Like many single millennials, Ashley and Connor met cute the modern way: They matched on Bumble, the dating app where people swipe through potential partners but only women are allowed to initiate a conversation, and started texting. But when Ashley asked an innocent question about work, Connor launched into a misogynistic rant in which he called her a “gold-digging whore.” Bumble’s response, a fiery blog post now known as the “Dear Connor” letter, quickly went viral. The company called for a future in which Connor would “engage in everyday conversations with women without being afraid of their power”—and then, in an unusual move, banned him from using the service.
Whitney Wolfe, Bumble’s 28-year-old founder and CEO, understands how it feels to be on the receiving end of such messages. Flanked by a handful of the 30 employees (mostly women) who work out of the company’s Austin office, she explains that she founded Bumble in 2014 “in response to our dating issues, our issues with men, our issues with gender dynamics.” At the time, Wolfe had been reeling from her dramatic exit from the dating app Tinder, where she served as VP of marketing. Following an ugly breakup with cofounder Justin Mateen, Wolfe brought a sexual harassment suit against her former colleagues, accusing them of discrimination and stripping her of her cofounder title—claims Tinder called unfounded. Texts in which Mateen repeatedly bashed Wolfe’s romantic life and threatened her future at the company citing their strained relationship were presented as evidence; the case was settled out of court.
After her painful split from Tinder, the last thing Wolfe wanted to do was start another tech company. She sunk into a deep depression and eventually fled Los Angeles for Austin, where she thought she might open a juice bar. “I read what people were saying about me, and I was sure I was done,” she says. “I felt like a washed-up rag, the dirtiest, grossest person in the world.” But shortly after her move, she got a call from Andrey Andreev, the founder and CEO of social networking site Badoo, who wanted to know her plans. In August of 2014, Andreev and Wolfe met in Greece to discuss partnering on a female-centric dating app.
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