Day in the Life: How Match Group North America CEO uses data to make connections

Leading the group’s U.S.-based businesses, including OkCupid and Plenty of Fish and more than 500 employees, is Mandy Ginsberg, the subject of our latest Day in the Life installment. Ginsberg oversees everything from product development to operations to a customer care team of 200 people and online marketing of all the brands. Ginsberg started in January after former stints at Match.com and the Princeton Review, both of which fall under the Match Group umbrella.

The shift from education back to dating sites took some getting used to. “People started talking about more hook-ups on certain sites and a ‘hotties problem,’” which attractive people experience when they sign up, she said. “How we talk about things is so different.”

When Ginsberg tells strangers what she does, they’re inclined to ask advice or talk about their relationships. “They think I’m an expert on dating and relationships, and people want to open up,” she laughed. The reality is, it’s a data- and metrics-driven business, she said. “It is about love and connections, but it’s about how many people have signed up, are there any glitches in the system and how many mutual matches have there been.”

Here’s a day in Ginsberg’s life, slightly edited for clarity.

5 a.m.: Wake up, hit my snooze button five times. My husband is annoyed! I have a flight to catch this morning, so I get myself ready and kiss my husband and kids before heading out to the airport.

7 a.m.: Board a flight to LAX. The guy next to me asks what I do. We spend the next 30 minutes talking about his love life and being single. I get his number and set him up with my best friend from high school. I am a matchmaker at heart!

10:30 a.m.: Land in LAX. It takes me a bit of time to get to the office, which is on Sunset in West Hollywood.

11 a.m.: Go straight into a meeting where we have a quick check-in twice a week with employees from customer care, product, analytics, development, marketing and finance. We end every meeting by reading a success story from one of our amazing couples, because at the end of the day, it’s all about them.

Noon: Have lunch with our partners at Facebook. We work very closely with them on advertising. I love the vibe of their L.A. office. It’s an open, lofty space that is full of creativity and collaboration.

2 p.m.: Back at the office for a series of video conferences. I oversee businesses in four cities across North America – OkCupid in New York, Plenty of Fish in Vancouver, Match and Match Affinity in Dallas and our marketing team in L.A. We live on video conferencing. It’s so real. Last week, I turned to one of our CEOs and asked him what he wanted for lunch, and he said, “You realize we are 1,500 miles away, right?”

4 p.m.: Meet with our online marketing team to start planning for 2017. We’re already starting to think about how we can attract more singles to Match during our peak season, which is just around the corner.

5 p.m.: I try to block out the last part of my day to walk around and brainstorm new ideas for this upcoming year with our L.A. team. You can never have too many new ideas and perspectives.

6 p.m.: Drinks with my friend Courtney Nichols-Gould, who runs Smarty Pants Vitamins. I’ve known her for 40-plus years, and she’s one of the smartest operators I know.

7 p.m.: FaceTime with my family to hear about their day and say goodnight since they are two hours ahead. Then, off to dinner with our CMO, who knows great food as well as she knows online marketing. She’s a true pro.

10:30 p.m.: Crawl into my hotel bed. Before shutting my eyes, I scroll through my Facebook feed, share a clip of Stephen Colbert telling a joke about Match the night before. I set my alarm for tomorrow morning, when I will be ready to do this all over again!