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His name is Brandon Wade. This year, the 45-year-old hairline is a little receded, tall and thin, and she usually wears a plaid shirt and jeans, and a pair of gray-rimmed glasses. It may be difficult for people who don't recognize him to imagine thisA man with a nerdy and unattractive appearance,He founded and operated several dating sites that were considered pimping--- Seeking Arrangement.
"There is no true love in the world."
The person who said this created an empire of dating sites with an annual turnover of $30 million。 "I mean, there is no 'true love' of love at first sight and deer bumping into each other." He put his hands on his chest and shook them exaggeratedly a few times, mimicking the heartbeat.
"True love is a concept invented by the poor"
His name is Brandon Wade. This year, the 45-year-old hairline is a little receded, tall and thin, and she usually wears a plaid shirt and jeans, and a pair of gray-rimmed glasses. It may be difficult for those who don't recognize him to imagine that this nerdy, unattractive man single-handedly founded and operated a number of dating websites that were considered pimping -Seeking Arrangement, which is designed to match the generous godfather (sugar daddy) and the sugar baby (sugar baby) who is being fostered; Seeking Millionaire, male users are all millionaires； Miss Travel, which is specially sponsored by men and women to escort free of charge; What's Your Price, a clearly marked auction date; Open Minded for looking for 3P, 4P objects.
Among them, Seeking Arrangement, which promotes foster relationships, has the highest profit. The successful godfather is willing to pay gifts, gifts, and date a young and sexy sugar baby.
Currently,There are about 4 million sugar babies and 1.2 million registered godfathers on the website, located in 139 countries around the world, of which 25% of godfathers are married。 "The so-called true love is a concept invented by the poor." In Wade's view, the poor are easy to fall in love, but only the rich can easily express love in different ways.
"True love is to solve problems for each other and take what they need." He smiled slyly. You should study hard, laterIf you succeed, you don't have to worry about not having a girlfriendThe core concept of the website comes from a piece of advice from her mother to Wade, who was in love 30 years ago.
Wade was born into a Singaporean Chinese family, and his Chinese name is Wei Li, which means "independent". He has been a top student since he was a child, won the Olympiad Grand Prize, and was admitted to the Department of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after graduating from high school. But this gifted student has an unspeakable secret: he doesn't know anything about pursuing girls. At the age of 17, Wade planned to confess to his long-time female classmate, but he made a big somersault in front of the girl. "When I got up, I accidentally stepped on her!" After he stood up, his face was like a red-hot iron block, red and hot. The courage to save for a long time is only enough for him to say the vague "I am shy". The girl laughed the whole time. "From then on, every time I saw her from a distance, I turned around and ran away."
Wade, who earned a high-paying job in a technology company after graduating with a master's degree, is still not on a good road. In order to help him find a girlfriend, he created his own dating website in 2006 with the theme of foster care and became the first registered member.
"Don't you think this is in line with traditional Asian dating culture? Men are responsible for pampering women. Wade said.
"How many sugar babies have you dated?"
Too many. He smiled mysteriously.
"I'm happy, but I want more"
Chelsey, 25, has curly blonde hair and delicate makeup, wearing a tight little vest that exposes a navel and a short skirt with a slit. The first time she heard the term sugar baby was only a year ago. "I thought it sounded so strange!" Chelsey said with a sweet smile.
However, she quickly became addicted. "I tried it for the first time, and then I couldn't stop." That time, she had dinner with a New York godfather, and when she got home, she opened her handbag and found that there was $1,000 more in it. Before becoming a sugar baby, she worked as a waiter in a restaurant for $8 an hour.
During the year Chelsey dated her godfathers, she received about $250,000 in a foster care allowance, which she used to pay off her college student loans.
According to statistics, more than 70% of college graduates in the United States in 2015 were burdened with student loans, with an average loan of $35,500. About 1.4 million of the sugar babies enrolled in Seeking Arrangement are female college students, who receive an average of $3,000 worth of gifts and allowances per month.
