Silicon Valley matchmaker gets 6-figure bonuses for matching the tech elite with their future spouse
Amy Andersen knows this all too well. In 2000, she started Menlo Park-based Linx Dating, a matchmaking service that helps people in Silicon Valley meet potential matches.
A membership with Linx Dating starts at $25,000, though Andersen charges more to clients who want more introductions to matches or more extensive date coaching.
Andersen also sometimes gets a pretty hefty bonus if two people she matches end up going the distance.
It's a three-tiered bonus system: She gets a bonus if the two people start dating exclusively, a larger bonus if they get engaged, and the largest bonus if they get married.
"The marriage bonus is any amount that a client wishes to make it for," Andersen told Business Insider in an email. "I will say most clients put something for exclusive and marriage - even if it's modest amounts like $500 for becoming exclusive and $1,000 for marriage."
It may not seem all that modest to the average person, but $1,000 is chump change for entrepreneurs and investors who have made millions in tech.
"I work with a very accomplished set of clients - many are in technology and are generally very smart, type-A, industrious, compulsive, and results driven. These people understand the notion of aligning incentives and paying for performance - they either work in companies that promote this practice, or they run startups that live and die by that rule," Andersen said.
"When they are finally ready to find commitment and get married, most don't have the time to waste pursuing low yield channels. They need high-yield service that will ensure that every minute of their time that they invest is well spent."
Finding "the one" means so much to some Linx clients that they'll offer bonuses in the six-figure range, Andersen says.
"I accept only extraordinary people into the Linx Dating network, and that may or may not mean they make a lot of income or possess huge financial assets," she said. "Though they all seek commitment, some may be on a fast track and willing/able to pay a lot of money to accelerate the process, to allow me to conduct a broad geographic search beyond the Bay Area with a ton of individual attention and sometimes intense date coaching."
Courtesy of Amy Andersen
Andersen's latest client is one of the most successful men in Silicon Valley. Though she wouldn't reveal his identity, she shared that there's a six-figure marriage bonus on the table.
Here's what else she had to say:
Andersen will be doing a nationwide search to find this tech mogul's perfect match.