Sam Yagan, of OKCupid.com talks to Andrea about free online dating sites. On Dating Episode “OkCupid.com interview” Andrea Syrtash: Do you get what you pay for in online dating or is a free site just as effective? Sam Yagan founder of the number one free dating site Okcupid is here to set the record straight. I am Andrea Syrtash and this is on dating. Would you go to a dating site if it was free? Woman on Street: I wouldn’t go to an online dating site if it was free. Man on Street: If I was a single guy, why not I would try it. Woman on Street: I wouldn’t use it if it was free. Man on Street: If it was free, of course I would go on a dating site. Man on Street: Yes I would go on a darting site if it was free. Man on Street: I am not really too savvy, I haven’t really participated in them, but I would consider it if it was free. Man on Street: If it were free I would definitely go on there. Man on Street: I would go on a dating website if it were free. Woman on Street: Even if it were free I wouldn’t go on a dating site. Woman on Street: If it were free I guess I would go online dating site, there is nothing wrong with that. Andrea Syrtash: If I told you the most popular dating site is run by a group of people who know nothing about dating. I am in the studio today with Sam Yagan, founder of Okcupid. Who claims he is also clueless in this arena. So Sam, why is it a plus to run a really great dating site and be clueless about dating? Sam Yagan: Well Andrea, we are just a bunch of mathematicians who thought that we could do a better job of matching people up than the so called psychologists, the shrinks that run some of the other dating sites. And the way we approach dating is the person who knows most about what they want is the dater, him or herself. So rather than taking a very paternalistic view saying we know what’s best for you. We say you know what’s best for you. And we built a site that allows us to tell you what you’re looking for and we help you find them. And for each question, and you can answer as many as you want, you answer for yourself. So the question is do you smoke you would say yes or no. What you you’re looking for yes or no. And then you rank it on a five point scale. From mere relevant to mandatory. As you answer more and more of these questions, you are building your own customized algorithm, from questions that you do and other daters have wanted to have asked. Andrea Syrtash: So it sounds like especially because you are a mathematician. Is dating an equation? Sam Yagan: Sure so the way we look at it is there are two elements to dating, there is first of all are you going to have anything in common? Then there is do you have chemistry. The part about do you have chemistry, no one can figure out. Not a psychologist, not a mathematician, so we leave that to the real people in the real world. But in terms of determining compatibility, we thin k there is a set of questions we can ask to determine if people will have a good first date. And we think that is much more reliable than asking some old shrink, to set me up with somebody based on some psychological question. Andrea Syrtash: So how many questions do people have on your site? Sam Yagan: Great, so people can answer as many questions as they want. If you don’t answer any questions, then we are just like any other dating site, where you can just browse profiles, look at pictures, and try to find someone on your own. Or you can start answering one, two, up to 3000 questions. If you are totally insane. Andrea Syrtash: Have you ever had someone answer three thousand questions? Sam Yagan: We do, we have a lot of people who have answered all the questions. The average person answers 233 questions. And it becomes something that becomes really fun, and you don’t do it in one sitting. You do ten or twelve now, while your watching TV you do another 20, and over the course of time you have done a hundred questions. And the nice thing is you know every question you answer your going to get a better match. Now you have told us your political views are. Now you have told us your view on smoking. Andrea Syrtash: You can tailor make it to what your needs are. Sam Yagan: And if you don’t see a question that you like, you can upload you own. Say hey this is a question I really want asked, and then the people who match with you will answer that question. Andrea Syrtash: What is the strangest question you have ever received? Sam Yagan: So someone suggested this question. You are walking down the street and you see someone levitated naked. What’s more strange that there levitating, or that there naked. To me that’s an irrelevant question that’s number 3000, but somebody actually took the time to write that question and suggest it. Andrea Syrtash: That’s great. Sam Yagan: So as far as crazy goes, that’s… Andrea Syrtash: That’s pretty crazy. Sam Yagan: Right, but that’s not what most of the questions are like. Andrea Syrtash: Or maybe this person is just checking to make sure you have a sense of humor. Sam Yagan: Which is really important, because these questions are designed to get at are you clever, do you prefer witty humor or slapstick. A lot of the questions are about your sense of humor. Andrea Syrtash: Right so your free, so can you tell me more about that. How do you pay, how do you pay for the site? How do you make money on the site? Sam Yagan: Sure, we make money the way almost every other media company makes money, which is selling ads. If you think about all your favorite websites, and most of your favorite TV shows, everything is going to be free. And you see ads, either there commercials, or there ads in a magazine or there ads in a website. And almost every other website, except for dating sites, are free. You get your news from a free site; you get your fashion information from a free site. Most sites don’t even think about charging subscription fees. Except for the dating sites. Andrea Syrtash: And even if they do pay I think the thing that is great about your site is someone can try a few sites at once and know that there is not a big cost. There is no cost in fact to just try out yours as well. Sam Yagan: Absolutely, most of our members are refugees from the pay sites. They have tried, they come to us and then when they do find there match, they send us a thank you note saying I wish I could get the $700 I gave to this other site back, because you gave me the match for free. Andrea Syrtash: What are some of your best match stories? Sam Yagan: Oh I have a bunch of them I will just give you a couple. One of our employees had never used a dating site before. And he signed up for Okcupid, and started just messaging with a girl in France. And at first it started out as this thing that wasn’t serious because we are in New York, and she was in Paris. And they started sending these messages and all of a sudden she told him she is moving to New York., for him. And so as you can imagine this was the kind of thing, to see one of your employees find love is really exciting. In fact almost every person who started the company single, is now in a relationship that they found at Okcupid. That is one of my favorite stories. A second we just got a email from a woman who was on the site I think she is about 27, and on the site she found her boyfriend. And there getting married which is all great. But then it turns out that her mom is also on the site, and she has a person that she has found that she is getting married to. So here we have a mother and daughter on the site, which to me is kind of awkward and I really wouldn’t want to be on the same dating site as my parents but I guess it works for them. Andrea Syrtash: Are they going to have a double Okcupid wedding? Sam Yagan: No it is going to be spate weddings. That is the first thing I asked, if there is going to be a separate wedding. We get a lot of baby pictures and wedding invitations and thing like that which is fun. We also, one of the things we have on our site is these fun personality quizzes. One of the quizzes on your test is called the coffee addiction quiz. I just got an email from a woman who was taking the coffee addiction quiz. And when she was taking the quiz, she saw another user taking the quiz at the same time, also addicted to coffee. So she sends him a message and it turn into the perfect icebreaker. Hey, what kind of coffee do you like? And before you know it they trade some emails, go on some dates, and then they get married six months later. So here is an example where we try to marry the offline world. You go inline at a starbucks and you see someone order something crazy and you might just make a little comment about it and strike up a conversation. We let you do that on Okcupid where as you couldn’t imagine doing that on any other dating site. Andrea Syrtash: That is really, really cool. Sam I think your convincing me that you can find quality on a free dating site. I came in here a little skeptical. I have to admit. Sam Yagan: that’s great, that is all I wanted to accomplish. Andrea Syrtash: So thanks so much for being here Sam. Sam Yagan: Thanks for having me. Andrea Syrtash: I challenge you to sign up for free at Okcupid.com, what do you have to lose? Certainly not your money. Thanks for watching On Dating and remember even a bad date makes a great story. So get out there and always have fun. I am Andrea Syrtash see you next time.