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Dating in any dense metropolitan area can seem like a herculean challenge, but try doing it in tech-savvy Silicon Valley, where scoring a date may be relatively easy, but cementing a relationship can be more difficult than raising another round of venture capital.
That’s where Linx Dating founder Amy Andersen comes in. While smartphone dating apps like Tinder, Bumble and The League have taken off since the iPhone launched in 2007, Andersen has established a successful business that seems downright counterintuitive, shirking complex algorithms for old-fashioned matchmaking. Over the past 14 years, the former Merill Lynch financial adviser has successfully paired hundreds of couples who work at high-flying tech companies including Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Amazon, (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Netflix (NFLX), Square (SQ) and recognizable venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, to name just a few.
Price of following your heart
As Andersen sees it, Silicon Valley has its own unique pitfalls when it comes to finding a match. Many of these companies, whether they’re small startups or large, publicly-traded corporations, almost condition their employees to believe the mind can solve all complex problems, she contends.
“They are constantly using their IQ — naturally, as they should be — but, when it comes to matters of the heart, and where I fit into the picture for my clients, it becomes very challenging because falling in love and finding chemistry is about that emotional quotient, the EQ, and letting go, feeling, and really kind of feeling emotions,” Andersen adds. “It’s about people and connections and not necessarily a set of objective characteristics, tangibles or data that so many of these Silicon Valley types are used to.”
Andersen’s services aren’t for cash-strapped singles. The Menlo Park, California-based matchmaker has well over 50 premium clients who pay at least $35,000, and a “handful” of VIP clients, some of whom pony up as much as $500,000 for a series of hand-picked dates and coaching services. (Yes, really.) That’s in addition to the more than 500-plus, many of whom pay if they’re successfully matched up, as well as the 25,000-plus additional people in Andersen’s database.
One of her more recent successful VIP matches: a member of one of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates with an Ivy League-educated entrepreneur. The couple, who married after only a few dates, welcomed their first child last year.
Real-life interaction
Text-savvy millennials love emojis and have their noses in a smartphone, but finding a match involves establishing connections IRL, or “in real life.” Which is why Andersen throws the occasional cocktail mixer, like the one held in mid-April at Marianne’s, a lounge in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. The downtown haunt is a perennial favorite for tech companies with its antique couches, vinyl records and oddball knick-knacks that evince the vibe of a mid-20th century underground jazz lounge.