A Seattle startup is in the news for investing in divorce — its business model is based on the fact that nearly 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States end up parting ways. SwanLuv offers to pay couples for their dream wedding, but the money will have to be returned with interest if they get divorced.

So if you’re about to get married and you apply to Swanluv, they’ll run your profile through an algorithm, study your relationship, and select you if you meet their criteria. Then, they’ll offer you a loan of up to US$10,000. You don’t have to return the money, ever, as long as you stay together. But the moment you decide to get a divorce you’ve got to cough up the original amount, plus interest. The longer couples stay together, the more they’ll stand to lose if they split.

When you think about it, that’s kind of like the opposite of how insurance works. You’re supposed to get paid when things go wrong, but with SwanLuv, it’s the other way round.

CEO and co-founder Scott Avy says SwanLuv is like a casino for marriages, but the company doesn’t really stand to lose because the odds are 50 percent in their favor. He does want all marriages to succeed, but the statistics clearly show that not all of them will. And that’s what the company is heavily banking on. “It comes back to statistics,” Avy said. “We’ll have the right odds so we’ll be OK. But they won’t be so crazy that no one wants to do it.”

Avy insists that couples can actually stand to gain from the scheme, if they’re confident their relationship will last. It gives them a chance to gamble on themselves, and it also raises an important question, “Should we be getting married if we’re not willing to sign up?”

There will be clauses in the contract that protect one or both partners. So if a marriage ends in abuse, only one person is responsible for paying off the debt. And to help couples beat the odds, SwanLuv offers free marriage counseling when things get rocky.

西雅图一家创业公司因为投资离婚上了新闻。该公司的商业模式是基于美国有近40%-50%的婚姻以离婚告终这一事实。SwanLuv公司为新婚夫妇提供资金筹备梦幻婚礼，一旦他们离婚，公司会连本带利地收回资金。

如果你们是即将步入婚姻殿堂的情

侣，就可以向SwanLuv公司提出申请。该公司会通过计算机演算程序分析你们的个人资料，研究你们的关系。若达到标准，你们就成功入选了，然后会得到该公司提供的高达一万美元的贷款。只要你们的婚姻不破裂，就无需偿还。但如果你们决定离婚，你们面临的不止是偿还本金，还要加付利息。夫妻关系维系的时间越长，离婚给他们带来的损失也越大。考虑到这一点你会发现，这种商业模式和买保险是截然相反的。如果你买了保险，事情出现差池，你应该得到一笔钱。但SwanLuv公司的模式正好与之相反。

公司合伙创始人兼总裁斯科特· 阿维认为，他们公司就好比一个婚姻赌场，输赢几率均等，他们也不会一直赔钱。他个人希望每桩婚姻都能美满，但数据清楚地显示，结果并不总是如人所愿。该公司对这一点深信不疑。阿维说：“用数据来说话，我们是有胜算的。但我们赢的概率也没有那么大，否则就不会有人参与了。”

阿维认为，实际上，如果情侣们对维持关系有足够信心，他们就能从这个项目中获利。这给了他们机会向自己下赌注。同时也提出了一个重要问题：“如果我们连报名都不愿意，那我们应该结婚吗？”合同中包含保护夫妻一方或双方的条款。如此一来，如果婚姻是因家庭暴力而告终的，那么，只有一人需独自承担债务。为提高参与者的胜

算，当婚姻出现危机的时候SwanLuv公司会提供免费的婚姻辅导服务。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【指望】zhǐwàng bank on expect or rely with confidence on

    【艰难的】jiānnán de rocky difficult or uncertain