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YESTERDAY DATING WEBSITE Plenty of Fish was acquired by Match Group, a subsidiary of the Tinder parent IAC that recently announced plans for an IPO.
Plenty of Fish sold to Match Group for $575 million (€522 million) in cash and Markus Frind, 36, is the founder and CEO of the Vancouver-based company.
Frind said in 2003 he started the business “as a way to improve my resume”.
“At the time there was a new programming language called ASP.NET, and I don’t like reading books, so I just went and created the site in two weeks and then people started signing up, much to my surprise,” he said.
“And it blew up from there. It wasn’t like I had a plan to create a dating site. It was just a side project I created that got really big.”
No funding, complete control
Before founding Plenty of Fish, Frind had been a developer and he retained complete ownership of the company without a cent of venture capital funding. Plenty of Fish’s deal with Match will close by the end of the year.
“By the time I found out what VCs were, I was already making millions in profit and I didn’t see the need to raise money because I wouldn’t know what to do with it,” he said.
It was a profitable company and there was no need to raise money.”
Frind says Plenty of Fish, which has 90 million registered users and 3.6 million active daily users, was “immediately profitable.”
In 2008, Frind told The New York Times that his website’s net profits were about $10 million a year, and he only worked about 10 hours a week. Now, he says, he works a bit more than that.
“It’s funny, once you start adding people to the company, the amount of time you have to work goes up,” he said.
We have a staff of 75 now. I’ve been working normal hours the past few months.”
A decade coming
Match Group CEO Sam Yagan said in a statement he’d had his eye on Plenty of Fish for over ten years.
“As more people than ever use more dating apps than ever with more frequency than ever, Plenty of Fish’s addition both brings new members into our family of products and deepens the lifetime relationship we have with our users across our portfolio,” he said.
So how does it feel to finally have the deal close, knowing you’re walking away with millions of dollars for your project?
I don’t know,” Frind said. “It’s still pretty fresh here. It’s just very surreal.”
Expecting the minister for health to settle this dispute I wouldnt hold my breath.He had very little say in the allocation of funds in the budget .He has no power whatsoever as far as I can see.
Can not abide such tactics, going to strike indefinitely from tomorrow… leave them off and get new people in to cover….
@Dramafree 2023: scab
@Hayagriva: yes I am a terrible human not wanting the health services held to ransom by a union and further deteriorating beyond its already unacceptable rate. indefinite strike will without a doubt cost lives… think about that. And that is why they are doing it… cos they know the gov will have to cave quicker.
@Dramafree 2023: I think the care workers have a better idea of the trouble the services are in than you.
And if they’re striking things must be bad given the relationships they built with clients everyday.
It sounds more like government blackmailing care workers to prop up a broken system so they can continue to siphon money through the bloated bureaucracy.
@Dramafree 2023: Section 39 organisations are losing staff and can’t fill those posts or any new positions due to the pay difference between us and section 38 organisations. This is impacting on the quality services like you suggest but the strikes are happening because staff deserve to be paid the same as section 38 employees for doing the same job. Staff don’t want to strike but it seems to be the last option on the table at this point.
@Dramafree 2023: Wonder why you didn’t include the government stance ? . Which would include another round of applause. Suppose the workers 100% .Government health policy has already cost lives… Perhaps you would want to read the patient waiting list times published yesterday. Of course that would not suit your narrative.
@Donal Desmond: donal you have absolutely no idea who I am, what I have read, where I work or what I know. I dont even have a narrative but I will never ever, section 38, section 39 or otherwise condone or agree with indefinite strike action as a negotiation tool. You are talking about the most vulnerable members of our society being used as a pawn between the gov and the employees. Absolutely not the way to do business and shame on anyone who feels they can justify it.
@Dramafree 2023: The government certainly have no problem in using the most vulnerable as pawns ..Who you are and what you do or read is none of my business…I replied to your comment…you have your views and I replied with my view…Is it the fact that my point of view upset you….If you post a comment ,you must expect a response…
Vote for Fianna Fail, for a brighter future
@Mary FF should not be a whipping boy for Europe plus the lefties as this is why the UK voted in Brexit
@Mary Toilet: Do you mean the Baby Blueshirts..?
Not just B holidays but everyday .
Why are these talks always at the last minute?
have your say