WEBVTT - Whitney Wolfe Herd 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.960 Hi everyone, I'm Emily Chang and this is Bloomberg Studio, 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.240 one point out. In her early twenties, Whitney wolf Heard 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.360 became tech famous as a co founder of Tinder, where 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.920 users wipe right if they like what they see and 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:16.280 left if they don't. But she left it a controversy, 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.799 suing her Tinder colleagues for sexual harassment and discrimination. That 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.720 case settled out of the public eye, but herds mission 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.440 to upend dating norms through technology was just getting started. 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.680 She threw her efforts into Bumble, a dating app where 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:34.280 women make the first move. Bumble now has a hundred 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.479 million users in a hundred fifty countries, and Wall Street 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.640 is a buzz with chatter about Bumble's road to I 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.000 p O joining me now on Bloomberg Studio. At one point, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:51.920 Oh Bumble CEO and co founder Whitney wolf Heard whinny, 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:56.760 the pandemic has upended everything about normal life, and one 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.920 might assume that the dating world came to a stands 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.480 still at the start of this. What happened if you 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.640 were single and looking for love in the time of 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:11.360 coronavirus or maybe just some fun. So this pandemic has 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:15.920 completely changed everything about our lives. But what has been 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.600 reinforced is the importance of relationships and the importance of 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.400 human connection. Uh Loneliness has also been at an all 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.080 time high given the way our lives have been completely 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:33.480 UH change, and the importance of having relationships and finding 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:38.840 companionship and even finding love has only become more and 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.319 more critical in this time. And so, you know, like 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.800 any business owner in any business UM team across the world, 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.600 the first few weeks for very Um Touch and Go, 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.400 we didn't know what was going to happen because of 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:55.280 this pandemic. We didn't know if this was going to 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.800 be catastrophic for business or if there could be some 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.160 silver lining, and we're very, very fortunate that it's the latter. 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:06.520 So what we've seen is the durability of the need 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.280 to date and the durability of digital dating. What it 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.600 activity did you see on the platform given that people 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.800 couldn't see each other in person? Did it just stop 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:18.639 or did it spike? It spiked The activity on our product, 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.400 starting at the lockdowns, really started to go up. And 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.400 what was fascinating was more than activity rising, was the 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.560 use of our video dating. And so it's important to 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:33.400 note that we introduced video chats and video messaging and 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:38.799 video dating well before this pandemic really started. We introduced 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:43.600 this in and the usage of it was not very vast, 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.800 it was actually quite measured, and all of a sudden, 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:51.080 with this pandemic hitting, the video chats went through the roof. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.760 And not only did they go through the roof from 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.200 a from a use case standpoint, but from a time 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.680 spent video chatting, and something really amazing happened out of this. 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:02.800 We really started to realize that people are getting to 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.320 know each other on a deeper level. They're getting to 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.959 know each other more authentically, more thoroughly, and then they're 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.160 able to evaluate coming off of these video chats if 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:15.280 the person on the other end is in fact someone 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.960 they want to meet, and so categorically this has changed 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.480 how digital dating works for the long run. What makes 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.480 Bumble unique is that you let women make the first 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.239 move only with men that they are matched with, or 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.480 if we're talking about same sex folks, either person can 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.840 make the first move. For so long, dating has always 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.760 told men to go first, has always told women to wait, 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.200 and by doing this we've completely created an imbalance in 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:45.920 gender or equity when it comes to relationships. And so 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:49.280 if we're talking about a heterosexual relationship and you're telling 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:51.760 women never to make the first move and to sit 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.960 and to wait, and you're asking men to always go first, 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.360 you're creating this situation where men are led to be rejected. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:01.960 When they're rejected and hide behind a profile screen, a 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:07.160 lot of bad things can happen, like aggression, harassment, abuse, 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.240 and other forms of toxic behavior, and so it really 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.600 creates this imbalance. But what Bumble has done is entirely 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.080 flipped the switch. So on Bumble, every time a woman 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.680 connects with a man, if she's looking for a man 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.520 on the product or a mail on the product, she 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.960 always has to start the conversation. She always must start, 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.160 and it must always say hello first. And this has 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.400 completely turned it on its head in the sense that 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.880 rejection is eliminated, pressure has been taken away, empowerment has 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.160 been infused, and control has been given to the woman. 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.400 And so this really does change the entire dynamics start 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.919 to end. You also do a ton of user research. 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:47.800 What are you hearing from users about what they want 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.359 more of, what they want less of, and how do 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.840 you meet those demands Customers Over the years have shown 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:55.880 us that they want more than love, they want more 0:04:55.920 --> 0:05:00.000 than romance. They actually started hacking our product to find friends, 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.600 to find business connections, to find platonic connection, and so 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.880 then we built these modes for them. And so now 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.840 Bumble is a full fledged social connection platform for people 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.240 you don't know yet, ranging well beyond love. It's you know, 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:16.680 extends into platonic friendships, business relationships, and and so much more. 