NEWSWEEK: Whose idea was this?
“Mark”: We were sitting around at my friend’s apartment one night over a couple of beers. The girl and I had been in a fight, and she kept calling and calling and calling and calling. I couldn’t retrieve my voice mails fast enough before there would be another message. A couple of my friends happen to be in computers, and one guy looked at the other and said, “Look, you’re sitting on a comedic gold mine.”
How long did it take you to set up the site?
We literally half-assed it in about four days. We didn’t put a whole lot of effort into this. We never expected it to be this big. We didn’t even start this as a business. This was just a way for me to help deal with and get over the relationship. This is my 15 minutes–thank you, Mr. Warhol. But it’s not gonna last.
Whose idea was it to sell merchandise?
We realized very quickly that it was going to cost a lot of money so we started selling the merchandise in order to save the site, basically. We’re not trying to make a real big profit off of this but we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose our rears off of it. We’ve sold about 50 or 60 shirts at $16.99 a piece.
Does the girl know?
She doesn’t know–she hasn’t killed me yet. I figure we’ll know she knows when we have to broadcast my funeral over the Internet.
Did you think about how the site might affect her?
Well, she is anonymous, and that’s the beauty of this whole thing. She can remain anonymous and lead a normal life and nobody ever has to know it’s her. We’re definitely doing everything we can to keep her identity a mystery.
Maybe she’s not psychotic, just upset.
Fifty-three voice mails is a little psychotic. I think everyone can definitely draw their conclusions as to her mental stability–I guess that’s what the site is for. [Leaving 53 voice mails] is harassment, basically, and nobody deserves that.
How did you two meet?
I met her on the golf course at a Dallas singles outing. It was a Thursday night and I was supposed to be set up with another girl, but she never showed up. That’s when I met this one. At first it was great. I think most relationships go through a three- to four-month honeymoon phase where everything’s great and you can’t get enough of each other. But little things started creeping up.
Do you have a history of dating psychotic women?
No, this is my first real adult relationship and the first really psychotic person I’ve dated.
Is that why the relationship ended?
I think [the breakup] was definitely precipitated by her psychosis. She’s actually the one who ended it in the end. We had communication issues, like most relationships do, but we were never able to overcome those. She could never see my point of view or my side of the story. When she was fighting, she wouldn’t fight fair. I quit taking her calls because I didn’t want to take the verbal abuse. But she kept calling. [After we broke up] I was very upset about this whole thing. I tried my best to make it work but the bottom line is it just wouldn’t. I was very depressed about it for about three weeks.
You’re 25. She’s 37. Did it matter that she was older than you?
It was an issue for the first part of our relationship but it didn’t matter after that. We dated for eight months.
Do you know what her previous relationships had been like?
I know she’s had some different kinds of relationships as far as stability goes. Obviously when you’re 37 and not married, nothing’s been a real big success. She’s a wonderful, beautiful person, too.
Does she live in your town?
She lives about four blocks from me, but our paths don’t cross. We don’t have any mutual friends. I know where she goes to hang out, and I definitely avoid those places.
You realize that no woman will ever date you again.
Actually on spinthebottle.com, we’re running a “win a date with the guy from psychoexgirlfriend.com” contest and they’ve had a ton of responses. I’ve had women from all over the country e-mail me saying “call me, you’re very intriguing.” I’ve had people send me pictures, So it’s not as bad as you might think. Plus, when this whole thing dies down nobody’s going to know I’m the guy who did this.
But right now, everyone knows.
Yeah, we go out to places in Dallas and the group of people I hang out with has turned into celebrities for these people. It’s funny to be at a bar and somebody buys you drinks because you’re the guy from psychoexgirlfriend.
Are you a Texas native?
I’m from Chicago, but I went to school in Texas.
Does your family know about this?
They don’t know about it. They’re not real computer-savvy.
Even after you go on “GMA”?
Probably not my family. They have a routine, and that’s not part of it.
What are your future plans for the site?
They change from day to day. I’ve got offers coming in for people to do all kinds of work for us and interviews and essays. But, like I said, we didn’t start this as a business, and I’m definitely no Warren Buffet, that’s for sure. I’m just hanging on for the ride.
How are we supposed to know the voice mails are real?
[Laughs] They’re all too real. You couldn’t get the best actresses in Hollywood to say this. You can hear the anger and hate in her voice. There are some great actresses in Hollywood, but they couldn’t pull that off.
Are you and your friends all otherwise employed?
We all have full-time jobs. This was something I started to get me over the relationship and have a nice laugh about the whole thing. We don’t have the funding to take it full-time but if anybody wants to step forward… The funny thing is right after we started it we had almost 750,000 hits–and there were some dot-coms that have recently gone under that didn’t get that many hits in four years, with millions of dollars of venture capital behind them.
How have you handled all the media attention?
I’m in public sales anyway so talking to people is not an issue.
What about going on TV tomorrow?
Yeah, it could be kind of freaky.
Have people on the radio been hostile to you?
Oh, yeah. You love it or you hate it. There have been some angry people. But a lot of people have said, “I ran into the same thing, thank you, I’m glad I’m not alone.” Maybe the site will serve as a deterrent the next time someone wants to pick up the phone and call their ex.
Are you worried she’ll find out about the site after you go on “GMA”?
I think if she does find out she’ll hopefully realize she’s anonymous. And she should fight every urge to take my life.
