Our Mission

For everyone to become and project the best version of themself, and find lasting love with a truly compatible partner.

couple hugging in front of a railing and dock on a river
Becky and Arnel
VALUES

What Do We Stand For?

Efficiency

Singles don't waste time browsing, messaging or dealing with fake profiles. Matchmakers quickly hone in on the right matches.

Compatibility

We are fanatics about pairing people so they truly last, based on relationship data we already know plus our own continuous testing.

Inclusiveness

We welcome all people, as long as they're open to a serious relationship. Anyone can sign up and be eligible to be matched.

Transparency

We have set pricing, share the names of our partner companies, display real couples on our site, and always tell the truth.

Innovation

We continue to develop the latest tech to help pair people best, from advanced filters to a helpful matching algorithm.

Team

headshot of DateSpot founder, carla swiryn

Carla Guarnay

FOUNDER & CEO

Carla combined ten years of experience in marketing, tech, and client service (primarily at Google) with six years as a professional matchmaker to create DateSpot in 2019. She saw the need for singles to connect with matchmakers for a more rewarding experience.

Today, she has the joy of running the business, 1:1 consultations, fielding match requests from matchmakers, and reviewing matches for DateSpot members.

Born and raised in Silicon Valley—the world’s innovation hub—Carla has also enjoyed living in Colorado, Florida, Spain, Brazil, and India.

She deeply relates to the dating struggle herself: at 40, she finally met her amazing husband, Greg. Together they have a wonderful daughter, Ava. Carla says if she can find love as a single perfectionist matchmaker, anyone should have hope!

Alicia Davis

Alicia Davis

Pairing Specialist

A devoted mom and wife, Alicia identifies potential matches with speed and intuition for our members and partners.

Navin Ramachandran

Navin Ramachandran

Advisor

Match.com's former COO who shares invaluable insight while empowering visionaries worldwide through Kanthari.

Greg Guarnay

Greg Guarnay

Advisor

Carla's husband also helps with the business, armed with an MBA from UCLA and a VP role at an AI-based software startup.

Founder's Letter:
The DateSpot Story

Most people don't grow up wanting to be a matchmaker, and I was one of them. The career wasn't presented as a viable option - at least not to me in the CA Bay Area. Advertising sounded fun, lucrative, and creative, so I pursued it. I worked as a copywriter developing ideas for print and radio ads, worked at Google for seven years creating and optimizing digital ads, and then ran my own online ad agency. 

In 2013, my friend mentioned that someone was looking for help building her matchmaking startup. Thinking it could be an interesting side gig, I decided to help out with events and recruiting candidates part-time. After a few months, I realized that I was more excited to work on this other company than my own, so I shifted fields and became their first hired matchmaker.

I enjoyed growing their Bay Area member base from essentially zero to over 10,000 over five years. Even better - I successfully matched up multiple couples who would go on to get married - the youngest was in their twenties, and the oldest was in their fifties.

I loved it, but entrepreneurship is addicting. I started to think about allowing singles a fresh option for singles, that would also help matchmakers in a unique way. So I explored it, without an MBA, a co-founder, or any outside funding. DateSpot was founded in December 2019, focused on free matchmaking. In 2022 we added new services beyond matchmaking and expanded the geography to effectively match people nationwide (and even accept people internationally).

I bring my experience in marketing analytics to the matching process, being more data-driven than most matchmakers. I break up many answers to questions in singles onboarding into more options than most dating services have in order to pair people better. I continue to test many dimensions that could be measures of compatibility to bring fresh insight to the public.

There's no perfect algorithm for matching, but we can strive to get as much important data as possible to get close. We look at physical attraction, common goals, overlapping interests, lifestyle habits, being on the same “wavelength”, and a balance in energy. You don’t want to date yourself! I took this to heart and soon after founding my company, met my own amazing life partner.

My wish for you is that however you find love, you do find it. I also hope that you love yourself deeply as much as anyone else and understand its important role in attraction. While we’re all independent beings fully capable of living and thriving alone, and moments of singledom can be fun and healing, life is even better shared with someone else.

Carla Swiryn

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