"Be a sugar baby, say goodbye to student loans" is a marketing strategy promoted by Wade's team, many of whom are from prestigious universities such as New York University and Columbia University.
"I'm happy, but I want more." Chelsey let out another silver bell laugh. Today, she is intensively preparing to create her own fashion clothing brand. "My brand will follow the Kardashian style, and several goddads are helping me, and I will open stores in Las Vegas and California in the future."
According to an article circulating on the Internet called "Sugar baby Golden Rule", it is reminded that you should always have a Plan B (backup plan) and not just rely on the foster care allowance to survive. Now Chelsey is dating 12 godfathers at the same time, from 30 to 60 years old, from doctors to businessmen in finance, real estate, gambling, and catering. She once dated three godfathers named Todd at the same time, and when she sent a message on her mobile phone, she accidentally made a mistake. "Fortunately, they didn't notice." Chelsey said, reaching out to cover her laughing mouth.
For those married godfathers, Chelsey will pay special attention and never take the initiative to contact them. "Married people usually don't need much attention, they just want to have a beautiful girl and play with him from time to time." Article 7 of the "Golden Rule of Sugar baby", don't be clingy, protect the privacy of your godfather, and never expose the relationship on social media.
For all godfathers who intend to take care of them,Chelsey almost never refuses, married, ugly, and old are not a problem. "Only people with weird personalities, alcoholics, and going to bed on the first date, I'll never see them again."
Is it to find love?
Wade said his website has strict user filtering and reporting mechanisms, and malicious users who harass others and attempt prostitution are removed. His branch in Ukraine is responsible for user authentication, and every uploaded photo and every bio is reviewed by a real person.
On the wall of the branch office hangs a photo of a blacklisted American man. It is said that he could not afford to pay the promised pension, but he was addicted to dating sugar baby, causing many money disputes. He has registered as a clone on the website many times and has been repeatedly removed. "This website is a tool, like a sharp knife, it can be said that it is dangerous or useful."Wade and his subordinates gave the same standard answer when faced with acute ethical questions about foster relationships: "It's all about how you use this tool. If you use it incorrectly, we'll kick you off the site. ”
Women who try to exchange sex for money are also kicked out of the siteHowever, this filter does not seem to be seamless. In 2013, a 51-year-old Google executive "godfather" died violently on his private yacht in California, and the 26-year-old sugar baby who accompanied him was accused of injecting him with heroin and leaving the scene without calling the police for help when he reacted negatively to the drug. After investigation, the woman was a professional call girl.
Chelsey does not consider her behavior to be synonymous with prostitution. "I date men who help me financially, just like people get boyfriends. Dating multiple people at the same time? Many people do. Chelsey's face bloomed with a sweet smile again. In her opinion, in a general couple's relationship, the woman often accepts the man to pay for dinner and travel, and to give flowers and gifts.
"Of course, I took this to an extreme level." Sexual relationships are also part of Chelsey's money-giving foster relationship with 12 godfathers, so the line between prostitution and dating becomes blurred.
Chelsey said.I didn't have sex with every godfather, and sex didn't involve money transactions。 “If I sleep with them, it's because I want to sleep with them. ”These goddads never rewarded them with money for sex, but they would give her sexy lingerie as a gift. Wade has repeatedly emphasized that having sex is not an inevitable thing in dating, but should be a consensual decision between two adults.
Although she doesn't consider herself a prostitute, Chelsey admits that she loves money: "I'm a gold digger, and I don't think there's anything shameful about it," Chelsey put away her previous smile and said calmly, "I'm happy, and the men are also happy, it's a win-win." ”
"Just because sex and money are involved at the same time doesn't mean it's prostitution." Wade once defended his foster website on a popular American talk show, but it drew a burst of boos from the scene. His website has been criticized in the United States, and "most of the reports against us are negative." Not only was Sugar Baby pushed to the forefront, but the golden godfather was also accused of using money to buy love.
Do people sign up on this dating site to find love? "The ultimate goal of every sugar baby is to marry a sugar daddy." Chelsey defended the sugar babies in this way. However, none of the registered godfathers on the website contacted by Duan Media were willing to be interviewed.
