At the time, my recently immigrated parents weren’t really sure how to spell out my given Chinese name on my birth certificate. Darko is actually pronounced Dah – Kuh. As a kid having a weird middle name, I dreaded homeroom roll call at school. “Andrew Darko Chen?” “Uh, present.” But I grew into my name and actually love the fact that most people now aren’t sure if I am joking when I tell them what the ‘D’ of my middle initial stands for. I guess David, Daniel, or even cooler, Dylan, would have been easier on my already terrifying school years, but it could have been worse (Dewey). Now, I have a name that I can create a blog title out of. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Anyways, as the name “The Darko Side” may imply (which was intended), I am not writing about dreary, dark, or morbid subjects. In fact, I actually have quite a sunny disposition.
So, I’m living in the middle of the US (Dallas, Texas) working for a pretty cool company (Match Group) doing some neat things in social media and emerging web technology. I’ve co-founded a travel technology company (Traxo), so I have a soft place in my heart for entrepreneurs and those who support them. In my spare time, I am currently geeking out about crypto, blockchain and NFTs.
The Darko Side 
Hi Andy,
I saw that you have a soft spot for entrepreneurs, and I’m hoping to hit it with this message. I’m a young entrepreneur working to help people who are new to cities meet and make friends.
The purpose of our events is similar to Stir. We both are using digital technology to bring people together face to face (except your focus is dating and ours is friendship). I’d love to learn more about Stir’s success, how you structure your events, and whether you think friendship events can be a standalone business.
Would love to find a way to discuss.
Greg
greg@letsfriendzy.com
P.S. I love your picture of the “Hug Deli” from Burning Man 2013. You captured something special there.
Hi Andy. I’m with Skejul, a cognitive tech company based in St. Louis. I don’t have another way to get ahold of you so I thought I’d give this a shot. Our social AI scheduling technology would be a great benefit to offer your clients at Match. It’s free and is easily adaptable to any digital calendar(s) they might use now. There is much more to Skejul than ‘just’ the scheduling aspect so I hope you’d like to learn more. It would be a great member benefit, if you will. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon! -Brian (brian@skejul.com)