About Dating Coach — Philipp & Kate Gross

We don't teach scripts. We teach you to hear yourself.

We're Philipp and Kate Gross, a married couple. We built Dating Coach after years of watching the people we love — our friends, our younger siblings, our own past selves — burn out on what modern dating has become.

Dating apps make you feel like a debt. Like the other person is doing you a favour by replying. Like you have to perform to earn a conversation. And the dating "helper" apps that have appeared make it worse — they literally type your messages for you. They don't fix the real problem: that people are scared of each other, scared of themselves, and never learn to set their own boundaries or sit with their own anxiety.

We don't think dating is broken. We think most people just never had a place to practise it. So we built one. No pickup tactics, no scripts, no "magic phrases." Just the underlying skills — and a low-stakes place to rehearse them — until the real moment feels less scary.

— Philipp & Kate Gross, founders

The team

Philipp Gross

Co-founder · Content

Philipp is an engineering manager who started his career in QA and has spent over a decade in IT. Dating Coach is his third product, after Dreambook (a dream-journal app) and Hikers Voice (a hiking community platform). He leads product and content here — every guide on Texting, Practice & Scenarios, Understanding, and First Date is written or edited by him against our editorial rules: skills not scripts, no pickup tactics, no shame language, no clinical claims.

Find online

More projects

Kate Gross

Co-founder · Social & Editorial

Kate runs her own logistics company arranging international shipments of industrial equipment between manufacturers and buyers — she's been self-employed for years and brings the operator's eye to Dating Coach. Day-to-day she runs our social channels across each market and writes the Reflection and Confidence guides. She's the friend everyone in our circle calls when they need help picking better profile photos, talking through a rough date, or just being heard without being lectured. Not as a therapist — as someone who actually gives a damn.

Find online

Instagram

How we write

Every guide on this site goes through the same five rules. They keep us honest and they keep you out of pickup-artist territory.

Skills, not scripts

We teach the mechanics behind a good message or a calm response — not lines to copy. Scripts work once and then everyone sounds like everyone else.

No shame language

Dating struggles are skill gaps, not character flaws. We won't tell you you're "failing" — we'll show you what to practice.

No pickup tactics

We don't teach how to "close," trick, or pressure anyone. Confidence built on manipulation isn't confidence — it's a habit you'll regret.

Humans edit every guide

Drafts are written with AI assistance, then reviewed and edited by Philipp or Kate against our standards — depending on the topic. Nothing ships to your screen unread.

We're not therapy

We help with the conversation-skill side of dating. If something is heavier than dating, we point you to real support.

If something on this site is bringing up something heavier than dating, please reach out. Read our full disclaimer →