In this episode of Talks at GS, Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble, discusses the evolution of the dating app since its launch, the impact of the pandemic on Bumble and the online dating industry generally, and Herd’s experience as the youngest female founder to take a company public.
On women leadership in tech: “We need to prioritize women in business… something that’s quite remarkable about these businesses that women have led through IPOs, and the ones that have come before me - women set out to solve problems, they really are problem solvers…If we would start prioritizing women, even if it’s at the workplace, or in the investment arm, it’s just amazing what women businesses can do for the world. And we’re seeing that right now.”
On Bumble’s business strategy: “We had taken a pre-COVID bet, which we were right on, that video dating was part of the future… And the fact that we were able to innovate and be prepared for something no one could be prepared for, with this video option, it really just sent us into a whole new orbit of success. We saw folks falling in love and building full blown relationships, digitally. They had not met. They would spend months just videoing and cooking dinner at their own respective homes, across cities or across towns, until they were able to finally meet. And so this trend of, ‘we are in the business of connecting people’, that was not disrupted, it was just reinforced.”
The episode was recorded on June 17, 2021.
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