Tweet, Play, Love

Internet-based matchmakers like
Match.com have changed the world of dating by creating endless new
opportunities for singles to meet. Now, Guys and Girls Next Door, a
Seattle-based company, thinks it can use the power of social networking, the
comfort of group meetings and the potency of quick feedback to improve the success
rate of online dating.

Angel Cruzado and Mary Starks,
the company’s founders, came up with the idea after watching an episode of
“Millionaire Matchmaker.” They decided that a similar service, which includes
immediate feedback on failed dates, would vastly improve the internet dating
experience of regular people.

Angel Cruzado (left) and
Mary Starks started Guys and Girls Next Door with the idea that
personalized
service can improve the experience of online dating.

“Research indicates that people are unhappy with online
dating,” says Cruzado, who left a job as a management development consultant
for Microsoft to launch the company in April 2009. His partner, Sparks, has a
master’s degree in psychology. “We felt that, with our combined experience, we
could do a better job than what’s out there.”

Other Seattle companies such as
Executive Seattle Dating and Sophisticated Matchmaking help match clients with
a large database of clients using interviews and other techniques. But Guys and
Girls Next Door, which has a waiting list, may be among the first to offer that
kind of personalized service in the far more open context of online dating.

After paying a fee, a new
client takes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality assessment. The
company’s services include a Facebook makeover to put the client in the best
light as well as Tweets to promote the individual. If the client finds a
potential partner, the organization will help the two counterparts meet in the
low-stress setting of a group event. If a follow-up date doesn’t work out, the
agency debriefs the counterparts and offers tips to improve the client’s
behavior on future dates.

The feedback helps individuals
get rid of bad habits and improves their future chances of success. Says
Cruzado: “We’re having an impact on people’s lives.”