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.159 You now have more than a hundred million users in 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.080 a hundred fifty different countries around the world. Talk to 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.320 us about the growth you're seeing in places like India 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.159 and Germany and Mexico. Well, I think what growth around 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.640 the world tells us is that we're all not so 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.039 different after all. Right, Um, yes, we have different cultures, 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.680 we have different preferences, but at the end of the day, 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.520 we are all humans and we all need to connect. 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:43.720 We all need to find love, we need to find friendship, 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.960 we need to find business opportunities. So we're seeing huge 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.800 growth in places like Mexico, Germany, even in Israel, we're 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.440 seeing early high growth. And so when we plant our 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.360 seeds places, due to the nature of our product, which 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.640 is infused with empowerment and giving control to women and 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:03.720 really the wider use case of just you know, finding connection. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.320 This works around the world. So how does women making 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:09.880 the first move play out in a place like India where, 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.360 you know, even more so than in the United States, 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.200 women are not empowered to break down cultural barriers like that. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.000 It's really truly been one of the greatest joys of 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:26.000 my career to go into places that are historically not 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:31.200 engineered to grant women power or to um give them, 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.920 you know, um any encouragement to go after what they 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.400 want their relationships and to go in with with the 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.960 product which is ours bumble, and to actually give them 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.599 a different way. So it's not that women around the 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:45.680 world don't want to make the first move. It's not 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.760 that women in India don't want to be treated as 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.960 equals or given control over the relationships. So that the 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:56.080 society in the system hasn't hasn't um you know, granted 0:06:56.120 --> 0:07:00.000 that opportunity, and so when you introduce another way women 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:04.200 and will thrive. Now in terms of the product, I know, 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:06.440 there have been some new features like letting women send 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.680 an introductory emojis so you can sort of put feelers 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.640 out there, um because you can't meet someone in person. 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.240 You can't, you know, monitor things like body language and 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:19.720 get signals from that. You know, talk to us about 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:24.080 some of the new features that you've implemented at this 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:29.200 unprecedented time. We've done quite a few things. We have 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.400 given data as the opportunity to put badges on their profile, 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.560 which indicates what they're willing to do during this time, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.360 if they want a socially distance date, or if they 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:41.600 are COVID free and are willing to go on an 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:44.920 actual date, or if they are just interested in virtual dating. 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.200 At this time, there's so much talk about what new 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.240 normal will look like when we come out of this, 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:51.160 if we come out of this. As we come out 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.360 of this, you know, some of us may never go 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.440 back to the office. For example. Do you think things 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:59.640 about dating will also be permanently changed. I do. I 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.320 believe that there are a couple of things that will 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:06.840 change for the better with dating. One, I believe that 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:10.880 we will stop taking relationships for granted. I really do 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:16.000 believe that we as people recognize, maybe long overdue, but 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:23.800 we fully recognize the importance of companionship and healthy, equitable relationships. Secondarily, 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.800 I think that on bumble we are going to see 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:31.560 the lasting impacts in a long term. UM kind of 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:35.520 feature to stay will be video dating. I really do believe, 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:38.520 coming off the data we've seen and that the anecdotal 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.240 feedback we've heard, that women truly feel safer and more 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.240 encouraged and more willing to meet someone in real life 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.000 if they've gotten to know them virtually, so instead of 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.439 just matching with someone, connecting with them, chatting with them, 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.760 and then going to the coffee shop, which is what 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.240 was taking place pre covid, I do believe there's going 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.560 to be added layers of friction before where you meet 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.280 in real life, which candidly is exceptional for the sake 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.960 of safety and making sure that connections are valid and 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:18.480 and you know, really authentic and true. This is my 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.720 conversation with Whitney Wolf heard Bumble CEO and co founder 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.240 up next, how the sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:29.400 her former colleagues at Tinder has shaped her leadership at 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.080 Bumble and progress on her contributions to a Texas law 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.120 cracking down on online harassment. I'm Emily Chang, this is 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:47.040 Bloomberg Studio. At one point, oh, I want to learn 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:48.920 a little bit more about young Whitney, because there are 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:50.960 so many little girls out there who need to be 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.720 inspired by stories like yours. When you were a kid, 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.440 did you think you could be an entrepreneur or a 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:02.040 founder or a CEO? What kind kid for you? When 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.800 I was young, you know, I didn't have a lot 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.800 of women's CEOs or woman founder examples to look to. 