Dinner with E. Jean Carroll

Tonight I had the honor of meeting E. Jean Carroll over a lovely meal in Palo Alto. Every woman knows E. Jean from her long-standing dating and relationship column in ELLE Magazine, “Ask E. Jean.” E. Jean is not only incredibly witty, approachable, brilliant, fun, but tremendously talented and so so sweet! She truly is one impressive and COOL woman- and I don’t say that lightly or about a lot of people in general.

E. Jean and her business partner, Kenneth, run Tawkify– which is offline matchmaking and “a personal concierge to your dating life.” As matchmakers, we were laughing and commiserating with one another about running high-end matchmaking services….relating, agreeing, smiling, nodding, and at the end hugging goodbye.

What a joy it was and I hope we can all sync up again in the near future!

What’s Happening in Silicon Valley?

Are you watching HBO’s “Silicon Valley”- last night was the second episode. It’s comical and entertaining into the lives of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs trying to build the next big thing! According to journalist Evelyn M. Rusli with the Wall Street Journal, it is not exactly accurate in terms of how fundraising in Silicon Valley really works though.

We’ve been so inundated here at Linx lately and there is SO much excitement. I JUST got news of another Linx engagement today…..I am seriously on cloud 9 for them. He proposed 9 months after their very first Linx date! Yeay! Yeay!

I also got word of another couple having a baby together….from a match that was made years ago. There were break-ups involved and now they are seriously back together, happy as clams, and with a baby on the way soon! That’s life for you. It’s uncertain, crazy at times, completely exciting, and fun.

We have a lot of great new clients in the network and it keeps growing by the day. We are in the midst of planning a summer Link & Drink….I know….can you believe it? The demand is huge for the next event. It has been 2.5 years since an actual Linx soiree and this one is going to be huge, fabulous, and THE summer event of the season. Stay tuned.

We are also gearing up for a massive VIP search for one phenomenal Silicon Valley bachelor client of ours. He’s young, he’s a CEO, good looking, and ready for marriage and babies. Bay Area ladies, stay tuned for major updates about this exciting opportunity we will be announcing soon.

On a different note, a lot of people ask me for “the” places to check out in the Valley.

I am contacted by media pretty much weekly to ask me about the Rosewood Sand Hill hotel. My honest opinion is that it still has cache and its best asset is the real estate. On a warm summer night, I will say it is a ton of fun to go there with a carefree attitude and mingle on the deck with a diverse group of men and women of all ages, backgrounds and, of course, agendas! 😉 Thursday nights have shifted a bit. I have gone there and the older female crowd is definitely on the prowl, yet other Thursdays are younger women and older men. Certainly some young techies do go there to see “who” is there and sometimes they rub elbows with an older mature woman. Many younger women go there on the hunt for their future husbands as well.

Why go there? Well, I think the actual restaurant is excellent for “power breakfasts”- VCs, entrepreneurs unite to talk deals and enjoy a beautiful setting for a 60 min breakfast at the hotel. Has a sort of New York feel to it in the sense of being time efficient and a place to bang out ideas/deals over eggs and French pressed coffee. It is very popular for this. Dinners- my personal opinion is the food is lacking for a Michelin star, the prices are way too high, appetizers better than the entrees. Wine list $$$ and worth it? Mixed feelings. So go their for summer cocktails al fresco, power breakfasts to ink a business deal…..

And what about other trendy spots to check out in Silicon Valley? Lure + Till is brand new. I think it is a hot spot for cocktails, fun appetizers, and a trendy afterwork scene that draws a younger crowd. The dinner menu is pretty limited, the service needs some work. A lot of techies go there, so be prepared for a more casual crowd, hoodies and all!

Reposado is definitely a happening spot- packed every night for dinner and the bar scene is hopping. We are very excited for Delfina opening soon…

Let’s not forget about The Four Seasons Palo Alto. It certainly is considered on the “wrong” side of Palo Alto but eclipses the Rosewood in terms of service and I think quality and sophistication of food. The bar scene is great and I’d really like to see a sort of renaissance happen by getting more people there, who remember what a quality experience the Four Seasons is, and how they really bend over backwards to make your experience 5 star (plus)- whether you are enjoying a wonderful glass of wine on a date and their fabulous pizzas or higher-end inside Quattro with an exceptional menu and service.

The Pros and Cons of Online Dating

I‘m often asked if my clients should continue with online dating when they start their Linx memberships. If yes, what I feel is the biggest drawback to trying to find love on the Internet?

