Group dating site Grouper (YC W12) launches to 10 cities

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/20/yc-alum-grouper-launches-in-10-cities-to-bring-you-a-better-way-to-meet-new-people/

by lincolnq • 14 years ago

75 41 14 years ago

lincolnq2• 14 years ago

I've gone on several groupers in NYC and it's awesome. Much better way to meet people than any other dating site I've tried.

j-v• 14 years ago

Interesting—in what ways was it better?

lincolnq2• 14 years ago

Way less awkwardness. You are in a relaxed environment with friends, and there's much less scrambling for things to talk about, because pretty much everyone can tell awesome stories about their friends.

However, there is an increased level of awkwardness if you like someone from the other group -- you have to isolate them and try to get their number, which isn't always the easiest thing in a group of 6.

misiti3780• 14 years ago

i had the opposite experience in nyc. i went on one with a few friends and the whole experience pretty lame. i regular date would have been much more fun

tryitnow• 14 years ago

I might give this a try.

However, subtlety is a good thing in dating, so I don't know if I like the expectation that "everyone is looking." I think this might work well for younger people who might need a little more explicit guidance. More socially experienced people can usually figure out if someone is looking or not.

I prefer grubwithus.com - it's just meeting people without any expectations.

However, I really like that people are screened on grouper.

chrislloyd• 14 years ago

I've been on one in SF. It was awesome.

jamgraham• 14 years ago

Why give your employees a puppy? That means they'll have to take care of it instead of working late.

https://www.joingrouper.com/jobs

djloche• 14 years ago

I just sent in my resume, it looks like an interesting take on the dating/social evening niche.

Plus, I love the idea of companies pairing their employees up with dogs from local shelters.

philwelch• 14 years ago

Lots of companies let you bring dogs to the office. Instead of taking care of the puppy at home they can all bring their puppies to work. I'm not sure whether that's adorable or just strange.

OTOH, I'm not sure giving away puppies as a job perk is really in the best interest of the puppies....

smoyer• 14 years ago

This is the first I've heard of the YC Grouper ... I wonder if they know that there's already software published by the Internet2 consortium that is named (and trademarked as) Grouper - http://www.internet2.edu/grouper/about.html

quasistar• 14 years ago

Both the app and the team made a strong impression on me. There is some real heat here. 3x3 is soo much better than double dating. And the 'bathroom intercourse' metrics are certainly a unique measure of 'penetration'.

Interested to hear what mechanics they are considering adopting to drive long term engagement. After all, who wants to bear the mark of having the reputation about town of being a 'serial grouperizer'.

Also, how do they plan to make money? Revenue share on the pre-paid date?

anateus• 14 years ago

I finally remembered what Grouper reminds me of! It's the fairly established practice of Gokon in Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gokon#Japan

eli_gottlieb2• 14 years ago

And so the demise of civilization continues.

Mind, you could just say that's my own cultural biases talking (I was socialized in a manner you could call the "equal opposite" to Japanese manners), but even when you ask the Japanese how much they like their modes of socialization and living... they mostly don't.

Why do we continue to import customs from sufferers of depression at the level of a national illness?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120212rp.html

EDIT: Very seriously, I'm not trying to start a flag-waving my country is better than yours contest, but I find it continually disturbing that happy countries are, by and large, ignored or ridiculed, while unhappy countries often export their mores, customs, and rules. For example, the very appearance of "group dating" as described in the article and in this comment thread pretty much demolishes the entire concept and point of dating: to get to know one person to the point of being able to form an intimate and (semi-)permanent emotional bond.

Apocryphon2• 14 years ago

"to get to know one person to the point of being able to form an intimate and (semi-)permanent emotional bond"

One would expect that this service is a springboard that would lead to such "traditional" dating.

drumdance• 14 years ago

A TechStars company called Ignighter tried this a few years ago. ISTR they had trouble getting it to "take" in the US but found that it took off in India. They may even have relocated there.

kumarm• 14 years ago

I think they rebranded (or pivoted) and stepout is their new name and completely India centric. http://www.stepout.com/

ahh• 14 years ago

Didn't I see press last year that this site couldn't find enough women to match with male clients, and just started hiring girls off Craigslist to show up for free drinks? Or was that another similar service?

Apocryphon2• 14 years ago

So this is sort of like a Meetup with no specific shared interest/activity, except a vaguely romantic objective?

j-s-f• 14 years ago

"Drinking" is the shared interest / activity.

mcdowall• 14 years ago

Great idea, this would definitely work in the UK

president• 14 years ago

Perhaps a name change would be advantageous, especially to avoid confusion with Groupon.

nlh• 14 years ago

I'd be more worried about the associations with the fish than I would with Groupon ;)

But seriously - I don't feel like this is an issue. There are several companies out there with group-based names (Groupon, Grouper, GroupMe - to name a few) and I don't think brand confusion is a huge issue -- yet.

jawngee• 14 years ago

I know people will be thinking I'm making a joke, cageface might even call me a douche, but I totally read the name as Groper the first few times.

Group dating site Grouper (YC W12) launches to 10 cities

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