Lori Cheek could be the poster child for the age old phrase, “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.” Seven years ago she was out to dinner with a friend & architectural colleague and had excused herself from the table. When she returned, her handsome friend had scribbled on the back of his business card, “want to have dinner?” As they were leaving the restaurant, he slid that card to an attractive woman at a nearby table. He left with a pending date. Lori left with an idea… “It had happened to me a thousand times during my NYC commute—spotting that intriguing stranger on a train, in a café, crossing the street, at baggage claim, etc. and nearly 999 of them got away”. Handing a business card could have been one answer, but Lori was entranced by the mysterious gesture of handing it to the object of your affection and removing the personal details included on a typical business card, which is simply too much information to hand to a total stranger. A person’s name on a card, alone, could potentially lead you to their front door. Much like her approach to introductions is really a model for her business. Both take perseverance, tenacity, resilience and a huge dose of self belief.
Her solution to the problem would apply a personal approach to online dating by moving the initial encounter offline with a smooth physical introduction. The Saturday afternoon after coming up with the idea of Cheek’d, Lori gathered a group of friends at the Soho House, added many bottles of wine and spent the day brainstorming about lines, designs and ideas for the (soon to be named) “Cheek’d” cards. She continued this concept and branding process for a few months while working her full time job at Vitra, the Swiss/ German furniture/ design company. “I’d never started my own business and struggled with the actual “business” side of creating the company. I found myself walking around in circles with this great idea for almost a year until I was introduced to my now Co-Founder at a party, who suggested we sit down the following Monday morning and bring the idea to life”. They met, as suggested, and by the end of the week had a Business Plan and started the process of incorporating, patenting, trademarking, sourcing vendors, building the site, etc. Nearly one year after their initial meeting they launched in May of 2010. A few months later, they popped up on the cover of the Styles Section of The New York Times… Move over Match.com , this is the next generation of online dating. A couple of days later, Lori got a call from Oprah Winfrey’s Studio asking for an interview. “I knew I had gold in my hands. I left my job and started working full time on Cheekd in November of 2010 and now Cheek’d has gone global with customers in 47 states in America and 28 countries internationally”.
Leaving the 9 to 5
Coming from a career of making nearly $120K a year, Lori continued bootstrapping her business for five years and had to get extremely creative to fund her startup. “After finishing off my savings from my 15 year career in architecture, I made nearly $75,000 by selling my designer clothes at consignment shops and on eBay, doing focus groups, secret shopping and by selling my electronics and other odds and ends around my apartment on Craigslist that all went straight back into my business”. The biggest chunk of cash came from renting out her West Village Studio in NYC on AirBnB, while she couch surfed for 14 months, nearly got evicted and ultimately lost her apartment.
And finally, after four tumultuous years of building her startup with the wrong partners, lots of bad decisions and some major rookie mistakes, Lori was determined to find a way to take her business to the next level. “If I’d known what I know now… The people you surround yourself with are EVERYTHING. I wish someone had emphasized the importance of having the right team on board when getting started”. So Lori went in search of the right team … and what better way than to apply to ABC’s Shark Tank. In September of 2013, she found herself walking down that scary shark infested hallway into a stare off with 5 of the harshest millionaire investors in the world. She’d never been more nervous in my entire life. When Lori proclaimed she was going to change the population with her reverse engineered online dating business, serial entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, rolled his eyes, called her delusional and immediately snapped, “I’m out.” Billionaire investor, Kevin O’Leary, demanded that Lori quit her “hobby” and shoot her business—her passion– like a rabid dog. After getting shot down by all five Sharks, Lori looked them in the eye and said, “Trust that you’ll all see me again.”
Although those final bold words ended up on the cutting room floor (adding insult to injury), in the 48 hours after the broadcast, Cheekd.com received a record breaking 100K unique visitors and her inbox filled up with thousands of emails insisting that the “Sharks” were “out of their minds” for not investing. A little under 50 of those emails were from interested investors. Since the Shark Tank aired, Lori found the missing link from years before. She has gotten a CTO on board who’s helped facilitate and finance the new face and technology behind the new Cheekd. The newly launched dating app allows users to solve missed connections with a new technology that was not available when the patented Cheekd idea was launched in 2010. “It was only a matter of time and I’m thankful I didn’t take the Sharks advice to quit and move on. Entrepreneurship is being on a mission where nothing can stop you. It will take twice as long as you’d hoped, cost exceedingly more than you’d ever budgeted and will be more challenging than anything you’ll ever try but if you give it your all and refuse to give up, you can trust it will be the ride of a lifetime. “”.
Lori will tell you there are a few good reasons why you should quit your job and move on “First, you’ve come up with an idea that you are insanely passionate about, secondly – you are tired of building someone else’s dream instead of your own and thirdly – you’ve got the relentless perseverance and dedication to bring your idea to life!”
Previously, with the Cheek’d Version1, users would use a set of clever cards to introduce themselves to individuals they encounter in the offline world who sparked their interest. If the interest was mutual, the card recipients used the card’s unique code to reconnect easily with the person via a private online profile viewable at Cheekd.com .
The new Cheekd ensures you ‘Never Miss a Connection’; thanks to new Bluetooth technology, the app works on the train; on a plane… anywhere—You’ll get a notification if someone who meets your criteria is within 30 feet of you. If you’re near a potential spark, Cheekd makes sure you know about it. “Cheekd has been the most powerful thing that’s ever happened to me. Building this business has been an incredible learning experience. I’ve taken a major risk (both financially & mentally) and surrendered my career in architecture & design, but my heart and mind are in this project every waking moment. I’ve never been more dedicated to anything. Despite the occasional overwhelming stress, it’s been loads of fun. I feel like I’m living the American Dream—I’ve given birth to an invention. I’ve gone from 15 years of helping others build their dreams to a life finally dedicated to building my own. It’s the most rewarding feeling. I’m at a ramp right now and I’m ready to fly!”
