By Suzanne K. Oshima

It’s easy to see the fairytale ending when you date an aspiring entrepreneur, but many don’t realize all of the work it took for men like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, PayPal’s Elon Musk and Bill Gates to be successful. The women who supported them in the early stages sacrificed just as much as the entrepreneurs themselves as they dealt with their stresses and lack of free time. Zuckerberg had to put in so much time at Facebook that his then-girlfriend Priscilla Chan made him sign a contract that called for “one date per week, a minimum of a hundred minutes of alone time, not in his apartment and definitely not at Facebook.” A contract might seem a bit drastic, but it does demonstrate that it’s clearly not easy to date an aspiring entrepreneur. If you want your relationship to survive in the long term, consider these important tips:

Related: What Role Does Ambition Play in a Relationship?

1. See and understand his vision: An aspiring entrepreneur appreciates someone who finds his unique idea as exciting as he does. Whatever they’re planning is important to them, so caring about it is essential. Try to see and understand their vision while removing enough from the situation to give them the opportunity to take their minds off of work now and then.

2. Be supportive, understanding and patient: When you’re dealing with an entrepreneur, there are going to be many times that they’ll have to cancel plans at the last minute because of business. It’s important for you to understand that it’s not because he doesn’t want to have date night, it’s just because he simply couldn’t. Entrepreneurs are under a lot of stress: the last thing they need is more stress from you.

3. Make quality time: As mentioned, entrepreneurs are always busy, so your time together will always be limited.  Make the most of it, and enjoy your togetherness rather than complain that you can’t be spending more time with them. Remember, quality is much more important than quantity.

4. Set expectations: Many aspiring entrepreneurs seem married to their business, so be clear on what you expect from your relationship as soon as it begins. Rather than make demands, politely tell them what you appreciate and expect from someone you’re dating.

Related: 5 Ways Facebook Can Help Mark Zuckerberg Keep His Marriage Strong

5. Live your own fulfilling life: The majority of an entrepreneur’s days, nights and weekends are going to be spent building the business, so be sure to have your own life to occupy your time. Your partner will be happy to see that you’re getting out and doing your own thing, instead of sitting around waiting for them to have free time.

6. Prepare for Uncertainty:  Entrepreneurs are unconventional risk takers who never lead normal, 9-to-5, predictable jobs.  It’s important to look forward to the excitement of the inevitable ups and downs and embrace the uniqueness of your life together.

It’s very easy to date a rich and successful entrepreneur, but very few people have what it takes to date an aspiring, struggling one. Overall, however, it can be an amazing experience. You just have to be willing to take the risks with them, and ultimately try to be someone who can add value to their life.

Suzanne K. Oshima is a matchmaker & dating coach at Dream Bachelor & Bachelorette, an exclusive full service agency offering matchmaking, date coaching, makeovers and a date concierge service. She is also the founder of Single in Stilettos. She has been seen on Bravo TV, The Today Show, Inside Edition, ABC, BBC Radio, Men’s Health, Glamour Magazine, Your Tango and more.

Their wedding day may be over, but Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s adventure has just begun! The two newlyweds were spotted in Italy enjoying their honeymoon out on the sea, says People.  The Amalfi Coast tends to be a popular destination for many celebrity honeymooners, such as Reese Witherspoon and Kim Kardashian. The open sea and beautiful landscape gives newlyweds a chance to partake in a variety of activities.

What are some thrilling activities you can partake in on your honeymoon?

Cupid’s Advice: 

As you embark on a new life together, why not take part in a little adventure as well? Here are some ways you and your man can create exciting and unforgettable memories:

1. Take a surf lesson: Learning something new gives you and your mate a chance to help each other out. You’ll both be a little out of your element, but it will be fun to make mistakes together and watch the other succeed.

2. Go bungee jumping: Doing something completely out of your comfort zone gives each of you a chance to show your support for the other. Helping each other overcome a fear is rewarding in itself and will inevitably bring you closer together.

3. Get immersed in the culture: Heading to Hawaii? Go to a Hula Dance performance. Off to Italy? Enjoy a delicious pasta dinner. Taking advantage of your travels and exploring a different lifestyle together will give you and your new partner something to remember for ages.

Did you have an adventurous honeymoon? Tell us your story below.