The biggest challenges are twofold – (1) the labor and time involved sifting through thousands of profiles; and (2) unverified information.

At the end of the day it is exhausting to have to sort through all of these profiles and to deal with the long, drawn out communication process of winks, emails, nudges, pokes, etc. But I think the bigger challenge is the fabrication of information on the site – you might be entering the online market with honest intentions of wanting to couple up and reach monogamy for the long term but you have no idea who is really on the other side.

It can be extremely disappointing not having the data and true insights into the person with whom you are communicating online and potentially to then meet in person. Is he/she as commitment minded as you or is he/she on the site to just “hook up” and be “super causal” where “sex is so easy” to get?

Online has helped create awareness for an offline, old world business like Linx but, on the other hand, it has caused people a lot of stress from the labor involved, fabrication of user profiles, no authenticating “who is who”, and often feeling online chemistry but offline when you meet is a whole other story.

At Linx, I personally get to know every new client and sit down with each member really delving deep so I can best help him/her…..at this stage in the game I’ve met thousands of people.

This week alone I have interviewed fascinating men and women (a venerable Silicon Valley techie, CEOs, and many other hard working dynamic types- in fact I am hoping to do a new blog entry about the SV legend asap). Something online cannot necessarily predict is chemistry. I understand human behavior and what makes two people mesh. Clients who have been doing a lot of high volume driven matchmaking online find the Linx approach and methodology particularly appealing and extremely personalized. This is after all about SLOWING DOWN and focusing on one extremely solid match at a time. I emphasize slowing down!

With the obvious perils into the world of online, I WOULD encourage you to keep your profiles up BUT the absolute key is to evaluate IF you have been getting the traction you desire. Are the “right” types for you landing in your inbox and if not, you should strongly consider doing a massive profile rewire to reboot yourself towards success.

We offer a lot of assistant as one of our many auxiliary services for clients at Linx to provide powerful insights into online dating. What will attract the man of your dreams and how do you hook them? What is a turn-off to women and a turn-on with profiles? Once you discover lots of emails in your inbox, what next? How to bridge online into real-life dating?

Amy Webb did a hilarious Ted Talk about hacking OK Cupid. The takeaway from her TED talk is that there is an algorithm for love, in fact it is something you write yourself. All you really have to do is figure out your ‘own’ framework and play by your own rules. Enjoy her talk below…insightful, funny, and provocative.

New Linx Testimonial ! 30-something exec female, Ivy League educated marries incredible man!

“I originally was introduced to Amy in Summer 2010 and heard about Linx from friends who had met and worked with Amy and were very impressed with her and the quality of Linx matches. Living in San Francisco I found it difficult to find the right match who was looking for the same long-term goals as myself. I had had long term relationships with great guys but ultimately the common theme was there were missing pieces for discussions of marriage or they simply where not in the right place to contemplate getting really serious.

I met Amy in June 2010 and the experience was surprisingly great. Her approach is straight forward, honest and she seemed to really get me. I knew this was a leap of faith and I felt in trusted hands and that she could increase my odds and what could I lose in doing this? If anything meet some nice new guys and make a few new friends. Linx placed me across from a few great guys that I would not have met otherwise. Even in the brief amount of time Amy spent me with in her office, she really hit the nail on the head of identifying good guys for me who shared the same goals, background, etc and I would never have met these guys in my normal course of life.

On match 7th, I met my husband. We shared our first date in San Francisco and I felt that he was interesting, cute and really easy to spend time with it just felt easy. We starting spending large amounts of time together very early on and it felt like things evolved very naturally without any stress or different goals he really seemed to understand me and loved me for me quirks and all.

He proposed on a ski trip, the site of our third date on our one year anniversary! He feigned exhaustion one night to stay at the hotel, he had shipped the ring to Colorado (without insurance, thank you FEDEX!) and was in a panic trying to hide it and conceal the surprise. I came back from the spa and the room was decorated with rose petals and my favorite food. When I asked why I was such a lucky girl he said it was to mark our one year anniversary together and then he proposed and ended up putting the ring on the wrong hand. So cute. It was amazing!!!

We married in summer 2013 and lived happily ever after (just kidding this is a true story!)

Linx is great as it opened up my horizons to meet people I would never normally have met, Amy is very professional intuitive and a joy to work with. I highly recommend her service!”