A $10K Love Bounty Lures Thousands

A screenshot from DateRen.com

“There’s no human trafficking that I’m trying to do here.”

He’s been offered advice, spiritual and otherwise. “Some people wrote in saying, ‘You don’t need a girlfriend, you need Jesus,’” he says. “I’ve gotten a bunch of emails from people offering me lessons on being, like, a pickup artist. I’m like, ‘You’re marketing to the wrong audience here.’”

And of course people are deliberately flouting the campaign parameters, some innocently, some oddly. About 60% of responses have come from women referring themselves, thereby forfeiting any shot at the $10,000, he says. “It’s kind of nice. A lot of people were just reaching out to say, ‘Hey, you seem like a good guy, if you want to go on a date some time, let me know,’” he says.

However, he adds, “In recent days I’ve found I’ve been very popular with Indian men. Are they just trolling me, or is it a genuine love connection that they’re seeking? I don’t really know.”

DIDN’T DATE HARVARD CLASSMATES

You grew up in a Washington, D.C. suburb, and received an interdisciplinary BA from the University of Virginia in arts, economics, commercial law, and business ethics. He went from college into a private equity firm in Nashville, and worked four years there as an associate before entering HBS.

At Harvard, he didn’t date classmates, he says. “Though HBS is a large school, it’s still kind of an intimate environment and you see these people every day,” he says. “I was a little wary of dating people in an intimate environment and also because it’s kind of a transient lifestyle – people are expecting to be in Boston for two years and then they leave. I was more focused on going to class and getting a job.”

Harvard MBA Ren Lu You hiking with friends near Seattle, in a photo from DateRen.com

His friends and family, once they’d gotten over the initial shock at You’s unorthodox approach to romance, have been very supportive, he says. “A lot of people, their first reaction is, ‘What the heck is this? What are you doing, Ren?’” he says. Most are just concerned that he’ll fall victim to some kind of fakery, perhaps to fraudsters working in a pair, one as honeypot, one as referrer, intending to split the money after six months. You explains to those concerned that he’s thought the matter through, and doesn’t expect people would see value in running a six-months-long scam with a $5,000 per-person payoff. “That’s just a lot of work and I don’t think most people are going to be willing to do that,” he says.

While You’s campaign may have an element of the transactional, his ultimate goal comes from the heart, and he’s going through the same ups and downs as anyone in the dating game – but at a faster pace, with higher volume.

“This is kind of like emotionally taxing for me,” he says. “I’m not doing this just to go on a ton of dates and get laid. I am sincere about this. In some cases I’ve been very emotionally invested in someone, but they didn’t want to go on a second date. I’ve been emotionally invested enough to be like, ‘Damn, I wish that had worked out.’”

DON’T MISS: AN UNHEAVENLY MATCH: LOVE & AN MBA; 50 REASONS TO DATE AN MBA STUDENT or THE EIGHT LAWS OF MBA DATING

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