Susannah Schaff is a speed dating aficionado – or, as she puts it, a “speed queen”. As someone who doesn’t enjoy dating apps, the single 33-year-old makes a concentrated effort to get out there IRL. On the night I meet Schaff in a crowded East Village basement, we’re at Date My Friend, an event series where people pitch their friends to a live audience. Think Shark Tank or Dragon's Den, but with your best friend as the startup founder, you as the product, and a room full of potential suitors as the judges. Schaff isn’t among the 11 duos presenting tonight; she’s here to watch. “I’m not pitching. I’m fishing,” she says.

Date My Friend launched in January 2026, founded by Brit O’Brien and Petro AP – two Californians who are, fittingly, longtime friends themselves. The idea came after O’Brien saw a similar event in San Francisco and decided to bring the format to Los Angeles, where both are based. Since then, the pair have hosted seven more events, with their two most recent taking place in New York last week. “The common thread is that people just don’t want to be online,” says O’Brien. “They want to meet in person and get to know each other.”

At Nightclub 101, the live music venue chosen for Date My Friend’s New York debut on March 25, Schaff’s proverbial pond is teeming. Around 125 people have packed into the space, with more than 40 pitch applications submitted in the week leading up to the event. As kick-off approaches, the compact venue fills with eager, expectant attendees.

Under the dim glow of a disco ball, 11 pitchers take to the stage, each given three minutes to sell the crowd on their friend. Some read from a sheet of paper; others recite their speeches from memory. There is at least one person who comes with a prepared slideshow presentation, and another who, to their friend’s surprise, finishes by handing out business cards with their contact details.

The event is one of many increasingly creative, in-person dating events cropping up across the city, but it’s among the first to tap into friendship as a resource. If the opinion of an expert like Schaff is any indication, the format has resonated with daters. “I wanted to hear the best parts of a potential partner from people they have really close platonic relationships with,” Schaff says. “I like the idea of hearing about someone who’s already vetted, and of a person whose friends are so passionate about them that they're willing to talk them up a bit.”

“I wanted to hear the best parts of a potential partner from people they have really close platonic relationships with. I like the idea of hearing about someone who’s already vetted, and of a person whose friends are so passionate about them that they're willing to talk them up a bit”

Because everyone stays and mingles at the bar after the pitches end, there’s ample opportunity to approach someone in real time. While dating apps have made hitting on someone IRL feel oddly intimidating, the built-in playfulness of events like Date My Friend offers a natural way in “Talking about the speeches is such a great icebreaker,” O’Brien says. “There’s a lot of deep, platonic love in the space, which I feel disarms people.”

Platonic love is certainly the case for Brandon Epstein and Nicky Khor. Epstein is here to pitch the “amazing, lovely, fantastic, but tragically single” Khor, whom he met through his wife. “At first, I was thinking ‘How can I embarrass him most entirely?’” Epstein jokes. “But really, it was about why I think this person is special, why they are important to me, and how I can share that in a way that’s accessible.” 

Epstein succeeds, as his pitch seemed to be one of the most popular of the night. While he rattles off his friend’s professional accolades, he also shares more personal sentiments about Khor. The fact that he “takes really good care of his mom”, in particular, earns him a chorus of “awws” from the crowd. 

Next up is Joyce Kang, who is there to pitch her friend Mandy Castellanos. “I’ll always sing her praises, but I want to see her flourish, have a good time and have fun with her dating life,” said Kang of Castellanos, pre-pitch. “The intention out of this isn’t to anchor down a boyfriend, it’s just to see her become more social and make more connections.” For her part, Castellanos cares about hearing her friend’s speech as much as she cares about the actual dating. “I want to know what she’s gonna say because I think it’ll bring us closer as friends, and it’s also nice to see how other people see you,” she said. 

As Castellanos suggests, the feeling of being seen – really, truly seen – by your friends is pretty unmatched.  While there’s plenty of flirting as attendees drift around the bar after the pitches, the night’s most touching moments come at the end of each presentation, when duos embrace and the pitcher often looks dumbstruck by the sincerity of what’s just been said. My favourite pitch comes from Nirosh Ratnarajah, who takes the stage to champion his friend and fellow finance bro Pat. Like others, his speech covers Pat’s career and personal strengths, but it stands out for Ratnarajah’s booming, TV-smooth delivery.

Towards the end of the night, Ratnarajah confesses to me that he spent his entire work day crafting the pitch, even getting his coworkers to help him workshop the speech. “It was an iterative process, a real nine-to-five hustle,” he jokes. Then, he emphasises how much he loves his friend and that he would do anything for him. “If he finds someone tonight, I’ll be the happiest guy ever,” Ratnarajah says. “Plus, it means I get automatic best man.”