Wade said that many people are looking for love on his website. Even if some people just want to have fun, love chemistry can happen when you least expect it. He said that many couples who met on the site eventually got married. "But if you're just looking for someone to marry, sign up for eHarmony."
You show off your appearance, I show off my wealth
eHarmony, a mainstream dating website in the United States, claims to have 542 couples getting married every day, and they met through eHarmony. Each registered user will have to answer a large number of questions about personality, personal habits, ideal object. In the 15 years since its establishment, the website has facilitated a total of 2 million couples, and the divorce rate is only 3.86%, which is far lower than the average divorce rate of about 30% in the United States. eHarmony's revenue in 2014 was $275 million, nearly ten times the combined revenue of Wade's five websites.
InterActiveCorp, the world's first dating site, now has the largest market share of dating sites in the United States, at 21.8%. Its websites such as Match.com, Tinder, and OKCupid are considered tools for finding one-night stands because of their emphasis on user appearance, in addition to helping people find love. Among them, Tinder's app page is designed to be simple and easy to understand, only showing the user's photo, name and age, if the viewer is not interested in this user, just swipe right, and the page will not appear again. Otherwise, swipe left, and if the other person is also interested, the two parties can start a conversation. Choosing a mate requires a swipe of your fingertips, and it can be done in less than a second.
Wade tried many dating sites in his early years, and even patronized marriage agencies, all to no avail. "My comparative advantage is career and net worth." But in the traditional dating website Wang Yang, which puts appearance first, he was swept past and sank to the bottom of the sea. "That's why I designed an income-focused dating site." Wade said.
He also created the function of verifying godfather's assets and income, and several father users can issue valid documents such as tax bills and real estate certificates to prove that their annual income and net worth declared on the website are true, and their accounts will be added with a diamond icon and become the diamond club members recommended by the website.
Chelsey insists that true love is a necessary condition for marriage. She has rejected the marriage proposals of several godfathers who have had successful careers but are "a little strange". "I have no chemistry with them." She said that future husbands don't have to have a lot of money, as long as they are motivated and goal-oriented. "I want to be a successful woman and not depend on my future partner."
However, now that her career is just starting, she doesn't mind clinging to a few big money trees. Chelsey uses being fostered as a springboard for life. "Meet more successful men, travel, and make your business dreams come true."
"Maximize the effectiveness of the foster relationship" is the eighth rule of Sugar baby's golden rule. When she first started as a sugar baby, Chelsey enjoyed eating, drinking, and not saving much money, but now she values her godfathers more for helping her in her career.
"It's like a network." Wade said that some relationships can turn into friends without a romantic spark.
Chelsey doesn't have a boyfriend, and she doesn't feel in love with her godfather who is dating. For her, this may be more like a job that does not involve personal feelings, but is limited to acting and companionship. "I work this job every day and chat with my godfather." The second golden rule of Sugar baby, do your job well and be patient.
She boasts that "being able to have in-depth conversations with godfathers" is the most important reason why she has become a popular sugar baby. "They don't like superficial girls who only love to party."
In addition to responding to Godfather's messages in a timely manner, Chelsey's job also includes eating food, drinking, and even going to the gym with her godfather. She also vacations with her godfather and "travels" several times a month, visiting the Bahamas, Hawaii, New York, Seattle, etc. Chelsey said she doesn't share a room with her godfathers when she travels, with occasional exceptions. "If I meet my godfather who I like very much and have dated many times, I have spent a good night with them."
Her bio page on the website writes that she looks for reciprocal relationships with "no transaction fees" and not strictly restricted. She describes herself as "adventurous, toned, natural, and flirtatious," a small-town girl looking for a faster pace of life.
In May of this year, she moved from her sparsely populated hometown in Montana to Las Vegas, where she was drunk because "this is the godfather capital of the United States", which made it convenient for her to receive godfathers from all over the world who came to the casino for entertainment and business.
