One of the greater rewards, according to Hong, have been the letters from people claiming they've met someone special through Hot or Not. "We get tonnes all the time," he said. "I'd say at about a marriage a day."
Dozens of testimonials from satisfied customers attest to this. Occasionally, the testimonials provide a laugh.
"I met the girl of my dreams about a month ago," wrote Chris C from Boston. "She is not only physically stunning (a swimsuit calendar model), but she is also amazingly intelligent, witty and sincere. ? I, on the other hand, am no loser either. I am a personal trainer, entrepreneur, and soon to be Harvard divinity student. ? I didn't expect to meet someone of my caliber on a Web site!"
Occasionally they pull a heartstring: "I looked high and low for the perfect guy for me," one user named Holly wrote. "I was getting so discouraged until I put my pic on hotornot.com and I met the most wonderful guy in the entire world to me. ? I know that we are gonna turn out great and wonderful together. Thanks hotornot.com, I'm finally happy."
And often the testimonials are not what you'd expect.
"I met the guy of my dreams, wrote Matt N, in Bellingham, West Virginia. "We talk every day now and every once and a while he'll comment about how happy he is that he "clicked yes" to meet me."
While wedding bells haven't rung for Hong and Young, they claim their job provides a lot of perks. Both say they have dozens of ladies wanting to meet them each week. The problem is finding the time.
They have the help of thousands of volunteer moderators who help keep the site "fun, clean and real," but maintaining the business end of things still keeps Hong and Young busy. Their latest joint venture is a picture-sharing site called Yafro.com. Young is also busy finishing a dissertation at Berkeley for his Ph.D. in computer science.
For his part, Hong is enjoying the bachelor's life and an improved rating. "My last real score was a 6.1," he said. "But because now you can get to my profile from the `about' page on the site, my score's been jacked up. I think I'm something like a 9.6 now ? but in reality, I'm not."
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