Meet Brian Schechter and Aaron Schildkrout, creators of the online dating site HowAboutWe, which until lately targeted an obvious demographic: singles.

Since 2010, the site has invited them to pitch date ideas online and respond to dates they like. Some recent ideas: riding motorcycles around and watching Star Trek (Texas); eating steak and cuddling in the rain (Akwa Ibom, Nigeria); and showing up blindfolded at a cafe and letting “our voices & fantasies decide about a 2nd date” (Bonn, Germany).

The site has been a success, attracting more than 700,000 date ideas. But its founders quickly discovered the commercial paradox of the dating site: The better you are at finding love for a client, the faster she signs off and ceases to pay you.

“If you succeed,” Mr. Schildkrout says, “you lose.”

And so the guys asked themselves: What if a dating site didn’t stop at finding you love? What if it also helped you “date” your life partner, and, through the surprise and renewal of that dating, to stay in love?

thenewgreen: I reached out via twitter to an old friend from high school named Brian Schechter today because I read this piece . I had to ensure he wasn't the CEO. -Turns out he's not.

This is a great idea though, I can see how it would help sustain marriages. Dates can tend to get boring when you're married. Once you have kids you're just glad to be out of the house after dark. We try to keep it interesting and new when we go out. But I'm sure there are some couples that after 30 years together could use some advice.


posted 4422 days ago