Berkeley-based Ditto is hosting blind date events on yachts and is hiring a "Chief Yacht Officer." (Ditto )
BERKELEY, Calif. - An artificial intelligence-driven dating platform based out of Berkeley is hiring for a unique, new position, essentially seeking a chief officer tasked with planning parties on yachts.
Ditto, started by two UC Berkeley dropouts, is focused on college students with the goal of curating face-to-face, real life match-making connections.
What we know:
The company’s role for "Chief Yacht Officer" will involve leading a series of yacht parties, each hosting 100 Ditto users for a blind date experience.
"You’ll be responsible for orchestrating these high-profile college social events from start to finish, ensuring every detail supports an unmatched experience for our users," according to the job posting.
‘Competitive’ salary
While Ditto said it’s finalizing the salary, co-founder Allen Wang told KTVU it will be "competitive," expected to fall in the $150,000 to $200,000 range for base salary, plus equity in the start-up company.
"Chief yacht officer is a fun one," Wang shared with KTVU.
Dig deeper:
The job calls for responsibilities including planning, coordinating, and executing a series of yacht parties around the U.S., overseeing participant logistics like invitations and travel arrangements, managing staff and volunteers, working with marketing teams to promote events, and ensuring safety at the yacht events.
The job posting also said that potential candidates should be a leader, highly organized, detail-oriented, with skills as a creative problem-solver and exceptional communication and time-management abilities.
They should also be willing to travel and work non-traditional hours.
"Prior experience in large-scale event planning or hospitality management preferred," the post said.
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Wang said the position is flexible on where the hiree is located.
The backstory:
The company has raised $9.2 million in seed funding.
The start-up seeks to challenge the online dating landscape for college students.
KTVU first interviewed Wang back in October when he explained that the objective of his company was to use AI to accelerate the match-making process with the ultimate goal of getting people off their phones to end the swiping cycle and to create real-life, in-person opportunities.
More ‘IRL’ experiences
He shared that the practice of doom-scrolling and the excessive screen time are leading to a lack of real connections among his peers, noting in many cases, people are spending more time engaging with their phone than with people.
"It feels like we have to fix this," Wang said, adding, "You should spend more time meeting with another human than spending so much time behind the screen."
So he and Ditto co-founder Eric Liu, launched their start-up with a mission to bust the model of traditional apps, which they said are designed to try and get people to stay on their site for as long as possible, in an effort to increase traffic.
"They are making money based off of how long you stay on the app itself," Wang said.
Not an app
Ditto is not an app. Rather, it uses an iMessage-type format.
Ditto's model does not include any swiping, and the two parties can't even chat before the meet-up. Wang said the platform seeks to "cut out the whole entire middle process and just give users what they want in the first place, which is a quality date in real life, IRL."
Wang said AI can get to the core of a person's interest, taking a more analytical approach on compatible attributes.
"So what matters actually is that you guys don't have to have the exact same hobbies. You guys can be different on the surface level, but you guys are similar in the core," the co-founder explained. "And that's what AI is bringing out on the table, beyond the superficial, just like hobby-level mashing but like intrinsic personality level."
Curated, personalized dates
The service then takes the information to curate the entire date for the couple, using artificial intelligence to personalize the meeting based on the users’ interests and preferences.
"After submitting your information, Ditto will text you a date plan that includes the time, place, and details of your match. The date will take place around the campus you're currently near," the website said.
The service also seeks to make safety a priority, ensuring users are verified as students on the college campus.
Activating on college campuses
So far, Ditto has established a presence on about 10 college campuses in California.
Wang said the company has grown quickly, with roughly 100,000 users signed up across the country, as it works to activate its service on dozens of campuses, including the University of Texas at Austin, Ohio State University, and the University of Maryland.
The yacht parties are part of its match-making effort as it rolls out its service more widely.
A series of 10 such parties have been planned. One was already held in the Bay Area and two were thrown in Los Angeles.
Wang said the next event, described as a "blind dating gala," is set for March 28 in New York City. Due to potential weather complications, the NYC party will be modeled after its upscale yacht events but will be on land, he explained.
Other blind-date parties are set for major U.S. cities, including Miami, Seattle, and Boston.
Applying for the job
Wang said in its first ever "Chief Yacht Officer" Ditto is seeking "someone who can really embody the brand and host some epic events." He added that the candidate should resonate with the college-age demographic of its clients.
The job which was posted about two months ago is proving to be highly competitive. Hundreds of people have already applied.
"Interest has been huge," Wang said, "way more than expected!"
Interested candidates can apply here.
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