Stephen Stokols, founder and CEO of speed-dating Web site Woome.com, learned a few things while running his first startup, JustWhatIWant.com, which was sold "profitably" at the height of the dotcom bubble in 2000.

"Don't ignore the macro conditions," says Stokols, who also helped revamp the search portal AltaVista before it was sold.

Based on the number of Vator.tv viewers who have checked out the one-on-one interview Stokols did with Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco, Woome may have struck a nerve with consumers who are looking for love but don't want to spend a lot of time doing it.

Another piece of advice? "Keep the passion," Stokols says, because it can provide the energy needed to overcome obstacles.

He's also a believer in "thick skin," which can help entrepreneurs take rejection and criticism and use it constructively, rather than "getting too defensive," he says.

For more on the company, which is backed by Atomico Investments, the financing vehicle of Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom, you can see Stokol's video pitch here.