ValleyMatch is Revolutionizing Romance

With Valentine’s Day approaching, the Greater Sacramento region is anticipating a surge of romantic fervor. In the heart (pun intended) of this vibrant landscape, ValleyMatch, an early-stage startup based in Elk Grove, emerges as a promising contender in modern matchmaking. Founded by Rebecca Nguyen, ValleyMatch offers a bold alternative to mainstream dating apps, prioritizing genuine connections over superficial interactions in the digital age.

Rebecca, the visionary behind ValleyMatch, is at the forefront of this revolution, driven by her passion for fostering meaningful relationships and reshaping the dating landscape. Through a series of questions and answers, we’ll delve into Rebecca’s journey and insights, exploring how ValleyMatch is revolutionizing the dating scene. Join us as we uncover the story behind ValleyMatch and gain insight into Rebecca inspiring journey in the realm of startups.

Brief Description of ValleyMatch

ValleyMatch is a matchmaking service for relationship-minded singles looking for an alternative to dating apps. Instead of reviewing online profiles, messaging back and forth, and coordinating a time for a date, ValleyMatch does that work for you.

Background and Experiences Prior to Launching ValleyMatch

My background is in Product, primarily in tech. After getting my MBA from Berkeley-Haas, I grew my career in the Bay Area leading to my last role as a General Manager/VP of a consumer-facing mobile app. As I climbed the corporate ladder, I realized that what originally drew me to Product in the first place (the connection and empathy for the customer) was hardly a part of my job anymore. That’s when I decided to take a leap of faith and tackle a problem I had always been passionate about – modern dating.

Inspiration Behind Starting ValleyMatch

I’m now happily married and just welcomed my first child into the world, but before that I spent over a decade trying to find the right partner. I tried every dating app I could get my hands on (even one where you’re alerted when you walked by someone else on the app – happn); I even tried traditional matchmaking services (Tawkify). The way people were dating , I realized, wasn’t conducive to falling in love. There’s a whole host of issues that online dating has created in our culture – the main one being the marketplace mentality. People tend to forget that each person they are interacting with is a human on the other side. I wanted to provide an alternative that allowed people to meet in person, giving each other a real chance for human connection and not just judging off a sliver of who they are (a photo, an online profile, etc.).

Trends in Dating Culture

I find that people are incredibly picky these days. Back in the day, you’d only have a handful of age-appropriate people to choose from in your small town, so you gave people earnest chances to see if you could make a relationship work. With the proliferation of dating apps, people believe they have all the choice in the world. They are literally ordering matches up like a menu. Some folks don’t realize what a tiny part of the population their preferences apply to, oftentimes it’s less than 0.1% of the US population they are selecting from.

Unique Aspects of ValleyMatch

ValleyMatch vs. dating apps: We allow users to skip the reviewing, swiping and messaging of dating apps to evaluate their potential match holistically in person rather than based on a curated online profile. Since we do the work for of you, it not only saves you time and effort but it also allows you to shake the marketplace mentality.

ValleyMatch vs. matchmaking: We are more affordable. The average matchmaking package ranges from $5,000-$20,000. Also, they tend to sell you a set number of dates and then send you matches that they know aren’t a mutual fit just to hit their contract quota. We don’t have contract quotas so that we can prioritize genuine connections.

Winning the October 2023 Startup Challenge

I participated in the Startup Challenge with my husband, who has since joined me as a co-founder. We loved the Startup Challenge because the main premise is to make as much traction as possible in one weekend. Plus, it’s a competition and we love competing! We mapped out every possible experiment we could run that would push our business forward. We executed as efficiently as possible and came out of it with a bunch of learnings, but more importantly it removed the excuses to procrastinate.

One experiment in particular I had been waiting to do was to announce ValleyMatch on my LinkedIn. I was worried about what my network would think about my fledgling startup, but during the Startup Challenge I was only thinking about winning which forced me to swallow my worries and post. That post got over 10k views in the first couple of days and sent a wave of traffic to our site!

We gained so much traction from the Startup Challenge that we had to rethink our roadmap and come up with a plan for how to handle the impending birth of our daughter. I was 8 months pregnant when we participated! This ended up being a benefit to us because it forced us to be less hands-on which unlocked the keys for how to scale.

Early Steps to Get ValleyMatch Off the Ground

We started off by building a quick landing page. We then sent a light amount of traffic by 1. using free advertising credits (Yelp, Reddit, etc.) and 2. engaging in online forums regarding dating in Sacramento.

Before we built anything more than the landing page, we used whatever free tool we had on hand to serve our early customers until we had enough evidence to justify spending time building out our tech.
After that, we threw whatever growth hack we could think of: posting to our own social networks, utilizing organic and paid channels (Meta, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Yelp, Nextdoor, etc.), and reaching out to local news outlets!

Validation of ValleyMatch in the Market

As a startup, I don’t think you ever finish validating your solution! Like a lot of other founders, how we got started was by observing market trends, conducting user interviews and eventually launching a test to see if users would pay money. The last one we were encouraged to run as part of the Carlsen Center’s Lean Innovation Cohort where you want to gather increasingly concrete evidence that your solution is what people want. After we received positive responses from that test, we pivoted to growth.

Lessons Learned as a Founder

My number one piece of advice would be: do more doing and less talking. I see a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs out networking at events so much that most of their free time is spent talking about what they plan to do rather than actually doing it.

My number two piece of advice is to take each “expert’s” advice with a grain of salt. Each person has a different background and perspective. Be open-minded about their opinion, but then take what resonates with you and leave the rest behind.

Assembling the Team and Finding the Right People

In the beginning I leaned on my family. I’m lucky enough that my entire family works in tech and many have been excited enough about what we’re building to help out where they can.
They say the cofounder relationship is like a marriage, which is good for me because I am married to my cofounder! I get why people say that though – there are a lot of transferable skills that are useful in both situations: the ability to have difficult conversations and the ability to resolve/repair after disagreements.

Wrap Up

As we wrap up our journey through Rebecca Nguyen’s startup story with ValleyMatch, consider how her experiences can inform your own entrepreneurial path. Her resilience and ingenuity in the face of challenges can act as inspiration as you navigate your own startup endeavors, each with its own unique circumstances.

Whether you’re just starting out or already knee-deep in the early stages of your venture, let the ValleyMatch story serve as a reminder that every step forward is an opportunity for growth and innovation. As you continue on your entrepreneurial journey, keep exploring, learning, and forging connections within the startup community. Who knows what possibilities lie ahead?

Visit the ValleyMatch website to learn more about the matchmaking services they provide.

 

Looking for more startup founder stories? Check out our collection here!