The League dating app Founder & CEO Amanda Bradford interviews Jon Golden, former VP of Product at AirBNB, who started at the company when it was 10 and just left after seeing it grow to over 1,000 employees. Tune in to hear some of the things he learned along the way!
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Spoiler alert: gentlemen outperform douche-bags on dating apps!
Contrary to popular belief, chivalry is still alive and well…albeit a very different version than knights and noblemen had in mind. Trade in the shining armor for a Patagonia half-zip and the horse for an Uber and now we’re talkin’! Being a chivalrous gentleman is no longer about saving a damsel in distress by climbing a high tower and and kissing her back into consciousness without her consent (gross!). Rather, it’s about taking the statutes of loyalty, honor and respect and translating them over into modern egalitarian relationships, something that League Gentleman do consistently.
A LEAGUE GENTLEMAN HAS HIGH STANDARDS: A gentleman expects a high standard of quality, value, and functionality like his Chase Sapphire or a craft IPA. He values the League community and League mission and seldom swipes through Timble as he’s tired of being burned and stung by the perils of hook-up apps! Most importantly, he values a partner that will be his intellectual and professional equal.
A LEAGUE GENTLEMAN HAS GOOD MANNERS: He engages in conversations with his matches in a courteous, polite and respectful manner. He is a busy professional but tries to not ghost or flake on matches and if he does tends to apologies for being MIA. He will never text to hang out after 11:00PM nor will he ever start a conversation with a new match with ‘Hey Gorgeous’.
When on a date he will keep his phone face-down and won’t glance at his Apple watch. Sure, he may offer to foot the bill, but will not feel threatened when his date offers to split the bill instead. And when the end of the night rolls around and a goodnight kiss (or more!) seems warranted, he’ll be careful to check in with his date and make sure they are in fact feeling the same way. Afterall, not only is consent sexy– it’s mandatory!
A LEAGUE GENTLEMAN IS OPEN-MINDED: He strives to learn and is open to new ideas. He is open-minded when opening up the app at happy hour every day. Knowing that dating is about meeting all different types of people he doesn’t merely heart only the profiles he finds the ‘hottest.’ He is open to engaging in conversations with all different types of League users: the artist, the investment banker, and even the person that’s a few episodes behind on Game of Thrones.
A LEAGUE GENTLEMAN TREATS OTHERS WITH RESPECT: He believes in equality > elitism. He values a partner that will challenge him with different opinions and ideas. And yes, that means sometimes he has to be wrong.
It doesn’t take a knight or prince to figure out this whole modern chivalry thing. When you’re a gentleman it’s not hard to live happily ever after on The League.
FACTS: GENTLEMEN OUTPERFORM DOUCH-BAGS ON DATING APPS!
– The League Team
WE’RE EXPANDING: We’re so excited to announce that as of today The League is available in 27 cities! Please give a warm welcome to our six newest cities: Detroit, Phoenix, Portland, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Nashville!
WHY WE’RE EXPANDING: The League is not just for high-achieving intellectuals in the top metropolitan cities. It’s for all those seeking the other half of their power couple, so for all your Detroit, Phoenix, Portland, Charlotte, Raleigh and Nashville friends who have been complaining about their dating lives and lack of any decent prospects on the current dating apps they use, tell them we’re here to #GETMEOFFTINDER
Friend don’t let friends date down…
With Halloween just around the corner, it seems incredibly appropriate to talk about one of the most common dating practices out there— you guessed it, ghosting! In case you’re lucky enough to have never been ghosted, it’s when somebody you’re dating suddenly cuts all ties and communication with you for no apparent reason. And, yes, even our founder has in fact been ghosted and quite honestly, has even ghosted some poor souls herself.
While talk of ghouls and goblins is generally limited to October 31st, singles have to deal with Ghosts year round! But, before you run away in horror from this seemingly spooky dating practice, or even worse send a strongly worded text to the hottie who ghosted after 3 dates, here are our pro-tips to ghosting (yes, it can be socially acceptable sometimes) and being ghosted:
Recognize the Wind Down.
Ghosting, submarining, benching, flaking, however, you want to spin it, the way we like to think of it, simply put, is to recognize the wind down. If you can tell someone is leaning out, just cut it, especially after a date or two don’t get too upset if you don’t get a response back. If you enjoyed the date send a text the next day. Is there a conversation that continues? If it’s waning then it’s a good signal that the other person is just not that interested in you, or maybe more interested in someone else at that time. Our read receipts feature that comes with membership is a helpful tip to turn on here.
No Ghosting after 3 Dates!
In The League’s opinion, ghosting is acceptable after one or two dates. We’re all busy and trying to juggle dating and matching with someone with 1,000 other things that go on in our daily life. After 3 dates is where it gets messy and people get their feelings hurt, but before 3 dates not texting is a pretty obvious signal that you’re not interested. A good rule of thumb is if you’ve gone on 3-7 dates it’s nice to give the person closure and send something along the lines of: “Hey, you’re an awesome person, but I’m not sure we’re the right fit etc.” By this point you’ve probably shared a combined 6-10 hours with this person, so definitely let them know it’s a no-go!
Be More Pragmatic and Less Stressed.