At the end of the interview, it was about nine o'clock in the evening, and the night in the casino had just begun. She hurriedly disappeared into the dazzling night in high heels to go on a date with a Dubai godfather who came to see her. Next week, Chelsey will accompany him on a vacation to the Caribbean.
Godfathers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan
It is estimated that there are 2,500 dating sites in the United States, generating $2.4 billion in revenue each year.A survey in September found that about 50 million Americans have used dating sites. There are about 15,000 dating sites worldwide, most of which are based on geographic location, ethnicity, interests, religion, sexual orientation, occupation, and dating sites that attract members with specific political affiliations. Foster and cheating websites are one of the branches.
In June this year, the user information of the cheating dating website Ashley Madison was leaked, causing an uproar. Wade posted a message on the homepage of each of its websites: "We care about your privacy, and all account information is encrypted. Still, many site members only upload photos of themselves without showing their faces or with mosaics.
In addition to appearance, age, tobacco and alcohol habits, marital status, users can also filter the godfather's annual income, net worth, and the amount of allowance he is willing to provide.
The media reporter searched by region and net assets, and found that there were respectively1,371 godfathers in Chinese mainland, 50 godfathers in Hong Kong and 178 godfathers in Taiwan, claiming to have a net worth of more than $1 million.
One of the male users from Chinese mainland had a personal introduction that read: You chose me back then, and now I pick you.
The Chinese version of the website "Sweetheart Appointment" currently has about 15,000 godfathers and 37,000 sugar baby users. The ratio of male and female users is about 1:2.6.
The average annual income of Chinese godfathers is $260,000, and the average monthly support allowance is about 15,000 yuan.The average age of sugar babies and godfathers in China is 24 and 34 years old, respectively. Sugar baby is free to use, and godfathers pay at least $70 per month, and if you choose a more expensive plan, the website will highlight its page.
"Chinese girls should be like my mother said, hoping to associate with men with strong financial ability."Wade feels that the concept of foster care in China will not be acclimatized, but will conform to tradition, just like in his family, since his parents got married, his father has paid for his mother's household regularly.
"Sweetheart Appointment" currently has an annual operating income of more than one million US dollars. Wade is very bullish on the Chinese market, and he expects turnover in Greater China to increase to $10 million in one to two years, making it the second largest market after the United States. He believes that there are more and more Chinese Chelseys who are economically abundant and pursue a glamorous life, and his business is promising.
"Everyone wants to live the Kardashian life." Wade said.
Vincent Liu, the site's public relations director for Asia, admits that the website's dating model is derived from American culture, while China has a very different cultural heritage and social structure. "But whether it's China or the United States, people have emotional needs." He said that there have long been websites with the same concept and more sensitive positioning in China, and the advantages of "Sweetheart Appointment" are "safe and reliable" and "high-end dating".
Nowadays, searching for "Baoyang website" on Baidu will yield 6.79 million relevant results, including "Baoyang.com", "Lover.com", etc. After the "Guo Meimei incident", the new meaning of "godfather" and "goddaughter" has changed and is well known to passers-by.
Wade's family never seemed to question his business, and his mother, who gave him love advice, encouraged him to face criticism from the outside world and asked Wade's sister to enroll in a prestigious school, because that would allow him to meet potential men.
Wade's sister was also a sugar baby for the website, and now she helps the company develop the Greater China market, and has also turned into a sugar mummy that supports boys. In an interview with Duan Media, Wade took out his mobile phone and showed a photo of his sister dating a stout young man.
Wade's dad has no objection to this, and he thinks the concept of foster care on the website is understandable. "Everyone wants to be more successful, rich and associate with beautiful people, but few people want to admit it."
He is also optimistic about the Chinese market, believing that morality and marriage and love will also evolve and will not become an obstacle to the long-term development of foster dating websites. "If old thinking cannot adapt to the new way of life in today's world, there is no need to stick to it." The 74-year-old father said: "In the past, marriages in China were arranged by parents, and even marriages were decided before the children were born!" ”
"People who care about money and are honest about what they want and are willing to give will recommend them to my dating site." Wade said that money issues are one of the main reasons for divorce in the United States, and on his website, dating parties spread out to talk about money at the beginning and plan ahead. In his opinion, this way of dating is tailored for men who are generous and shy.