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.439 You know, I think a lot of us experience that 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.560 growing up, and and so it was never something in 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.679 my mind. So I never thought that I would be 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:20.600 a businesswoman per se. But I always had a creative 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.840 streak in me, and I always had an entrepreneurial streak 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.319 in me. But you know, I don't think we knew 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.920 that we had permission to go there so far to 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:32.080 the point where it was almost mocked to some degree, 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.360 and so um. You know, I think the beauty of 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.200 where we are today is that's changing. You know, women 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.800 that are starting their careers and starting businesses are are 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.880 are our sources of inspiration to young girls. You went 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.960 to Southern Methodist University, as I understand it, you started 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:52.040 your first business in college, actually selling tope bags, with 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.840 the proceeds going to the area's hardest hit by the 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.760 deep water Horizon oil spill, and when you graduated, you 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.160 worked in orphanages across Asia. Your resume reads more like 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:07.800 a resume for a saint than a CEO. Well, certainly 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:09.680 not a saint, I can tell you that much. But 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.640 you know what is interesting about that is, had I 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.480 not had those experiences, Bumble would not be what Bumble 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.079 is today. And I think what what we're trying to 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.959 accomplish a Bumble is that you can drive profit and 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.680 purpose and they can coincide, they can coexist, and in fact, 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.280 they fuel one another. And I think what's really interesting 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.760 is if you look at every major social media platform 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.960 prior to Bumble, not one of them had been engineered 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.240 truly with women in mind, whether that was being able 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.200 to send a photo that might disappear, or being able to, 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.800 you know, decide who was attractive on campus or not. 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.640 I don't want to name names, but I think you 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.760 can understand where I'm going with this in the sense 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.760 that there had really never been a major social media 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:57.480 platform or connection platform the design for a woman's experience. 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.840 And so when I was starting Bumble, it was so 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:04.600 important to me to really rewrite the code for the 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:08.079 woman experience, start to end, How do we protect her, 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.360 how do we keep her safe? How do we empower her? 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.280 How do we inspire her? How do we give her 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:17.880 what she wants and needs? So before Bumble was Tinder, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.840 where you were a co founder and they were trying 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.960 to rewrite the code but in a different direction, and 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.720 swiping left and right is still a completely different approach. 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:32.839 What did you learn there and from that experience? So 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.320 my time of being a co founder at Tinder was 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:39.200 incredibly informative, and I'm forever grateful for the experience and 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.679 exposure I had to high growth tech business early on 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:48.079 UM and from my time there, I really identified white space. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.400 You know, I can't tell you how hard the first 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.640 few years of Bumble were. I mean, UM, I was 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.360 mocked and laughed at and told I was crazy and 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.319 that it would never work. And we were told that, 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.440 you know, women won't make the for us move, They 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:02.760 shouldn't make the first move, they don't make the first move. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.480 And here we are, UM one point five billion first 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.480 moves and counting five and a half six years later, 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.360 and it's it's really um. It's a testament to all 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.560 women out there. If you, if you identify an issue 0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:19.280 that women experience, and you set out to solve that 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.920 for women, Um, they will come and they will follow 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:25.840 because we need the solutions and and it's a huge 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:29.679 opportunity for all women building businesses. You've been quite candid 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:34.440 about your own experience being being bullied. You also, in 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.960 a big first move, sued your former team at Tinder 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:42.640 for discrimination and sexual harassment. How did that inform how 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.440 you want to lead and how you want to do 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:50.560 things differently at Bumble After my departure from Tinder, Uh, 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.719 that became very public my departure, in the details of 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.839 my departure were displayed all over the Internet, and with 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:05.280 that came flew of online abuse and harassment from complete strangers. 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.240 But it never ended. It would go in the night 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.680 and the daytime, and my social media accounts were flooded 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:15.520 with really toxic, toxic and mean words and you know, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.760 words count, and it hurt me. It devastated me, and 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.160 it sent me into a really dark place. And and 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:27.880 from that I had an opportunity to say, Okay, this 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.640 can either destroy me and this is the end of 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:34.600 my career, or I can really put a pin in 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.960 what's wrong here and try to build a solution. And 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.600 so that was really the beginning of my journey onward 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.200 into my next chapter, which has become Bumble, which was 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:49.040 why is social media so unaccountable? Why is social media 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.920 so cruel? Why are we allowed to treat each other 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:57.800 this way online when frankly, those same people sending those 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.760 messages if they saw me in a grocer, you store 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:03.680 or on the street, I can guess that they wouldn't 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:05.720 say those things to me because there would be some 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.640 level of accountability. And so that was really the beginning 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:13.760 of of of flipping the switch, and my my lesson 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.120 through that has been too really make that our north star. 