Matchmakers

Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders. Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, they’re becoming more and more popular—and profitable—due to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become today’s power brokers. Don’t let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails. In Matchmakers, David Evans and Richard Schmalensee, two economists who were among the first to analyze multisided platforms and discover their principles, and who’ve consulted for some of the most successful platform businesses in the world, explain how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an investor, a consumer, or an executive, your future will involve more and more multisided platforms, and Matchmakers—rich with stories from platform winners and losers—is the one book you’ll need in order to navigate this appealing but confusing world.

'Beach reading with an unsettling edge' - Kirkus reviews Dabney Kimball Beech has had a lifelong gift for matchmaking (fifty-two couples still together to her credit). But when Dabney discovers she is dying of pancreatic cancer, she sets out to find matches for a few people very close to home: her husband, John Boxmiller Beech, celebrated economist and Harvard professor; her lover, Clendenin Hughes, Pulitzer-winning journalist who lost his arm in Southeast Asia; and her daughter, Agnes, who is engaged to be married to the wrong man. As time slips away from Dabney, she is determined to find matches for those she loves most - but at what cost to her own relationships? ************** Praise for The Matchmaker 'Grabs you from the first page . . . Elin Hilderbrand has such a way with words' - Always With a Book 'An engaging read' - Publishers Weekly 'A good read . . . Elin Hilderbrand fans won't be disappointed' - Matthew's Library ************** Further praise for Elin Hilderbrand 'A gritty and moving read that oozes plenty of drama' - Heat 'A gem of a summer read with a glamorous location, elite lifestyle, and Hilderbrand's appealing take on the constant stress that fills the lives of women everywhere' - Booklist 'This book was a great read - you really care what happens to the characters. Perfect holiday reading. I didn't want to put it down' - Candis 'Touching and uplifting' - U Magazine

Miss Gwendolyn Brinley accepted a temporary paid companion position for the Newport summer season, believing it would be a lark to spend the summer in America's most exclusive town. She suddenly finds her summer turning anything but amusing when her employer expects her to take over responsibilities as an assistant matchmaker. Tasked with the daunting prospect of attaining advantageous matches for her clients, Gwendolyn soon finds herself in the employ of Mr. Walter Townsend, the catch of the Season, but a gentleman Gwendolyn finds beyond irritating. Walter Townsend is reluctantly in search of a wife for the sake of his unruly motherless children who cannot keep a governess for long. What he wasn't expecting was Miss Brinley, an amateur matchmaker who turns his quest for a new wife into a complete and utter debacle. Constantly besieged by society ladies on a mission to win his affection, Walter must find a way to overcome their inundating attention--and his unexpected attraction toward Gwendolyn. The more time they spend together throughout the Newport Season, the harder it is for Gwendolyn to find Walter a wife when she realizes his perfect match might be . . . her.

Matchmaker's happy ending: Professional matchmaker Marnie Franklin is delighted when she finally finds a great guy for her widowed mom, until she discovers that the man's son is none other than Jack Knight, who she blames for destroying her father's business. Can Jack make her reconsider what really happened all those years ago?

Surrendering her heart could be the scariest thing of all... Miss Jane Dalton, one of London’s most successful matchmakers, believes it's much safer bringing couples together than falling in love herself. In fact, she could not think of anything more frightening than to have loved and lost. Fate, however, disrupts her plans to remain a single matchmaker when Mr. Nicholas Waverley, her brother’s best friend, is forced to kidnap her after she becomes entangled in an assassin’s web. Forced together under dangerous circumstances, Jane realizes her true feelings for Nicholas. In the end, however, is her love for him worth the fall? The Matchmaker's Surrender is a Regency romance novella and the second book in The Matchmaker's Series.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Get me a date with a wonderful mate! Love's On The Loose In Providence… Nothing less than divine intervention can quell the commotion when the Danville girls of Providence, Rhode Island, get involved! Cool, confident Miranda is the take-charge beauty of the family. Not content with a simple silver spoon, she was born with a Day-Timer, too—and no one ever escapes her endless list of to-do's! But now the efficient Miranda is up against her sister, Ainsley, the family's intrepid Cupid, who's determined not to rest until she finds the man who'll make her sister part of a perfect pair. When four motherless children—and their handsome dad, Nate—arrive at the matchmaker's door, will Providence see another match made in heaven?

Could the best man be her best option? The last person Meredith Turner expects to see at her best friend’s wedding rehearsal dinner is the guy she had a one night stand with. What’s worse, Lincoln Forrest is the best man and as maid of honor, her partner. To add insult to injury, she has to leave the rehearsal dinner early, and Lincoln is the one to help her with a deeply personal problem. The aftermath of that night brings big changes for them both. Lincoln Forrest has helped his best friend meet the woman of his dreams, but recently he’s made a series of bad decisions, the biggest being leaving his career with the Army. Now the former K-9 handler is looking for a new career and trying to get his life back on track. Helping Meredith in her time of need connects her to him more than he expected. On a mission to right the wrong he created, Linc will do whatever is needed. But when the attraction that first drew them together flares to life again, will the obstacles between them be too much to overcome? Or has the matchmaker met his match?