A Valentine Special Interview with Hu Yinghan, founder of Hitchoo.com

SG Entrepreneurs wishes everyone a happy Valentine’s Day. Of course, since we are into entrepreneurship, what better way to get an entrepreneur who has started a business based on online dating for an interview. So, Hu Yinghan, the founder of Hitchoo.com will tell us about his story and what Hitchoo is about and how it helps lonely souls out there to find their other half with their online and offline platform.

BL: Hi Yinghan, thank you for the interview. Tell us about your background and what inspired you to start up Hitchoo.com?
Yinghan: I studied law at Oxford University before joining GIC as an investment associate for 6 months. I left in 2007 to found Hitchoo.com because I want to create something, to build something of my own. In addition, starting up is fun and exhilarating.

BL: Hitchoo is an online dating service, how does it distinguish itself from known dating services companies both the offline and online world?
Yinghan: Major online dating sites all use one single, basic model: singles create a profile, search through the site’s membership base, messages the person/s he or she is interested in, and waits for the reply. This often causes user frustration due to no reply/ slowness of reply. In addition, after long email exchanges, one is unsure whether one is able to go on an actual date. Hitchoo resolves all this user frustration by using an auction-like mechanism to allow singles to arrange dates so much quicker.

In short, Hitchoo is about users choice:

• * Singles choose who and where to go on a date (instead of attending blind speeddating events)
• * Singles choose the best day and time for them to go on a date
• * Suitable for girls as they can choose to go on group dates instead of single dates
• * Users choose who pays for the dates, so, one can possibly go on free dates, forever!

We also don’t really like the traditional offline dating model like speed dating because before arriving at the venue, singles have no idea who will turn up. In contrast, at Hitchoo, the event creator selects who to go out with based on their Hitchoo profiles, reducing the surprise factor.

BL:What are the interesting online services that Hitchoo provide for people who are seeking dates out there?
Yinghan: The defining feature of Hitchoo is our auction-based, activity-based, matching system: by coming to Hitchoo, singles know at one shot which are all the dates happening in Singapore (or any other city for that matter) right at this moment. A short and clear explanation can be found in here.

BL: We heard of the Hitchoo $100 challenge for Valentine’s Day 2008. What is that about?
Yinghan: Hitchoo’s US$100 challenge started in Jan this year, and it is a challenge to all Singaporeans: get a date by Valentine’s Day, or get US$100 from us! How it works is that singles create 4 events, and bid for 5 events. If he/ she still cannot get a date by V day, we will pay out US$100 to him/ her. This Challenge shows the confidence we have in our system, that singles are able to go on a date so much faster as compared to other dating sites.

BL: Given that dating service companies are very competitive and demand a lot on user base, what are your strategies to cope with the increasing competition?
Yinghan: Hitchoo is able to compete because our system is more user-focused than other sites: we make it a lot less frustrating/ painful for singles to go on date. This strategy has served us well as many Singaporeans like our auction-based system: launched only in Dec 2007, we now have 2971 members, making us, unofficially, one of the largest local dating sites in Singapore (a real time counter of how many members there are on Hitchoo can be found on the top left corner of the website )

BL: How do you usually get your word out there to the lonely singles?
Yinghan: Hitchoo likes to liven things up, make dating more fun and friendly, example is our Hitchoo card previously, and now, our ‘Hit-List’. These interesting things that we do help to get people talking about us, so that’s the main way we promote ourselves.

In addition, for this Valentine’s Day, we also did something unusual for a start-up: advertising extensively via MRT. Our ads have been running at Raffles Place MRT prior to Vday, and we have feedback that commuters love the creative use of our logo (2 stick men) . The reason why we advertised at Raffles Place MRT is because busy working professionals do not have the time to spend writing long emails; hence, a dating site like Hitchoo suits their needs perfectly (See picture below).

BL: Is there anyone who has gotten engaged or married through your services?
Yinghan: We do know that many people go out on dates (more than 250 dates already created), but no one is engaged or married yet: Hitchoo’s Hit-list has only been launched for 1.5 months!

BL: What are the three most important traits you believe that a young entrepreneur needs to have?
Yinghan: Creativity and determination.

BL: So, you need two instead of three to be a young entrepreneur. A final question: What do you see the future of online dating services going?
Yinghan: Online dating is set to become more and more popular as there is now no longer such a big stigma of meeting someone online. Online singles are also becoming more sophisticated and they demand more than the simple message-and-wait model provided by most dating sites.

BL: We wish you and your team in Hitchoo all the best for the future. Once again, thank you for the interview on Valentine’s Day.

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