As you might — or, likely, might not (Salmon Rushdie, I’m not) — know that I am a woman. A heterosexual one, at that. So, in the most basic sense, hot chicks hold no fascination. But as for AskTheHotChick.com, an interactive, video-centric startup merging entertainment and information to help guys improve in everything pick-up, dating, relationships, sex-related? As a direct beneficiary of a new and improved male gender as a whole, why, that’s a whole different story! Though as men in my life would say, is there really room for improvement?
Can I join?
Well, if you ask HotChick co-founders Jason Burinescu and Amit Krispin, two self-styled “regular guys in their 20′s and 30′s”, frustrated with not knowing how to handle every situation”, yes, there is. Honey, Dad, taking notes? I was.
How did this whole thing start? You don’t look like someone who’d need a lot of help picking up “hot chicks”. Why would this concept even occur to you?
Hmm, thanks. But we hardly know everything, and we really wanted to improve that area of our lives. We talked to our friends, and turns out, everyone was sick of getting bad advice. There’s a guy who might do well picking up girls, and another who does well in relationships. Unfortunately, it’s very rarely you get someone who can bridge that gap between the two.
And, oftentimes, when we asked the women that we liked, they were not really getting everything they needed, which, obviously didn’t work out too well for us or any of our friends. So, we wanted to find ourselves some girls would give us a real no-nonsense pragmatic advice that would generate results – and in turn, give the women results they were looking for.
Isn’t it a little shortsighted, having a random woman give input on how to get and keep any number of other girls? What I am saying is, aren’t we, chicks, sufficiently different from one another that any off-the-cuff advice would really just be a shot in the dark?
Well, for one thing, we cast a very wide net. We interviewed over 1,000 girls. We were looking to cover different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, interests, ages, so, there would be something for everybody on the site, some sort of common ground. Ideally, when you go onto the site, you’d find a girl who’d reflect the values, the personality type of the girl you’re currently pursuing or dating. And then, you’d just follow this girl’s advice.
It’s exactly like you said, everybody is different. But especially in longterm relationships, there are problems occurring over and over again: a lack of communication, inability to read signals or flirt, not knowing how to focus your entire attention on a girl, to whom you’re currently talking, bedroom questions.
You certainly practice what you preach. I know your ladies range from students to professionals to Maxim models to dancers. How did you get these girls? Did you approach them? Or have they come seeking you out?
We placed the ads in a few different publications. And we scouted the country. We were really proactive getting these girls. But amazingly, how many of them actually wanted to get involved.
The requirements were pretty stringent. We wanted girls who were pretty personable, charismatic, intelligent. And, also, possessing of a lot, a lot of information, experience on how to approach dating, relationships, and so on.
The interviews are very, very candid, and a lot of times, people don’t want to air their dirty laundry. But that’s what we were looking for — to give you a real hard truth. Our girls will give you what you need to know, whether you like it or not.
Well, that’s obviously commendable. But let’s talk numbers. How fast are you growing?
We only went live a few days ago, and already, we have over 600 members. Additionally, we have around a 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Which, I am sure, can only increase if you feature any celebrity ladies? Or are you concentrating on more approachable everyday “hot chicks”?
We are in talks with some people, we’re very interested in that, but at this point no one is 100% confirmed, so we are not going to mention anyone by name.
[They don't kiss and tell, do they? OK. That nicely brought me to another question.]
Is there any stigma involved — in the overall look of the site? Certain ladies, some would say, are rather scantily dressed. I suppose it is to emphasize their hot-chick status, but has anyone commented on the setup being sleazy, uncomfortable to participate in? Or is the opposite true?
None of the women had ever had a problem with that. Or the users. In fact, if there’s a little bit of stigma attached, it’s with the self-help and personal development aspect of it. But because these are very attractive women, not someone setting you up with a doctor’s bill, and there always being folks out there needing help, we wanted to reach a very broad spectrum. These women are first, appealing, and they are honest, and so, it will just hit people, OK, this information is amazing, it’s exactly what I am looking for. It will help me improve my life.
Which all of us can use. So, do you see yourself ever expanding into hot guys, other orientations, languages?
Absolutely. We’re looking at this as just a beginning. We’re going to be utilizing all the interactivity of the web, the attention of the media, that sort of thing, to really build this into an entity with global socioeconomic, religious, sexual orientation reach. Actually [adds the less voluble partner of the two], we are currently in talks with producers from four different countries, so, absolutely, we are branching out!
All of it relationship-oriented? Which is all well and good, but do you see the self-help being related to other spheres of interest? How about friendships, getting a job — which is especially pertinent in this economic climate?
Well, what’s interesting is that a lot of what we’re teaching crosses over. Self-confidence, personal development, you always need that. How you carry yourself, how you present yourself, it’s going to translate in how easily you can get a job, how you interact with people.
But we, also, have experts on that, on each specific area, which we’re looking to build on.
[Very, very ambitious. Immediately, I could see a problem with that. If they become as popular as they intend to be, they would be inundated with requests.]
OK, guys, so, how do you choose which questions get answered? Or are you going to try and answer all of them?
Of the ones getting written-in? Well, it’s unrealistic for our women to answer all of them. We’re thankful that we’re getting such a strong response, but they would have to work night and day, even now. What we’re doing is having the women answer those most broadly appealing, and then, down the line, we’ll roll out a premium service where you’re guaranteed to receive a response — for a fee.
And [added the more reticent partner] we would still choose the best questions to be answered anonymously on video, in front of the entire audience.
Well, that nicely took the wind out of my sails regarding the webcast question. OK, do girls have input on what they want to answer? Or do you assign questions to them?
Our thinking is our subscribers will address their questions to a specific girl. They would check the introductory videos and choose whom it is they would rather answer their question.
On top of that, like we mentioned in passing, we have a couple of girls we’re calling our “hot chick experts”. Now, they basically excel in certain categories: dating questions, issues in the bedroom, breaking down the approach on how to pick up girls. Or she may be really good at issues like self-esteem and self-confidence.
Is it me, or is getting warm?
All right. Last one, guys? How do you keep the write-ins from turning into constant attempts at picking up chicks? I am sure it can be uncomfortable for your ladies? I am no hot chick, but I know it would be for me.
Fair enough. We do get an occasional inappropriate question. But, again, we pre-screen them, we know these girls are able to handle this. And they know our first priority is to keep them safe and secure, so, none of their personal information, or where they live or anything like that is ever revealed.
____
At which point I went back to the drawing board — that is, trying to elucidate my men, they are not as infallible as they imagine. If Jason and Amit are banking their financial futures on this very premise, which man — or woman, for that matter — is?
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