There is a particular kind of irony in being wildly successful and yet completely unsuccessful at finding someone to share it with. You can command a boardroom, build a brand from scratch, negotiate contracts that would make most people sweat, and still find yourself being judged on a dating app by someone whose main hobby appears to be “gym and good vibes.” It is enough to make even the most composed corporate leader question their life choices.
For many ambitious professionals, especially within the Modern South Asian community, dating feels like a strange combination of chaos and comedy. On one side, there is the algorithm, endlessly serving up faces as though love were a buffet. On the other, there is the ghost of tradition, the memory of aunties with gold bangles and sharper instincts than any AI, arranging introductions over chai-nasto and insisting they “just know” you will get along. Somewhere between the two, a generation of high achievers is left wondering whether there is a better way.
It was precisely that tension that led Harpreet Kaur and Akshay Thakrar to create IntroYou, a curated introduction platform built on the radical idea that finding a life partner should not feel like a part time job. Having met on The Apprentice, they know a thing or two about pressure, ambition and being assessed in seconds. Their own love story did not begin with fireworks or flirtation. It began with competition.
When they first met, romance was not even on the agenda. They were focused on winning, on securing investment, on proving themselves in one of the most high pressure environments on television. As they reflect now, “Good things take time.” It is a simple sentence, but it carries weight. They did not begin dating until nine months after the show. They were friends first. They saw each other in moments of stress, defeat and triumph. “The Apprentice is a very stressful environment. So if you can see someone at their most stressed point and still have that respect for them, then there’s something there for sure” .
That idea of time, of patience, runs through everything they say about dating today. Harpreet is candid about the absurdity of snap judgments. “How can you make a life decision based on looking at someone for three seconds and swiping left or right?” she asks . It is a question that lands particularly hard in a culture where biodatas were once discussed in detail and families debated compatibility like seasoned strategists. Now, we are encouraged to make decisions with the flick of a thumb.
They are clear about what they see happening in the current landscape. “There are a lot of single people out there that are struggling to find a partner or someone that is serious about settling down. The dating landscape has really changed over the past few years. Back in the day, people used to turn to matchmakers, family members and aunties to almost fix them up and make those intros. But nobody wants to do that anymore because of obligations and pressure. Dating apps are designed to keep people subscribed, so they’re actually flooding people with endless options that aren’t even compatible” .
There is humour in that, especially if you grew up with a mother who could turn any wedding into a scouting mission. We all know the auntie who would corner you near the samosa tray and whisper, “Beta, he’s a doctor.” The problem was rarely the lack of options. It was the lack of agency. Modern dating swung to the opposite extreme. Total freedom. Total anonymity. Total overwhelm.
IntroYou sits somewhere in the middle. It borrows the intention of old school introductions but removes the social pressure and gossip chain. There is no swiping. No late night scrolling. “You can’t actually sit there and swipe and search for people. We curate the profiles and we send them to you. You can still decide if you want the introduction or not, but you can’t sit there endlessly swiping and searching. So we’re really saving people the time, stress and energy that’s spent investing in these apps. We look for who’s compatible for you, save you that stress and send them to you” .
For a high level executive or entrepreneur, that detail matters. Time is currency. Energy is finite. If you are used to delegating to experts in every other area of your life, from wealth management to legal strategy, why would you not take a considered approach to something as life altering as a partner?
Their own relationship is a study in what happens when ambition meets alignment. Harpreet admits her first impression of Akshay was that he seemed arrogant. It turns out it was simply his business face. “I was mistaken,” she says, laughing at herself . Akshay’s first impression of her was that she was smart, which she graciously concedes was accurate before insisting he is actually “way, way smarter” . It is in those small, self aware admissions that you see the friendship underpinning their marriage.
Now married and building a business together, they are refreshingly honest about the juggle. “Being totally transparent, it’s really not easy to maintain a healthy balance between work and our relationship. At the moment, we are very early in our business journey together and anyone who’s launched a business knows that it’s very important that your full attention and focus is in what you’re working on” . They work late. They care deeply. They protect a Sunday afternoon when they can, often discovering that stepping away sparks their best ideas.
Creating IntroYou has only deepened their bond. “We’ve actually become closer… we just genuinely want to help people find that same love and that same connection because we know how much of a difference it’s made to our lives” . That sentence feels less like marketing and more like lived experience.
For the elite audience they attract, there is another layer to this conversation. Success can complicate dating. If you are a founder, a senior leader or a specialist at the top of your field, you are not just looking for chemistry. You are looking for someone who understands drive. Someone who is not intimidated by your ambition. Someone who can celebrate your wins and steady you in your losses. That nuance rarely translates well into a 150 character bio.
IntroYou’s promise is disarmingly straightforward. “Our goal is to help people find their partner. That is it. It’s not to keep people subscribed endlessly. We want to help people find their person, and then they can just live happily ever after” . having just launched, already around 5,000 people have signed up, a sign that many are quietly tired of the carousel.
When asked what excites them most about the future, they do not mention scale or valuation. They talk about a wedding invitation. “We are genuinely most excited to get that first wedding invitation from a couple that has met on Intro You, that we’ve made the introduction, and that they’ve decided to get married” . There is something beautifully full circle about that. From a boardroom reality show to hoping to sit at the back of someone else’s big day, knowing you played a small part.
If you are single, successful and slightly exhausted by the modern dating circus, perhaps this is not about going backwards to auntie led interrogations or forwards into algorithm overload. Perhaps it is about reclaiming intention. About recognising that love, like business, deserves strategy, patience and the right introductions.
As they put it themselves, if you are reading this and wondering whether there is a different way, “Take it as your sign to try something new… let us Intro You” .
In a world obsessed with speed, perhaps the real luxury is time. And perhaps the smartest move is knowing when not to swipe at all.
Credits:
Akshay Thakrar & Harpsi Kaur – @akshay.thakrar & @harpsi_kaur
Lets Intro You – @letsintroyou
Creative direction and styling by @anishavasanicreates
Photography and Videography by @omjphotography
Hair and Make up by @fatinhmakeup
Venue @dojohatchend
