About
One person reads every file.
Solene exists because the apps got optimised for the wrong thing. Engagement, swipes, time-in-feed · all of which reward people who are good at dating, not people who are good at partnership. The opposite product is one that slows down, listens carefully, and chooses on your behalf. That is what Solene is.
Why I built this
I am Neil. I am 33. I spent ten years building consumer and AI products at companies you have heard of, watched a few friends go through divorces in the same year, and noticed that the people I trusted most in my own life were the ones who had been introduced to their partner by another human who knew them well. That introduction is a soft skill that almost no platform respects · so I built one that does.
What the curation actually is
Every applicant goes through three things before they ever appear in another member’s queue · a government-grade identity check (real names, real face), a thirty-minute voice conversation across eight relationship territories, and a written notebook drawn from their own words. I read every notebook personally. Once a member is approved, I propose a few right people each month, in writing, with my reasoning attached. No swipe. No feed. No ranking.
How I choose
The matching logic is part instrument, part judgment. The instrument is a compatibility map built from the eight territories · trust, conflict, closeness, money, family, play, growth, dreams · which surfaces where two people converge and where they would likely friction. The judgment is mine · life-stage alignment, family-and- children expectations, cultural and faith fluency, where two people are in their careers, whether their intent timelines actually overlap. Pattern-matching on prior relationships people have described to me. Specifics over scores.
Whose worldview shapes the matching
I am Indian-American. I grew up between Pune and the East Coast, then spent my adult life in San Francisco. Half the members today are first- or second-generation diaspora · South Asian, Persian, Nigerian, Filipino, Korean. The other half come from a wide variety of American backgrounds. I try to be careful about the cultures I do not personally know, which is why founder calls happen before any introduction in those cases · I would rather ask than assume.
What I will not do
- Sell or share member data, in any form, with anyone.
- Use anyone’s interview, notebook, or messages to train an AI model.
- Show your face or your name to another member before you have read their introduction and consented.
- Introduce two people who have not both been identity-verified, interviewed, and personally read.
- Take engagement metrics seriously. The number that matters is partnerships.
What I will do
- Read every word of your notebook before I introduce you.
- Tell you, in plain language, why I think this person.
- Be reachable directly. hello@solene.love comes to me.
- Pause your subscription the day you find someone, and resume it only if you ask me to.