By Amy Osmond Cook

On May 19, Mark Zuckerberg married longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, in a private ceremony the day after Facebook went public. She wore a traditional white wedding gown, and he even put on a suit for the occasion. As the Washington Post reported, fewer than 100 guests were in attendance, and they all arrived thinking they were celebrating Chan’s graduation from medical school.

Mark and Priscilla are famously low-key and grounded. For the past nine years, their relationship has grown right along with Facebook. In fact, Mark and Priscilla can use principles learned from Facebook to strengthen their personal relationships. Below are five Facebook-inspired ways that the couple can keep their marriage strong:

Related: 7 Ways to Flirt in a Web 2.0 World

1. Keep your relationship status public:

No one wants to be left wondering what about his or her relationship status. Experts agree that communicating your feelings is a vital component of a good relationship. Nothing is worse than coming home to a spouse who is angry but won’t tell you why. A person who withholds his feelings to manipulate a partner is similarly despicable. So whenever possible, Mark and Priscilla need to check in with each other and keep their feelings out in the open.

2. Don’t invite strangers into your inner circle:

When you’re married, you have to be each other’s biggest fan and keep any naysayers at arms’ length. Mark does this well. He recently gave ABC News a glowing report about how hard Priscilla worked to make sure her pediatric patients were well cared for: “She’ll see them getting sicker and then all of a sudden an organ becomes available and she comes home and her face is all lit up because someone’s life is going to better because of this.” Clearly, Mark is proud of his wife, and the feeling is mutual. No matter who you are, there are always going to be haters who criticize your spouse or your relationship. You just have to have enough sense not to “friend” them.

3. Don’t waste your time looking at other people’s profiles:

There is no such thing as a perfect relationship. Most people don’t like to air their issues out in the open, and serious problems can exist underneath the gloss of a perfectly touched-up family portrait. A friend of mine had long-term problems in her marriage. When it finally ended in divorce, people were stunned. “I had no idea there was a problem,” friends said repeatedly. This couple kept their problems private, but they were still there eating away at the relationship. So the next time your frenemy posts an Instagram photo of herself and her movie star husband vacationing in Italy, remember that appearances can be deceiving.

4. Block the games:

There are endless ways to waste your time on Facebook. Messages, comments, causes, alerts, Farmville–so many ways to become distracted. My personal nemesis is Words with Friends. The same holds true in a relationship. Whether it’s working long hours or going out excessively with the girls, anything that distracts a couple from their relationship is a threat. Priscilla knows this. The Daily Beast reports that she is mitigating the workaholic tendencies of her husband by laying down some ground rules for the relationship: 100 minutes of alone time and one date per week.

Related: Don’t Just Drop Hints When You Want Commitment

5. “Like” everything:

It’s easy to get bogged down in what is wrong with a relationship instead of what is right. When your three-year-old clogs the toilet with a Barbie and the boss is making extreme demands at work, it’s hard to look at your partner with the same starry-eyed perspective as you did when you were dating. But keeping a positive attitude is one of the best things you can do for a relationship. As Norman Vincent Peale outlines in his famous book, The Power of Positive Thinking, the key to becoming a positive, happy person is to be aware of your thinking patterns and replace negative thinking with positive thinking. For example, instead of saying, “My husband is so messy,” look at the flip side: “I’m so glad my husband doesn’t bark at me about every little household chore.” Whenever possible, give your relationship a big thumbs-up.

Mark and Priscilla are off to a good start. The Facebook founder is famously low-key (still donning his hoodie from college), and his new wife is focused on humanitarian causes. As Priscilla’s former science teacher said to the Daily Mail, they want to change the world together and are blessed to have the resources to do it. With a few Facebook-inspired relationship reminders, this royal couple of the tech world can beat the odds and establish a secure foundation for a happy, healthy marriage.

Amy Osmond Cook, Ph.D. is a faculty associate at Arizona State University, where she teaches Communication and English classes.  She is the publisher of Sourced Media Books and co-author of Hope After Divorce and Full Bloom: Cultivating Success.  Amy and her husband, Jeff, have five children and look forward to welcoming baby #6 in April 2012.  For more information about Amy, please visit amyosmondcook.com.

