By Lisa Cardillo Rose '76

Life as a college student can be a bit like a class in Group Dating 101. As a freshman, Ray Doustdar '94 enjoyed campus mixers, parties with his Alpha Delta Phi fraternity brothers, trips with his buddies to hangouts on High Street. Every now and then, when he and his friends socialized in groups, new acquaintances became future dates. A natural approach that made sense in real life, why couldn't it succeed in cyberspace? That's the idea behind Doustdar's budding business venture - www.TeamDating.com.

The Miami matchmaker believes he's found a unique niche in the prosperous online dating industry. Unlike traditional Internet dating sites, which pair love-seeking singles, his company brings together teams of men and women for a night on the town.

"We are in business to give you something like the world's biggest online bar," he says.

It's a new twist in an industry that's become big business. The number of online dating and lifestyle Web sites grew to more than 1,100 this past fall, according to Hitwise. Consumers of online personals and dating sites spent a whopping $245 million in the first half of 2005, the Online Publishers Association reported.

Doustdar believes there's still room in that market for a smart alternative. The 34-year-old entrepreneur's idea originated during a night out in Los Angeles with his business partner, Kipp Gillian.

"We were talking about why there wasn't a way on the Internet to do what we were doing that night - two friends, out on the town, looking to meet two girls," says Doustdar, an Orange County, Calif., resident.

"I said, ‘It would kind of be like we were team dating.' As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I looked at him and he looked at me and I said, ‘You know what - that's not a bad idea.' "

You've Got a Friend
That was Nov. 14, 2004, and it's been "non-stop ever since," Doustdar says. He bought the www.TeamDating.com Internet address the next day and began working on a business plan. The duo officially launched the company in March 2006.

The new endeavor was embraced by the media from the start, landing coverage on TV and in many newspapers. Even Jay Leno took a good-natured jab at the project in a "Tonight Show" monologue. ("There's a new Web site called TeamDating. com. It's like Match.com, but it fixes up groups of people," Leno said. "It's like regular Internet dating except the police will have more clues where to find your body afterwards.")

All joking aside, Doustdar says safety is one of his site's biggest selling points. Many singles see Internet dating as a danger zone populated by slimy stalkers and creepy impostors. TeamDating promises safety in numbers. It also helps thwart another rampant Internet problem - deception. Everyone's heard horror stories about singles who arrange a rendezvous, expecting a date with Beauty but getting stuck with the Beast.

With group dating, members keep each other honest. No phony photographs and beefed-up résumés to attract suitors. "Your team members are not going to let you misrepresent yourself because that is to the detriment of the team," Doustdar says.

Getting to Know You
Groups begin by filling out a team profile that lists hobbies, hangouts, favorite music, movies, and books. They post photographs and create a team motto and a team name. The groups can be male, female, or co-ed.

As you might expect, teams use their names to advertise their assets, whether they be brains, brawn, good looks, or good humor. Looking for beauty? Try Team Gorgeous. Smart guys? Get together with The Wise Men. You might anticipate wholesome entertainment from Good Clean Fun or laughter from The Three Stooges.

The site doesn't use scientific matching or profiling, as you'd find at eHarmony.com or Match.com, so mottos and profiles become calling cards to attract other teams. The Redneck Firemen hope to entice young women with their motto, "I am on fire. You wanna stop, drop, and roll with me?" The Fourleaf Clovers, who list among their interests "depressing Russian authors," chose the motto "Talk Nerdy to Me." The Shy Guys woo hesitant ladies with their slogan: "When in doubt, date an ex-scout." Others use mottos to bluntly state their standards, as in the Junkyard Dogs' dictum: "No psychos need apply."

With profile information in hand, teams contact each other and then arrange to get together at a local restaurant or movie, for example. If the date is a washout, team members still have their buddies on hand to salvage the evening.

TeamDating has about 10,000 members, with its largest concentrations in southern California and New York. For now, the company is self-funded, and there is no fee to join. Doustdar's goal is to build up the membership and eventually make money by accepting online advertising, licensing the TeamDating identity to other markets, and forming other business partnerships.

One of his most intriguing projects in the works is a reality TV program, which will follow real teams on dates.

Describing the concept as "Blind Date" meets "The Bachelor," Doustdar says the show's participants will be chosen from online profiles on the site, which is currently soliciting teams. Now also in the process of choosing the producers, Doustdar will pitch the show to all the major networks and select cable outlets. He expects it to hit the airwaves this year.

Doustdar's college years and his career path since have given the Team- Dating president a good foundation for these projects.

"Ironically, as we launched the site and started our first series of live member events, I was reminded of my Miami days. I was team dating back then, without even knowing it."

Could It Be Magic?
After graduating with a degree in business administration, he worked in sales and marketing at Procter & Gamble. He later became vice president of licensing at Universal Studios, handling consumer product deals for such movies as "Jurassic Park" and "The Grinch." More recently, he worked at entertainment management companies that represented performing artists.

"I was working for some big companies and I was on a nice career path," he says. "But TeamDating was the first time I came up with an idea that I truly had a passion for."

Cultural changes in recent years suggest his instincts about social networking are correct. People are finding new ways to connect with each other in cyberspace, as seen by the boom in Facebook.com and Myspace.com. Doustdar says he doesn't believe he's competing with them because his site entices friends to step away from the computer and meet in person.

Nor does he feel he's competing with mammoth online singles dating sites, such as Match.com, since his enterprise links teams, not individuals.

"We are trying to allow people to use the Internet as an online extension of their social life. Not something to take the place of their social life, but just another way for you and your friends to meet people."

Lisa Cardillo Rose '76, a Cincinnati-based freelance writer, met her husband, Mark '76, at an April Fool's Day freshman mixer in Harris Dining Hall. She was there with her corridor buddies from Emerson Hall. He attended with his pals from Anderson Hall.

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