Press Releases
theComplete.me Relaunches People Discovery Site as LikeIt.com™
0Raises $500K in Financing from Western Technology Investment
San Francisco, CA—January 17, 2012—theComplete.me Inc. today announced $500K in financing from Western Technology Investment and the launch of LikeIt™ (http://www.likeit.com), a fun way to discover people, places, and things via social graph interests and social games.
“We are thrilled to have the distinguished investor Western Technology Investment support our mission to help people connect through shared interests and friends,” said Brian Bowman, theComplete.me Inc. Founder and CEO.
Similar to Facebook’s new Graph Search beta product, LikeIt™ enables social people discovery, helping users connect to others who are talking about the things they like and share their attitudes. The LikeIt™ social graph—already more than 20 million people strong—expands people search beyond the Facebook network, allowing users to easily aggregate interests and activities from eight other social networks into their people-discovery experience. LikeIt™ considers a broad picture of a user’s preferences to make people recommendations, while saving the user the time of having to repeat movie reviews, music channels, favorite restaurants, and other interests from numerous other social sites. The site also uses social games to continually update users’ searchable interests and opinions.
How LikeIt™ Works:
- Users log-in using a Facebook account and share their favorite music, movies, books, hobbies, and sports across Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Photobucket, Flickr, Foursquare, and Goodreads
- The site uses fun social games to encourage people to share their interests, which are fed into a recommendation engine to present interesting people from around the world
- “Would You Rather” questions let users compare opinions on today’s hottest topics
- “Top Interests” encourages sharing of preferences for movies, sports, music, celebrities, food, books, and more.
- “SuperFan” challenges users to pick friends’ top interests, such as the San Francisco 49ers, Oscars®, and Adele
- “Who Wore It Best” lets users share fashion opinions and tastes
- Using intuition and compatible interests, users play matchmaker for single friends with FriendConnect™
- LikeIt™ is committed to privacy, is TRUSTe certified, and offers users control over who sees what and when
About LikeIt™
LikeIt™ is a fun way to discover people, places, and things. Founded by Brian Bowman (CEO), former VP Community Yahoo! & VP Product Match.com, and Shashikant Joshi (CTO), former Founder/CTO Perfode. The LikeIt™ startup team and Board of Advisors include Braughm Ricke, former CFO True Ventures, Craig Allen, CEO Spark Interactive, Fran Maier, Co-founder of Match.com, and Neal Sample, Former VP Open Social Yahoo! Investors include: Intel Capital; PlentyOfFish; CrunchFund; Western Technology Investment; Russ Siegleman; Ben T. Smith IV; Social Starts, LLC; and Spark Unlimited, Inc.
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Contact: Brian Bowman, LikeIt.com™
Email: brian@likeit.com
Twitter: @Likeitapp
New York Post and why theComplete.me is different
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Nice to pick up some press for theComplete.me from the NY Post.
When Lesley Workman decided to meet up with a prospective Romeo from OkCupid, the 30-something Internet entrepreneur noticed something wrong on first sight. “He looked at least 10 years older than his profile picture,” she says.
It’s become a loathsome part of the dating process. You spot an online cutie, develop some excellent chat banter and arrange an IRL (“in real life”) meeting with Angel214 or Casanova2012 only to be disappointed by what can most generously be called “discrepancies” in their profiles.
Workman nixed one suitor whose true personality was revealed via Facebook. He “uploaded a photo of a girl in a G-string bikini on a bike on his profile,” she says. “That extra information is why I had no interest in entertaining a conversation with him.”
After her run-in with the Dorian Gray-like dude, Workman joined theComplete.me. Since then, she’s ignored her OkCupid account because the site’s users share interests and other information via verified Facebook accounts.
“The goal is to mimic the way singles meet when they’re not in front of the computer,” says Brian Bowman, founder and CEO of theComplete.me. It also allows daters to weed out unwanted advances, like philanderers looking for a covert fling.
Julie Spira, self-proclaimed cyber-dating expert and author of the book “The Perils of Cyberdating” says sites like these are likely to become the new Internet standard for love seekers.
“People want to verify now,” says Spira, who coaches singles and even writes profiles for her clients. “The next generation of people dating online are looking for a real connection.”
That includes your real name and maybe a couple of references from your real friends.
