Finding love in WeHo: Best Man Matchmaking with Daniel Cooley and Anthony Canapi

Hi Guys, welcome to WEHOville. First off, do you both live in West Hollywood? How long, where from?

DANIEL COOLEY: I have been in West Hollywood for 17 years now and I am from Victorville, California. I love West Hollywood, but it has changed so much over the years. I definitely miss the more tight knitted gay community we used to have and want to bring the love, friendships, and partnerships back to our city!

ANTHONY CANAPI: I am from Lancaster, CA, and I am located in Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA). When I moved to DTLA for school and work, West Hollywood was a place where I could escape responsibilities school and work threw at me and be my authentic self without being judged and/or thrown negative profanities at; it was both empowering and freeing knowing that I was with my community and just like Daniel, I also want to bering empathy, love, and happiness to gay singles in West Hollywood.

Are you guys partners?

DANIEL: Anthony and I are business partners and good friends- nothing more, nothing less. We work extremely well together and really compliment one another, kind of like Yin and Yang. Anthony is more of the analytical and behind the scenes whereas I am the more intuitive and creative type. So, we really balance each other out as we both bring different talents to the table both as Personal Gay Matchmakers and Businessmen.

So matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match. How did you start up and what’s the goal?

ANTHONY: I founded Best Man Matchmaking in March of 2022 exclusively for Gay and Queer Men who are seeking a more authentic dating process that’s back to the basics and valuable than any gay dating app would provide you. The thought process behind Best Man Matchmaking is that we, Daniel and I, understand the struggles and hardships Gay Dating can be in a gay city like WeHo as we faced those adversities ourselves, for me as an out and proud gay man in his mid-twenties, who was born and raised in L.A. county. We work with quality men who deserve to be matched with the upper echelon of singles that seek the values and beliefs that align with your own. Originally, I was running Best Man Matchmaking as a solopreneur. Daniel was referred to me by a referral and expressed interest in the company as a Love Recruiter. With our different skill sets and success we created together, I invited Daniel to hop on board and we have been business partners since.

DANIEL: I started naturally matchmaking when I helped start a nonprofit organization about twelve years ago to help stop the stigma of HIV and AIDS; and help men stay on medication or start the process of getting on Prep. We started with a few members and grew to a few thousand. The guys in the group would call me up all the time and ask who I knew in the group that was single and I would say “I think I know just the person”. Doing so, they started calling me the “Divine Connector”. I then met another gay matchmaker who introduced me to Anthony, who already had a successful gay matchmaking company, and Anthony thought I would be a perfect fit for the company and the rest is history!

Is this a social group or one on one?

Outside our matchmaking services, we have expanded and do offer social events! We have an amazing social aspect to our company with Singles Mixers, Speed Dating, and MeetUp events for our members. Our dating service is very concierge though and in-house- we actually do all of our own recruiting ourselves and we find single guys at every given chance we get, wherever we go; from gyms, bars, restaurants, grocery stores, and networking events.

Gay guys, or women too? How do you match a bi-sexual..do those customers get one of each? lol

Best Man Matchmaking primarily focuses on Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Men, but we have matched Lesbians who are open to being matched by us. We as Gay Men understand that we will never understand the adversities everyday women face, especially Lesbian and Queer Women. But every now and again, if a woman comes to us entrusting our matchmaking capabilities as Gay Men, we will add them to our network or sign them as a client. When it comes to our Bisexual Clients, it’s primarily up to the client and their preferences- we have to see where they fall in the spectrum, whether they lean more into men or women or there’s an equal slate, whatever toots their horn, we find it and deliver!

Is there a cost?

At Best Man Matchmaking, we offer both free and paid memberships. For members interested in joining our exclusive network of eligible singles seeking a long-term relationship, for the chance to be matched with one of our paid members, we offer a passive database membership complimentary, but members have to fill out an interest form and approved singles are invited to join the network. For those interested for the full, personal matchmaking experience- we offer paid memberships ranging from $2,500-$20,000. We get the amazing opportunity to know our client in-depth and assess who they are and what they are looking for. We also evaluate at that point if they are ready to date or need more coaching and time to prepare. We coach, consult, and even do mock dates for our clients to ensure they are making dating progression.

And what about those who just want a date with you?

This is a tough question, I, Daniel, recruit on a daily basis, so as a Love Recruiter and Matchmaker, if I run into a man who’s single and are interested in being a part of our database, then we cannot date them, but if they just want to date me, then they have to ask me out. Anthony definitely has the same dilemma. We are professional first, but at the same time, we are gay men too! Anthony can second this, but sometimes, it’s hard to pass up a sexy guy and if they’re more interested in getting to know us on a personal level, we can’t say no.

Thanks so when is the first open event for anybody to come?

So, we actually just had our first singles mixer on May 24th and we had a huge turn out with over 100 single guys in attendance! Anthony and I are so grateful for the support and turn out and we will be holding them at least every 2 months, potentially every month. Our next Singles Mixer will be set in July, so please, be on the lookout on our social media for updates and announcements!