something for the good of people.Yes, if two people match well, you may lose two customers... for a while.  Most relationships don't last long term, and people who have had good experiences on a dating site will return when they are seeking companionship or love again.  If they were happy with your site before, they will come back to you.The current dating site options are a wasteland.  Not to beat a dead horse, but most are owned by Match Group.  And from my experience with several of them, once they land in Match they are not good sites to use.OkCupid was one of the best at one time, and PlentyOfFish was pretty decent (if you can accept old/functional UI) long ago.  But these days, they have pared down the features and upped the pricing to the point where it feels like they are just milking lonely people for all the cash they can get.At least they are possibly not stuffing fake female accounts like Adult Friend Finder and Ashley Madison did (and I suspect Bumble currently does).Of course, the whole premise of dating sites is wrong.  The best way to make connections is in person, by going places regularly and seeing the same people frequently... building some non-romantic connections first which may grow into something more.  Dating sites assume that if "I think I like you" and "you think you like me" then we are a match!.  This sets up big expectations too soon...