To read the full article, click here.
theComplete.me Taps Braughm Ricke As Interim CFO
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theComplete.me Taps Braughm Ricke As Interim CFO
Former CFO at True Ventures, Ricke will Oversee Financial Reporting and Help Guide A-Round Fundraising
San Francisco, CA – Apr 30, 2012—Social dating network, theComplete.me™ (www.theComplete.me), announced today that Braughm Ricke has joined the organization as interim chief financial officer. As an experienced financial executive with a focus on seed and early-stage startups, Ricke will provide theComplete.me with the guidance and financial systems needed to take the organization through the startup period and A-round fundraising process.
Ricke is the Founder of Aduro Advisors and was a founding member and CFO at True Ventures, where he provided financial and operational support to True Venture’s portfolio companies. Prior to True Ventures, Ricke was Controller at 5am Ventures and Controller at Sofinnova Ventures.
“We are thrilled that Braughm has joined theComplete.me team to help us plan for the rapid growth period ahead of us,” said Brian Bowman, Co-founder and CEO theComplete.me. “Braughm will help us implement the right amount of financial process, reporting and structure as we scale our business.”
“I am extremely excited to be working with an exceptional and experienced team, tackling a market that is ripe for innovation,” said Ricke. “ I look forward to helping theComplete.me grow to a business of significant scale.”
About Aduro Advisors
Aduro Advisors is a strategic financial services company, founded by Braughm Ricke, focused on assisting Venture Funds and companies in the seed and early stage community. Products include Fund administration and formation, fundraising advice, strategic financial modeling, basic accounting services, and online accounting and financial tools. The company’s mission is to increase the probability of success by building a strong financial foundation for Funds and companies at the earliest phases of development. Through innovation, deep industry relationships, and domain expertise, Aduro will be the premier provider of strategic financial services.
About theComplete.me
theComplete.me is the first social dating network. The site helps singles easily share who they are using their interests, experiences and mutual friends from their social networks, with complete control over who sees what and when. Founded by Brian Bowman (CEO), former VP Product Match.com & VP Community Yahoo!, and Shashikant Joshi (CTO), former Founder/CTO Perfode, theComplete.me startup team and Board of Advisors include Fran Maier, Co-founder of Match.com, Trish McDermott, former VP Public Relations Match.com, and other former Match.com and Internet executives. Early investors include: Intel Capital; PlentyOfFish; CrunchFund; Russ Siegleman; Ben T. Smith IV; Social Starts, LLC; Spark Unlimited, Inc.; Parker Coddington; Kevin Henrikson; Ali Jahangiri; William Lohse; and Konstantin Othmer.
Connect with theComplete.me on www.theComplete.me, follow on Twitter @thecompleteme, visit blog.theComplete.me
theComplete.me Social Dating Network Raises $1.25 Million Seed Round Including Intel Capital, PlentyOfFish, CrunchFund, and Prominent Angels
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San Francisco, CA—April 16, 2012—Recently launched social dating network, theComplete.me™ (www.theComplete.me), announced today a $1.25 million seed round which includes Intel Capital, PlentyOfFish, and CrunchFund, with prominent angel investors: Russ Siegelman; Ben T. Smith IV; Social Starts, LLC; Spark Unlimited, Inc.; Parker Coddington; Kevin Henrikson; Ali Jahangiri; William Lohse; and Konstantin Othmer. The company will use the funding to support customer acquisition efforts, continue to build key site features, launch a mobile product and grow the team.
“We are thrilled to have distinguished investors Intel Capital and CrunchFund, as well as PlentyOfFish, the global leader in online dating, join our seed round and support our mission to socialize online dating with real identities, comprehensive privacy controls and matching through shared interests and mutual friends,” said Brian Bowman, theComplete.me™ Founder and CEO. Formerly Vice President Product at Match.com, and Vice President Community at Yahoo!, Bowman has recruited key online dating industry executives for theComplete.me’s™ startup team and Board of Advisors.
“theComplete.me™ is the first service to get social network dating right,” said Christine Herron, Investment Director, Intel Capital. “They leverage the unique capabilities of the social graph to drive not only personalized discovery, but also friction-free interaction between users.”
“We believe online dating is ready for a major disruption,” said Markus Frind, CEO PlentyOfFish. “-and we like the unique approach tried by thecomplete.me.”