Newlyweds Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan literally had the world at their feet when it came to choosing a honeymoon spot, but the couple found Rome to be best fit, according to TMZ.com. The lovebirds were spotted dining among many people at one of the city’s busiest restaurants. “It looks like they didn’t attract much attention — in fact, they seem to go unnoticed,” said the source, which was probably a factor that went into their decision to go on the Italian adventure. With the large crowds and constant flow of people, the happy pair can go on with their business and bask in post-wedding bliss, without having to worry about being harassed by paparazzi.

Where are some out of the way places to visit on your honeymoon?

Cupid’s Advice:

The honeymoon period for every couple is a special one, because that’s the time when things are at their sweetest. Here are some extravagant places to enjoy your marriage at its newest and most vibrant stage:

1. Hawaiian getaway: Hawaii is the perfect combination for feeling far from home, without having to leave the country. You and your significant other can enjoy nature in its purest, most beautiful form, while feeling completely safe and at ease. Best of all, there’s no language barrier to overcome.

2. Australian adventure: Going ‘down under’ seems to be all the rave. With lots to see and do, you and your mate can choose to make your trip action-packed with scuba diving and zip lining through the rainforest, or take the more luxurious route at a variety of five star resorts.

3. Paris escape: Who better to experience what the ‘city of love’ has to offer, than with your new partner? This French destination spews romance, perfect for celebrating the beginning of your lives together.

If you could choose any location in the world to honeymoon in, where would it be?  Leave comments below.

Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has changed his relationship status to “married,” according to UsMagazine.com. Zuckerberg, 28, married Priscilla Chan, 27, Saturday at his home in Palo Alto, Calif. and was quick to post the announcement on Facebook. The “life event,” which includes a photo of the couple holding hands and smiling, was posted early on Sunday. Zuckerberg and Chan met while attending Harvard University and have been dating ever since.

How can social media play a positive role in your relationship?

Cupid’s Advice:

Social media can be a great way to keep friends and family updated on the pluses in your relationship. Here are a few ways to keep positive conversation going:

1. Avoid relationship overload: Relationship posts are great when they’re not clogging up everyone’s newsfeeds. Keep your posts limited, and people will respond to the two of you in a more positive manner.

2. Keep your pictures appropriate: While your friends may love to see shots of your vacation in Hawaii, no one wants to go through an album filled with photos of the two of you kissing. Save PDA-style photos for wedding or engagement shoots.

3. Make announcements: The people you love will appreciate knowing when new things happen to the two of you – getting engaged, getting married, buying a home, and having kids are almost as exciting to them as they are to you. Share the joy of your relationship with others.

How do you portray your relationship on Facebook? Let us know below.

By Vicky Sullivan

In the opening scene of the recent box office hit, The Social Network, the fictional Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) insults girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara,) by debasing her background and education.  She then says, “Dating you is like dating a stair master.”  And quickly dumps him.  500 Million friends and billions of dollars later, the real Zuckerberg and girlfriend Priscilla Chan, who he met while studying at Harvard, have just become Palo Alto’s ‘it’ couple.  It must be tough dating a billionaire at the helm of one of the world’s most influential websites.  Especially, when you have lawsuits and the paparazzi following you.  However, Chan has stuck with Zuckerberg through it all.  According to People, the couple live together in a modest rented house.  Shortly after the release of the film, the reclusive Zuckerberg briefly let cameras into his home on a live broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show.  In response to the movie, Zuckerberg said, “The last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work.  But, maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama.”  Perhaps, he isn’t that much of a stair master after all.

How do you keep your relationship in perspective when you’re dating someone rich and powerful?

Cupid’s Advice:

Most people dream of being swept off their feet by someone with wealth, success, and fame.  If you find yourself in that situation, here are a few things to remember:

1. Be yourself: Money can change everything or nothing at all.  So when it comes to dating someone with wealth, remember they’re just a regular person like everyone else with the same needs and insecurities.

2. Don’t get intimidated: Your partner is and always will be your equal.  Try not to feel that your partner is out of your league.  After all, they chose you for a reason.

3.  Jealousy isn’t an option: Jealousy shouldn’t be a part of any relationship.  However, when it comes to the rich and powerful, there is bound to be competition.  Try not to let it get to you.