Steve or Not
My friend on the internet, Sasha Chapin wrote a post this week called "Meet my attractive single friends." He's matchmaking six of his friends on the internet, and he closes by saying he expects at least one marriage out of it, and if it doesn't happen he will assume the failure is yours.
Two days later I'm playing padel in Lehi at Conquer Padel Club (shout out to the hottest female biz owner in Utah) with Mike Snow, Trent Mano, and Steve Hale, and between games we get into it: AI can write your emails, drive your truck, and beat you at chess, but the supply and demand of actual human connection is completely unsolved. Nobody's AI is finding anybody a wife.
Which matters, because Steve needs to find a girl in Utah and we have basically one month.
Steve is 38, a venture capitalist, wears a bun and glasses, and is one of my favorite humans. He's also single, which after Sasha's post stopped feeling like a fact and started feeling like a challenge.
So on the way to an event, riding in my Cybertruck, I built him a dating website. Fifteen minutes. Zora, my AI co-creator (zoradesole.com), did the typing while I did the in drivers seat not driving.
It's called Steve or Not. steveornot.com
If you saw The Social Network, you remember the site Zuckerberg built in a Harvard dorm in 2003 where students rated classmates' photos side by side. Facemash. Nearly got him expelled, became Facebook, made him a billionaire.
This is that, except playful and built for good. Steve or Not shows you Steve next to another Utah man - we have about 200 of them, mostly founders and VCs, first names only - and you pick Steve or Not. Except it isn't really a vote. It's a funnel. Pick Steve five times in a row (you will, the man is a smoke show) and the contact form unlocks. You can apply to date him.
Every submission goes straight to Steve. And to me cuz im voyeuristic like that.
The design is a 2003 internet masterpiece. Orange frame, flame-red logo, green-on-black score box, Internet Explorer 6 footer. Zora nailed it first try, which means web design is solved.
Steve has leaned all the way in. He wrote his own bio, picked his photos, and requested exactly one edit: the welcome popup now reads "NCMO encouraged by Daddy X, not Steve." Don't ask. Or do ask, at the next Convoi event.
The best part: Utah VCs are now asking to be added as challengers. Nothing says "thriving local dating market" like venture capitalists competing to lose to Steve.
Zuckerberg needed a Harvard dorm, a case of beer, and a movie-length montage. I needed a Cybertruck, an AI named after the dawn, and fifteen minutes on the I-15.
Sasha says if his post doesn't produce a marriage, the failure is yours. I'll go further: if Steve is still single by December, the failure is Utah's. And the girl that does fill this vacancy has bounty and gift from me.
Ladies of Utah County through Davis County: steveornot.com. He's 38. He likes lunch, dinner, the gym, and hikes.
Update: Steve deserves to be seen at 70 miles an hour, so Zora and I made him a billboard. She came up with four concepts, and I picked the one that reads “Bun Intended.” Orange to match the site, Steve in profile with the bun and glasses, and a pun I will defend in court.
I’m working on getting it onto a Blip billboard in Utah County. Blip is a self-serve digital billboard company: you pick a board on a map, set the hours, upload your art. Nothing is booked and I haven’t spent a dollar yet. The image above is a mockup of what it could look like from the freeway, not a photo of a real board.
SP
P.S. Yes, building a Hot or Not for my friend technically makes me his pimp. If you want a daily Sun mantra while you wait for Steve to text you back, reply and I'll add you to the list.
P.P.S. Soakers jackets for this season’s second Holy War. Releaf Society is getting a run of these made for the big game (BYU vs Utah): royal blue, script across the back, Y on the chest. $150 each, sizes XL or XXL, limited quantity, ready before the game. Want one? Hit the button below and I’ll get you the details.
Scottoshi reporting for duty at 4:20