“Online dating is a stagnant industry begging to be disrupted,” said Michael Arrington, Partner, CrunchFund. “theComplete.me™—this team and this product—are going to do that.”
theComplete.me™ leverages the social and interest graph of eight social networks, and allows users to maintain anonymity while pulling in their many interests from around the Web, to create a visual and interest-rich dating profile. Members customize a FraME™, a collage of images and videos, for each of their interest areas. FraMEs™ commonly represent a member’s likes, affiliations, aspirations and friend connections.
Unlike traditional dating services, theComplete.me™ members can use their real social identities on the site and are offered complete privacy control over what, when, and with whom, they share. Each member earns a .Me Score™, based on the degree to which they have shared, and the likeliness of authenticity. This combination of interest matching and identity auditing helps singles make meaningful and informed connections.
About theComplete.me™
theComplete.me™ is a social dating network where singles discover people who share their true interests and mutual friends. Founded by Brian Bowman (CEO), former VP Product Match.com & VP Community Yahoo!, and Shashikant Joshi (CTO), former Founder/CTO Perfode, theComplete.me startup team and Board of Advisors include Fran Maier, Co-founder of Match.com, Trish McDermott, former VP Public Relations Match.com, and other former Match.com and Internet executives. Early investors include: Intel Capital; PlentyOfFish; CrunchFund; Russ Siegleman; Ben T. Smith IV; Social Starts, LLC; Spark Unlimited, Inc.; Parker Coddington; Kevin Henrikson; Ali Jahangiri; William Lohse; and Konstantin Othmer.
Connect with theComplete.me on www.theComplete.me, follow on Twitter @thecompleteme, visit blog.theComplete.me.
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Contact: Trish McDermott, theComplete.me
Email: trish@thecomplete.me
Cell: 707-529-1509
theComplete.me Social Dating Network Launches Beta Site, Introduces “Interest Matching”
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theComplete.me Social Dating Network Launches Beta Site, Introduces “Interest Matching”
San Francisco, CA – Mar 12, 2012—theComplete.me™ (www.theComplete.me), the Internet’s first social dating network, announced today the launch of a free Beta service. Singles can now tap eight social sites to create a visually-representative dating profile from the updates, photos, interests and friends they are already sharing. The site’s users also have Pinterest-like control over the personalization of their profile with content from around the Web. Rather than relying on matching algorithms to analyze a check list of a user’s traits, singles on theComplete.me connect, and begin conversations, based on shared interests and mutual friends.
theComplete.me is the first dating site to leverage Facebook’s social and interest graph, and also allow users to pull in interests from around the Web, to create a visually richer, more open and reciprocal online dating experience. The site’s users customize a FraME™—a collage for each of their interests, affiliations, aspirations and people connections—to demonstrate who they really are. While theComplete.me has an environment of openness and sharing, users are offered complete control over what, and with whom, they share. Each member earns a .Me Score™, based on the degree to which they have shared, and the likeliness of authenticity. This unique combination of interest matching and identity auditing helps singles make more meaningful and informed connections.
As the Internet moves towards hyper-personalization, theComplete.me is poised to let singles tell the complete story of who they are, with all the aspirational subtleties and interest nuances that can’t be captured on a check list. While anyone can check a box on a dating site that says they have a great sense of humor, it doesn’t mean that other singles will find them funny. With interest matching, singles can connect with someone who enjoys “nice” funny, like Ellen DeGeneres,” ice “funny, like Ann Coulter, “class-clown” funny, like Jim Belushi, or “edgy” funny, like Chris Rock.
How It Works:
- In less than five minutes, users create a visual rich dating profile from the social media they already use, including: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Photobucket, Flickr, Foursquare, Goodreads and Instagram.
- FraMEs give singles Pinterest-like control over profile personalization.
- Profiles automatically evolve as users add interests and comments, or update social media feeds.
- Like a Friend™ feature allows singles to express interest and invite members’ friends to join.
- Members can see the other dating sites being used by people in the Me Network™, including Match.com, Zoosk, eHarmony and Badoo, and can communicate with them for free on theComplete.me.
- Communication is 100% free.
Contact: Trish McDermott, theComplete.me
Email: trish@ thecomplete.me
Cell: 707-529-1509
