These Amazon Employees Want To Help Busy Techies Find Love With Date A Dev Service

With the tech industry booming around the world and competition for top jobs as fierce as ever, many tech employees are working much longer hours and seeing their social, and dating, lives suffer as a result.

Having experienced this first hand while working at the notoriously intense environment at Amazon, two friends & work colleagues Mahvish Gazipura & Becca Goldman decided to help their fellow techies out by building a dating consultancy service called Date A Dev.

Rather than following the “outdated” world of matchmaking, the two Washington natives wanted to build a service that helps singles by utilising the dating platforms already out there, as well as coaching and giving advice to people about the world of modern dating.

As the Date A Dev founders told GDI when we spoke with them earlier this month, part of this vision is about ensuring their clients aren’t wasting time on the wrong platforms or ill suited matches, but instead optimising the dating landscape and being more efficient in their search for love.

Read our full interview with Date A Dev below:

Can you give us a brief description of Date A Dev and what it does?

Date A Dev is a dating consultation service targeted towards tech industry employees. Our goal is to help people with limited free time optimise their use of online dating to find the love of their life. We believe that everyone who is looking for a relationship should be online dating. We assist people in two ways. First, we will optimise their online dating profiles, spruce up their about me, connect them with a photographer to take better photos, etc. Next, we provide in-person coaching in real time. If someone is on a date and they need help, they can reach out to us and we can assist with questions & topics of conversation, for example.

How did the idea for the service come about? What are your backgrounds in?

The idea for the service came when we were talking to one of our friends about a first date he was planning. He invited a girl to a hot yoga class, and was trying to decide if he should bring her flowers or chocolate on the date. We immediately stopped him, since no one wants to be sweaty and gross on a first date, and also bringing chocolates and flowers is overkill in our opinion. After pointing him in a better direction, we knew that there were likely more men out there who needed help.

Our backgrounds are in marketing and sales, so we know how to position products in a way that makes people want to buy. In this case, our products are the men and women we are coaching.

Why did you choose to create a consultancy service as opposed to a dating site/app?

There are so many dating apps out there, and none of them are really that different from each other. So instead of creating another similar platform, we decided we wanted to help people optimise their use of the platforms that already exist. Becca has a lot of experience with online dating in her personal life and has used almost every platform out there, so she is very familiar with the intricacies of each.

Why did you choose the dev & tech niche for the service?

We chose the tech niche for our service because we are both Amazon employees. We are surrounded by techies on a daily basis and many of our friends are project managers and developers. We know these people, and we know we can help them to use their time more wisely. We want to help people like us succeed in the dating world.

When did the consultancy launch?

We launched mid-March so we are brand new and just getting our feet wet in the industry. We are working with a handful of people now to do A/B testing on their dating profiles to see what strategies work best.

Why do you think matchmakers are “outdated”? What makes you different from matchmakers?

We think that matchmakers are outdated because they are pulling from such a small pool of people. Sure, they may have 100 or 200 clients in their database that they could potentially set someone up with. However, Tinder, Bumble, OkCupid, PoF and the other dating apps out there have hundreds of thousands of potential suitors available. Why should someone pay a matchmaker for access to their small pond when the ocean is available to them for free?

Are there restrictions on who can use Date a Dev? Do you have to work in the tech industry to use the service?

Absolutely not. We are open to working with anyone from any background. However, we know the most about tech industry employees and their wants/needs, so that is our area of expertise.

How much does it cost? What packages do you offer?

You can view our packages here.

Where are you based? Does this influence the number of people who can join the service?

We are based in Seattle, WA. We are relatively local at the moment, but because we can conduct our business over video chat, phone and texting, we are open to working with people from all around the globe.

Do you believe people with careers in the tech industry are often more time-poor than those with other professions? If so, how does this affect their dating habits?

Yes. Amazon employees specifically are known to be grinders, and I am sure this goes for tech industry employees in general. These people spend most of their time in the office and with their limited free time, they are going on mediocre dates with people who don’t really know who they are or what they are looking for because their online dating profiles are often very vague. We want to correct this by showcasing their best selves and outlining what they are looking for in a match more specifically so that they can use their limited free time going on better dates.

Do you think that Date A Dev has the potential to grow and expand into new markets in the future?

Absolutely. We are already working on a bunch of expansion ideas. We can’t talk specifics at this time, but we are definitely planning on expanding.

What are your future plans for Date a Dev?

We are essentially creating a new industry, so the sky is the limit.

Check out Date A Dev here.