Warrenisthe81-year-oldcofounderandcurrentCEOofonlinedatingsiteeHarmony.
Thesite,whichbillsitselfasaplaceforfindingdeeplovethatleadstomarriage,firstlaunchedinAugust2000.Warren,whoretiredin2007,cameoutofretirementin2012tohelp"turnaround"thecompany.
Earlierthisweek,IsatdownwithWarren--hiswife,Marylyn,of57yearsbyhisside--totalkabouttheroughpatches,thecompetition,andofcourse,thehighlights.
Gaymarriage
"We'vesufferedfromthecontentiousnessofthattopic,"Warrensaid,whoaddedthatitwasn'taboutbeinganti-gay.
"Wedidn'twanttopretendtobeexpertsongayandlesbiancouples,"saidWarren."We'renotanti-gayatall...It'sadifferentmatch."
Warrensaysthecompany--whichusesitspatentedalgorithmtoconnectpeoplebasedon29dimensionsofcompatibility--isnowseeingsuccessinmatchingupgayandlesbiansinglesonCompatiblePartners.
"We'vehadquiteanumberofsame-sexmarriages,"hesaid.
Thecompanysaysithasmatched2millioncouplesthathaveledtomarriages.AndaccordingtoWarren,they'rebeatingthemarriageodds.
AneweraforInternetdating
Warrensaidthatasurveyof20,000ofitsmarriedcouplesfoundthatjust3.9%havegottendivorced(comparedto6.9%ofU.S.marriages.)
EHarmonyhasroughly770,000activeuserswhoarepayinganywherefrom$9.95to$59.95permonthdependingonthelengthoftheplan.(Thatdoesn'tincludenumbersofitsCompatiblePartnersservice.)
ButWarrensaidthey'recontinuallytryingtoimprove:"Ourjobisbecomingharder."
That'snotbecausethereismorecompetition.Infact,Warrendoesn'tseetheonslaughtofdatingappsasthreatstohisbusiness."Wedon'tdiscouragepeoplefromTinder,"hesaid,addingthatappslikeTinderareprimarilyusedfordatingandhookingup--notmarriage.
Rather,connectingpeopleisbecomingharderbecause"peoplearebecomingmorecomplex."
That'saresultofourincreasinglywiredworld,saidWarren,whoworkedasaclinicalpsychologistfor35yearsbeforestartingeHarmonywithhisson-in-law.
"Themorecomplexyouare,theharderitistofindsomeonewithbroad-basedcompatibility,"hesaid."Ohmygosh,wehaveateamofroughly20peopleworkingeverydaytoimproveourmatchingalgorithm."
(They'realsoworkingonacareersitetoapplytheirsecretsaucetothejobsearch).
Warrensaidoneofthebiggestthingshetellspeopleisnottohurry:Itcouldtakeasmanyasfiveyearstofind"thatperson"usinghissite.
Butit'llbeworthit:"Weencouragepeoplenottosettle."
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