Don’t take things so personally. Everyone is evaluating different things in typically, a very disorganized fashion. So, of course you are going to have tons of rejections and grab drinks with a lot of frogs disguised as prince or princess charmings. That is the nature of the hidden criteria we are all judging people on. So make sure you’re not wasting your time and figure out your date’s criteria out on the first date. What is this person looking for? What do they think makes for a successful relationship? What are their dealbreakers/criteria? Does this person watch GoT? Figuring out the answers to these important questions will let you be more pragmatic and less stressed.
Just remember, If you’ve just gone on a great date and get ghosted, they are not the right person for you! Your *person* won’t leave you on ‘read’ after the first date, I promise!
– The League Team
THE LEAGUE GOES MONOCHROME!
You may have noticed something different about your daily Happy Hour batches recently! Yes, that’s right, it’s official– The League has gone Monochrome! With Monochrome View, every potential Match you see will have their first photo displayed in black & white. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see that same photo in full color by swiping through all of their photos!
WHY THE LEAGUE IS GOING MONOCHROME:
Substance > Superficiality The League’s research found an increased time spent in evaluating potentials profiles that were in monochrome. Colors can distract from the more important aspects of one’s dating profile. Monochrome View will allow you to look at more than just looks and check out your potential Match’s witty bio or badass career! In fact, our research shows that users spent on average 2x more time looking profiles “treated” with Monochrome View over those in the control group. Maybe it’s time to update your bio and interests since users will likely be looking at those a bit closer!
Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover: Not only did users spend more time evaluating each profile- but The League’s research found that users were nicer and gave people more of a shot. Our research confirmed that when a user’s first photo is monochrome they had a greater likelihood of being ‘hearted’ compared to when that same first photo was in color. Our A/B test revealed that those with profiles “treated” with Monochrome View enjoyed a 10% higher acceptance rate over those in the control group. Yep, that’s right we’re doing this to help everyone in our incredible community get more matches!
Cultivating a Courteous Community: We want The League to feel like a black tie affair! Although we may have some of the same people in The League as you may see on regular dating apps we want our experience to feel like walking down the carpet. Monochrome View reiterates our rules of engagement and the fact that once you’re in the League we expect you to be on your best behavior! You would never text someone you met at The Oscars, “U up?”,… would you!?
Read more about Monochrome View on TechCrunch!
We’re so excited to announce that as of today The League is now available in Minneapolis and will be launching Phoenix, Portland, and Detroit later this Fall!
Thanks to all your amazing support during our Summer Series of launches; we saw incredible growth and positive feedback. The League is not just for high-achieving, intellectuals in the top metropolitan cities, but for all those seeking the other half of their power couple! Have a friend who has been complaining about their dating life and lack of any decent prospects on the current dating apps they use? You can now endorse your friends by going to ‘Settings-> Endorse a friend for The League.’
Friend don’t let friends date down…
Today marks a BIG milestone! The League is officially live in 20 cities! For the #SummerSeries grand finale, joining us off The League’s bench is Toronto, San Antonio, Sacramento and New Haven. In addition to our founding cities SF, NY, LA, CHI, BOS, & DC, as of this summer, we are now live in another 14 cities: LON, PHL, ATL, MIA, ATX, HOU, DAL, DEN, SD, SEA, TOR, SAC, SA & NH
Thanks to those of you who sat patiently on our waitlists and tirelessly encouraged your friends to sign up so we could get The League started in your city sooner rather than later! You spreading the word is the reason we are here!
See below for some highlights of our founding class in Toronto, San Antonio, Sacramento & New Haven!
We’re so excited to announce that 3 new League cities went live today: San Diego, Denver & Seattle!
Thanks to those of you who sat patiently on our waitlists and tirelessly encouraged your friends to sign up so we could get The League started in your city sooner rather than later! You spreading the word is the reason we are here! We had a blast meeting our users at our Summer Series events in San Diego, Denver, and Seattle, and we’re excited for our upcoming parties in Toronto! See full schedule at bit.ly/theleaguesummerseries.
See below for some highlights of our founding class in San Diego, Denver, and Seattle!
Are we not live in your city yet? Email scout@theleague.com with your city name to find out how to get involved in pre-gaming our launch!
We’re so excited to announce that 3 new League cities went live today: Austin, Houston, and Dallas!
Thanks to those of you who sat patiently on our waitlists and tirelessly encouraged your friends to sign up so we could get The League started in your city sooner rather than later! You spreading the word is the reason we are here! We had a blast meeting our users at our Summer Series events in Austin, Houston, and Dallas, and we’re excited for our upcoming parties in San Diego, Denver, Seattle, and last but not least, Toronto! See full schedule at bit.ly/theleaguesummerseries.
See below for some highlights of our founding class in Austin, Houston, and Dallas!
Are we not live in your city yet? Email scout@theleague.com with your city name to find out how to get involved in pre-gaming our launch!
We’re so excited to announce that 3 new League cities went live today: Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Miami!
Thanks to those of you who sat patiently on our waitlists and tirelessly encouraged your friends to sign up so we could get The League started in your city sooner rather than later! You spreading the word is the reason we are here! We had a blast meeting our users at our Summer Series events (bit.ly/theleaguesummerseries) in Philly, Atlanta, and Miami, and we’re excited for our upcoming parties in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Denver, Seattle, and last but not least, Toronto!
See below for some highlights of our founding class in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Miami:
Are we not live in your city yet? Email scout@theleague.com with your city name to find out how to get involved in pre-gaming our launch!