"If I had had such a tool 20 years ago, maybe I wouldn't have been so alone," Wade said.
Still the same otaku
Wade has little interest in Las Vegas. After work, he usually goes straight back to the high-end apartment where he lives, slumped on the soft sofa, facing the huge TV screen, watching news and episodes.
Sometimes, he would open the floor-to-ceiling windows, lean alone on the balcony in a daze, overlooking the traffic in the night, and sigh: "Oh, there are people outside, not just me." Other than that, the colorful colors here seem to have nothing to do with him. Wade usually doesn't hang out in casinos, bars, or shows, and his life is two points and one line. When asked what he does in his leisure time, he thinks for a moment and says, "Work." I was also working while traveling. Then he suddenly had an idea: "Oh! And going to the gym. That's really all. ”
Wade chose Las Vegas as the location of the company's headquarters purely due to business concerns about low taxes and rents. He later realized that the culture of the company and the "Sin City" of Las Vegas was also quite compatible and would not stand out from the crowd. "We're not the most sinful business in the city." Wade likes Las Vegas most because it is a city that never sleeps, and if you get hungry in the middle of the night, you can fill your stomach at the all-night restaurant.
His living room was littered with clutter, there were leftover Chinese fast food takeouts on the dining table, a few sets of dirty dishes and chopsticks in the dishwashing sink, and the kitchen countertop was spotless. The double bed in the bedroom, only one bed was lifted. It's like a bachelor's home.
"My wife has been away lately, and the house is a bit messy." Wade said apologetically. The former love idiot is now married to a beautiful Ukrainian girl who is 15 years younger than him. He finally learned to deal with beautiful girls, and the secret he came up with is: practice makes perfect. He said that the more rejected he is, the thicker his skin, the more comfortable he is when interacting with girls.
Sugar babies were his fashion outfit enlightenment teachers. "When we go shopping together, they will put their clothes on me, 'Ah, you must look good in this!' "Sugar baby also changed his original conservative view of consumption." They told me, 'This money is insignificant to you, but it can bring me so much happiness.' Wade said that now he is willing to spend money, but he is by no means irresponsible to waste money.
"I drive a Mercedes, but not a Ferrari. I don't wear a famous watch, and I might buy an Apple watch in the future. Except for the simple wedding ring on the ring finger of his left hand, he did not wear any other jewelry on his hand. Wade said he prefers to spend his money "where it makes sense," including taking his family on trips to Antarctica, surfing in the Caribbean with his wife, and supporting her to study fashion design in New York. He takes an eight-hour round trip every two weeks to visit her in New York and posts photos of his wife dining at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant on Facebook from time to time. "Haven't you found a godfather to take you to Michelin?" He wrote in the text.
This is his third marriage. "My marriage is very happy now." The two did not meet through a foster relationship, but were related to a dating site. When they first met, she came to apply for a job at the company, and Wade interviewed her as a boss. This year, he launched a new dating website called Open Minded, with the theme of "letting a new playmate join a couple, or two couples to share intimate time", and "ethically cheating and cheating" in an open relationship.
"Monogamy is dead." Wade said.
He had experienced the seven-year itch in his first two marriages, and he always saw the glamorous side of each other when he was in love, and after a long time, he gradually saw only the negative. In today's world where technology has changed dating, the itch may come early and become a three-year or five-year itch.
Is this website also created to satisfy selfish desires? "If the marriage gets boring, I might join. Open relationships can solve problems I have encountered. Wade was blunt, and he and his wife also discussed open marriage. She is also open-minded. ”
He plans to move to Los Angeles with his wife next year, open a new office for the dating group, and add a baby.
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Posted on 1/11/2016 10:23:04 AM
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Posted on 1/11/2016 11:45:28 AM