Founders // Operators // Investors // Product teams

Dating
App

How to build, survive and thrive in the world's most human tech industry.

By Michael O'Sullivan, founder of HubPeople.

Hardback edition launches 17 July. AI Markdown edition coming soon.

Join the waiting list

Loved by Entrepreneurs

Dating App Book Cover

Built from

20+ years of industry experience

Covers

Product, Traffic and Monetisation

Includes

Founder and Operator Interviews

For

Anyone building in dating tech

Why this book //

The dating app category is simple to enter and hard to survive.

Most founders arrive with a sharp product idea. Fewer arrive with a clear view of churn, acquisition costs, payments, trust and safety, user liquidity, moderation, fraud and investor expectations.

This is the strange economics that make dating unlike almost any other digital product — and the work that decides whether a community lasts.

Build the dating app business,
not just the app.

Get the practical guide to building, surviving and thriving in the world's most human tech industry.

Industry voices //

Insight from the founders and operators who built the category.

Perspective from six of dating's most experienced founders, operators and CEOs, spanning matchmaking, AI dating, and mass-market and niche platforms across the US and Europe.

Lydia Hoey, née Davis

Matchmaking Director, Maclynn. Founder of Toffee Dating, the private-school dating app that sparked a national conversation about class and niche communities in the UK.

Zackary Lewis

Founder & CEO, Unpack'd Technologies. Creator of Say Allo and DiHola, a video-first AI dating app and a dedicated platform for Hispanic and Latino singles.

Markus Frind

Founder, PlentyOfFish. Built POF solo from his apartment in 2003, grew it to 140 million users, and sold to Match Group for $575 million in 2015.

David Vermeulen

Founder & CEO, Inner Circle. Built one of Europe's most recognised curated dating brands, bootstrapped, profitable and still privately owned.

Matthew Gain

CEO, ParshipMeet Group (eharmony, Parship, LOVOO). A former Audible executive who brought an outsider's lens to two of dating's most established brands.

Carsten Boeltz

CEO, Online Personals Group (Be2, C-Date, Academic Singles, Singles50). Over two decades building and running one of Europe's most durable portfolios of dating businesses.

What's inside //

A clear map of the dating app business.

From the foundations of dating economics through to acquisition, operations, interviews and the future of AI in matchmaking.

Part I

Foundations

Economics, churn, community, positioning and what you're really building.

Part IV

Operating and growing

CRM, notifications, fraud, safety, compliance, billing, support and moderation.

Part II

Building the product

Build to buy, architecture, features, matching and monetisation.

Part V

Industry insight

Interviews with dating operators, founders and leaders across the category.

Part III

Acquiring users

Traffic, attribution, analytics, lenders, funnels and pre-landers.

Part VI

The future

AI, automation and what dating apps can — and can't — replace.

"Refreshingly candid. The operating manual our industry has been missing. In 25+ years advising dating companies, I've never seen the whole playbook — economics, product, growth, operations and exits — laid out this clearly. Read it before you do anything else. O'Sullivan runs one of the largest dating networks on earth, so every page is hard-won. The clear case for why niche beats broad and how to build a sustainable community."

Mark Brooks CEO, Courtland Brooks & Matchnomad.com

"A must-read for every aspiring entrepreneur in the online dating sector drawn from nearly 20 years’ experience in the industry. Michael’s ability to unlock the secrets to building a business that lasts gives founders a simple, yet effective blueprint for success."

Simon Newman CEO, The Online Dating and Discovery Association

"Dating apps aren’t just about technology...they’re about so much more. Michael reveals what it really takes to build, survive, and thrive in one of the world’s most growing, challenging and rewarding industries."

Lydia Hoey, née Davis Matchmaking Director, Maclynn

What you'll learn //

The questions most dating founders ask too late.

01

How do dating app economics actually work?

Why churn, acquisition cost and upgrade rate matter from day one.

03

What makes a dating brand commercially viable?

Why niche focus, audience resonance and user liquidity can matter more than features.

02

Should you build, buy or use white-label?

How to think about technical ambition without burning the business too early.

04

What can sink a dating app after launch?

Fraud, safety, moderation, payment risk, support and the operational work behind the swipe.

Get the book //

Start building the business, not just the app.

The complete, hard-won playbook for dating tech: economics, product, growth, operations and exits.

Michael O'Sullivan

About the author //

Michael O'Sullivan is an entrepreneur, engineer and founder of HubPeople, one of the world's leading white-label dating platforms. For over twenty years he has helped entrepreneurs launch and scale thousands of online dating communities, giving him a front-row seat to the evolution of one of the internet's most fascinating industries.

As a board member of the Online Dating and Discovery Association (ODDA), Michael works alongside industry leaders to improve trust, safety and standards across online dating. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin in engineering and mathematics, he previously worked in enterprise software supporting projects ranging from satellite communications to genomic research before turning his attention to startups and digital communities.

Today Michael combines his passion for technology with an unusual second career as a qualified commercial marine captain, transporting engineers to remote Scottish lighthouses.

Michael O'Sullivan Entrepreneur, engineer and founder of HubPeople

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