Apply to Date Product Information and Latest Updates (2025)

Niv Dror

VC Puzzle

This seems like a very reasonable alternative to Tinder / every other dating app that has ever existed

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7yr ago

Lucy Guo

Pitch a Date

Maker

@nivo0o0 It definitely works better for me -- the applications have been amazing! :-)

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7yr ago

Raman Ksaitor

Cyber Security Jobs

@nivo0o0 @lucy_guo What could possibly go wrong?!

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7yr ago

Lucy Guo

Pitch a Date

Maker

@nivo0o0 @ksaitor Haha we'll see 😂

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7yr ago

Drew Meyers

Horizon

@nivo0o0 @ksaitor @lucy_guo What was the inspiration for the idea?

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7yr ago

Lucy Guo

Pitch a Date

Maker

@nivo0o0 @ksaitor @drewmeyers I personally was looking for a date to a holiday party and thought it'd be funny to have an application website. I made a MVP for myself and received 250 applications, ranging from secret admirers in middle school to old coworkers to strangers! It felt like something other people could use as well, so Apply to Date came :)

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7yr ago

Rose Xi

Pitch a Date

Gold. My hands down favorite concept here is how you're redesigning new-age dating by bringing back the chivalrous idea of 'asking someone out'. Modern dating apps have focused so intently on optimizing matching (which entirely makes sense for hookups), but that overlooks one of the fundamental sparks that ignite successful dating -- the dance of attraction. The attraction necessary for dating is built not from a superficial pass at someone's profile, but rather grows as you're courting / being courted. It doesn't take courage to swipe, it does require some leap of faith to ask someone out. And so your initial attraction to someone grows as they express interest. Tinder style matching assumes the swipe is an artifact of inherent attraction. ApplyToDate assumes attraction can be build through courtship. I strongly believe in the latter assumption as a more realistic model of dating/attraction. Excited to see this rocketship fly.

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7yr ago

Lucy Guo

Pitch a Date

Maker

@jessica_ma Definitely aiming for that! We believe Tinder doesn't have enough information while OkCupid is information overload and encourages cringe-y answers. We're trying to be the in between - balancing information (via short introductions and social profiles) and mystery (we're not having you answer 36 questions to fall in love on the profile). Anyone can apply without being in the network, which makes the pool bigger (and closer to home). We've seen applicants that have been friends of friends, old high school classmates, old Tinder matches, etc.

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7yr ago

Rose Xi

Pitch a Date

@lucy_guo You're definitely opening up top of the funnel in a way no dating app has attempted, and ironically in a way that mimics real-life dating. After all, oftentimes you find the right person coincidentally when you aren't actively looking to fall in love / find someone. If you're on Tinder-like dating apps, you're actively looking (desperate almost..?) and that pulls the romance down a notch. Whereas I may be perusing some profiles on ApplyToDate or one of my friends threw a cutie my way -- I may not be actively looking, but then some personality catches my heart. That's a magnitude more romantic than 'oh here's another dude on Tinder, hopefully he's desperate enough to message me first'. I'm still trying to wrap my head around exactly how/why the UX of ApplyToDate feels so much more aligned with real-life dating, but it does and I'm quite bullish here

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7yr ago

Lucy Guo

Pitch a Date

Maker

@jessica_ma We're glad! And we'd love to hear any feedback or feature requests you have. :) Hoping this works out well for you.

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7yr ago

Manuel Maccou

@jessica_ma @lucy_guo It's a huge accomplishment to make online dating more "real life". I haven't tried the product put yet, but is the "courting process" more traditional? That's what it sounds like from Jessica's comment. In my opinion, I would love to see something is more equal instead of one sided, so both people feel wanted and sought after. If you've created that kind of environment then I'll give you all the upvotes 😉

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7yr ago

Erik Torenberg

Backchannel

Genius. "Now just need the medium post, what I learned from going on 1,000 dates in 100 days...." "Everything I learned about startups I learned from applytodate.com"

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7yr ago