Taking The Waiting Out Of Dating – 3g Dating Agency Vs The Dragons

August 26 View Comments Category: Findings

Did you notice how quick the Dragon’s Den investors got rid of Romi Parmar from the 3G Dating Agency last night?

Romi presented a way for those looking for love to simply scan a barcode and be directed to the site.

Such a simple concept and one that embraces the new and super-exciting possibilities (as Tomi Ahonen writes about here)

The Dragon’s could arguably be seen as slightly short-sighted perhaps. After all, they based their entire judgement on the fact there were only 900 people using the service and none were matching up so far.

Peter Jones said: “I think you should give up – you’re not going to make any money”.

However, (and I look forward discussing this with Romi in person when we next speak at the same conference) the thing that bugs me the most is the quote of Romi himself on the BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/ (click on ‘What’s in the Den’) where he says – and this is an exact quote:

“It works on any handset, anywhere on this planet”

Those who know me will attest that I am a great believer in the ‘what is next’. I show the jaw-dropping Digital Korea on my recommended reading list but really and truly, the statement above is blatantly not true today UNLESS it is taken out of context.

I wish to God it were true but unfortunately we have a way to go yet…facing up to the reality in the present day will stop brilliant ideas being so short-lived as device capability is yet to catch up.

Romi – join this conversation and reply to this post if you get a chance. I would ask Peter but he seems to think the whole thing is a dead duck.

I don’t.

I just admire those like Romi (and the genius that is Tomi) who keep the agenda moving forward. Some clarity needed here though..

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  • Faster datings even better, why not search your adult personals at the highest speed that exists, online dating is awesome!
  • Question
    how much shilling did you get for blogging about this run-of-the-mill-mobile company Jonathan?
  • 1. I imagine the reason you post anonymously is that even you dont believe that your question is valid because

    2. I blog about a bunch of companies and have never taken a penny for doing so because

    3. I believe in furthering the market without bias and any company that is trying to push ahead is doing what all torchbearers do - keeping moving - as they realise that the only way to get where they are going is to keep moving
  • Question2
    I agree with Question, and think you protest too much…

    I saw the CEO from this very unremarkable company speaking at the Internet Dating Conference in London yesterday and I can assure you that the only reason you posted this article is because the agency you are working for is considering placing advertising with them. It’s probably not shilling you got but maybe an exclusive foot in the door for your advertisers!

    As to your points:

    There are other reasons people post anonymously including the fact that like me they work for companies that they don’t wish to become embroiled in petty disputes. I work for a leading Online Dating company and I can tell you we tested this concept in the market years ago and the business model is flawed (Mobile carriers are too greedy and take too many %’s)

    Asides from your shilling, how is this company a torchbearer? – mobile dating is already out there and has been done to exhaustion. Just take one look at the ad breaks on late night TV if you don’t believe me! Pure rubbish that’ll never catch on!
  • I love this bit:

    "I can assure you that the only reason you posted this article is because the agency you are working for is considering placing advertising with them"

    Fantastic.

    If only I had as much insight/power/influence.

    Its almost an honor you think I am in some way positioning some form of advertising placement.

    Unfortunately it is also the sentence that shows a complete lack of understanding of what I do.

    However - that aside - I am just happy we are conversing in these subjects. This was my sign off from the original post:

    "I just admire those like Romi (and the genius that is Tomi) who keep the agenda moving forward"

    I think you (Mr Anonymous) should see this discussion as an opportunity to bring new thought and brilliance rather than accusation.

    I think you should consider writing about what IS a sustainable model in your opinion rather than only presenting problems with others.

    I think you should see the sharing of thought and ideas as a great way of progressing the industry in which we all dwell.

    What say you?
  • Hey Romi

    Thanks for the rapid response.

    No great surprise I guess.

    The monster ego-machine probably detests anything that it can't understand - however, disruption requires people to not see things....

    Ironically you may be better of as a 'skip-over' rather than being analysed right now - however the PR benefit could have been useful.

    Seth Godin reminds us that the main thing that killed the original deluge of digital start-ups 7/8/9 years ago was the fact they thought they needed to spend millions on building a brand through advertising.

    The companies that succeeded didn't spend very much if anything at all because they created an 'idea-virus'.

    The brilliant services spread by word of mouse.

    30 second of free consulting:

    Romi - I put it to you that you don't need the dragons. You need:

    - more handsets capable (you cannot affect this)

    - less restrictive data charges (you cannot affect this)

    - a fan club of people who become your citizen marketing department (you can affect this).

    I am sure you have already looked into being the 'mobile arm' of some dating sites - maybe even looked into the newcomers like Ministry of Sound who stated in NMA a few weeks ago that this is a natural next step?

    No doubt you have looked into the strategic brand partnerships and label opportunities - all of which will help with your market placement.

    But above all this.....it is loyal evangelists you need, they will be worth more than any cash injection from greedy capitalists.

    Good luck out there Romi - I'm rooting for ya.
  • Hi Jonathan,

    Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately the BBC (quite unfairly to my mind) didn’t show any of my pitch and what viewers saw was simply me demonstrating how our QR code featuring logo can be read with any QR Code reading cameraphone.

    For the full pitch please visit our blog (blog.the3gdatingagency.com) where we’ve posted a transcript of it in light of requests from viewers who were disappointed because they didn’t see it broadcast.

    As with everything I am shown to say, the statement that bugs you is also taken out of context. What I infact said (during the pre-den “broadband” interview) was:

    “The 3G Dating Agency is a safe mobile Dating community for people with 3G Video Phones which can access the internet so it works on any handset anywhere in the world”

    Now on that actual statement I hope we’re in agreement because we have not found to date a single 3G Video Phone which can access the internet but cannot access our site. Unlike many other mobile data offerings access to The 3G Dating Agency requires no download or preinstallation to the device.

    Obviously there are a couple of occasions where restrictions would make this impossible eg. absence of network reception and operator 18+ restrictions on internet access.

    As I said in the pitch we are offering the service with a leading UK mobile phone retailer (see http://blog.the3gdatingagency.com/2008/06/23/th... ) and our in box “Guide to Mobile Dating” leaflet offers each and every one of the highly targeted 20-34 year old customers an out of the box mobile web experience.

    Once again thanks for your supportive comments,

    Romi...
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