Maven on Dating

Every Monday on the TrackMaven Blog Maven, the adorable and dopey corgi Mascot, takes over to give you perspective on all things startups, marketing, and tech. Take it away Maven and Happy Maven Monday!

Hey everybody – it’s me, Maven, TrackMaven’s lovable corgi, back again with more tips for my fellow animated company mascots. Before I begin, a big shout out to the Firefox fox – crazy party this weekend! Told you I’d put you in the blog!

Anyway, last week, we talked money, and this week’s topic is equally exciting: mascot dating!

Mascot dating can be tricky – especially when both participants are trademarked cartoons that only exist online. Before you decide to be more than just browser buddies with a fellow company cartoon, ask these questions of yourself and your digitally encoded companion:

1. Are your respective companies enemies?

You might think it would be cute if Tux, the Linux penguin, dated the MSN butterfly. A real Romeo and Juliet love story, you might say. But before you say that, brush up on how Romeo and Juliet ends.

2. Are we design-compatible?

There’s another reason Tux and the butterfly could never date. Tux has a face. Meanwhile, the butterfly’s design is so minimalistic that it’s hard toimagine them smooching. As a rule, it will be difficult to have much of a relationship if only one of you has eyes.

3. Do you work on compatible web browsers?

Another basic question that can save you hours of frustration.

4. Do you want kids?

I heard Ask Jeeves’ Jeeves broke a lot of digital hearts with his strict No Baby policy.

5. Do you actually have free time to date?

There’s nothing worse than planning a romantic weekend with a cute cartoon logo only to scrap your plans because one or both of you has to respond to your company’s latest PR crisis.

6. Do you work together?

Don’t date people that you work with. Word is that the Twitter bird and the Twitter Fail Whale tried it, and it didn’t work.

7. Do you share similar financial means?

Sad to say, but rags meets riches romances are more rare than Hollywood would have you believe. A lean startup cartoon mascot just doesn’t have much in common with Microsoft’s Clippy.

8. Can you keep a secret?

When you’re dating another company cartoon mascot, your corporeal relations can have corporate implications. In the beginning, it’s usually best to keep your mergers under the table

Got a bone to pick with Maven? Want to let him know that you dig him? Email Maven at maven@trackmaven.com!