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:21.400 How do we engineer healthy and equitable relationships for everyone? 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.920 And that starts with also how we treat each other 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.360 internally as a team. And so it's just been very 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.760 foundational and something we've stayed very very loyal to. Someone 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.160 says something about you online or comments on the way 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.080 you look that can have a big impact on someone. Um, 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:40.200 you know what about the role of online dating in that, 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.360 because that can also play a pretty powerful role. What 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.480 are you doing to address the negative or potential negative 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:51.800 mental and emotional impacts of that. You're absolutely right, first 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.760 and foremost we've really laid down the law internally and 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.720 from a product standpoint on what we will tolerate and 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.800 what we will not. We have a zero tolerance policy 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:07.800 for hate, for bad behavior, for toxicity, for any discrimination 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.560 of any kind. We will block you, we will report you, 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:16.040 and we will involve the police if if it is consequential, 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:19.720 if if you do something that is dangerous. Um. Not 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.560 only that, but we've really built product features to support this. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.080 So we were the first group to roll out photo verification. 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.960 Photo verification is an opportunity to validate and verify who 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:36.400 you are in under one minute. Um. The fact that 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.920 online dating is a place where you can be anonymous 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.040 or you can pretend to be someone else is very scary, 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.480 and so we really take this very seriously and we 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.040 make sure that that's not happening and that we're doing 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.920 all we can to prevent it. You've contributed to a 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:55.240 Texas law actually cracking down on digital sexual harassment. Tell 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.840 me how much progress you've made there. We introduced a 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:03.280 bill to solve for the issue of no online accountability 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.880 and no regulation on really toxic, scary digital behavior. So 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.960 in the real world, you have indecent exposure. This is 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.040 a law. There are consequences if you expose yourself in 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:18.120 public in front of others in any unsolicited format. It's 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.320 a very serious law, and there are very serious consequences. 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.560 Yet you could stand on the same block in front 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.879 of the same strangers and you could air drop a 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.399 photo of yourself and there are no consequences, not until 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.199 the law that we had passed, and we introduced this 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.399 bill to ban or to make illegal, the sending of 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:41.440 unsolicited lewed photos. This bill was introduced as a law, 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.640 the law passed unanimously in the Texas State Senate, which 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.280 we all know in such a polarizing political climate it's 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.320 very hard to do. So that's just to suggest the 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.479 serious nature of this. This is a human issue, This 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.000 is not a political issue. And we were able to 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.159 get that law actually signed into effect, and so now 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.040 in the state of Texas, it is illegal to send 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.119 unsolicited lewd photos. And that is just the first of 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.600 many laws and bills that we hope to advocate for 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.680 in the coming years. So, speaking of politics, we've been 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:18.919 through an incredibly volatile political time. How are you addressing 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:22.879 politics and dating? We stay really loyal to our mission, 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.840 and if our mission is to engineer a world, or 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:31.440 to create a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable. Well, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.160 then there are certain things we cannot tolerate. There are 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.880 certain things we have to stand up for. We must 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.639 protect a woman's right to choose. We must protect a 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.280 woman's right to her own body and her choices, and 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.440 we must protect the right to love whoever you want 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.640 to love, no matter what. And we must really take 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:53.119 a hard stance against any form of discrimination. And so 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.240 that is the firm line we draw on the sand. 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.679 We do not tell you who you can and cannot 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:00.640 vote for, but we do tell you what we will 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:03.359 and will not tolerate as a business. And so that's 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:15.760 really been our northern star. You're listening to my conversation 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.960 with Bumble CEO and co founder Whitney wolf Hurt. Coming 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:21.639 up with a swarm of dating apps and social media 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.280 platforms out there, how does Bumble compete? And in a 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.359 year of big tchech I p O, when will the 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:31.320 company go public? I'm Emily Chang. This is Bloomberg Studio 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:49.080 at one point out stay with us. As of last year, 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.439 the private equity firm Blackstone now has a majority stake 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.879 in bumble. What kind of resources and access has that 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:02.639 afforded you to take advantage and scale Our partnership with 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:09.960 black Stone is absolutely incredible. I have so much respect 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:14.280 and admiration for the team there, for their leadership, for 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:19.520 their incredible support and championing of us, both as a 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.760 team and as a business. UM. It has really been 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:26.639 the highlight of my entire career to work with Blackstone UM. 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:31.399 It has been a remarkable success story from a private 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.479 equity and high growth tech business standpoint, and there's not 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:37.040 so many of those UM, so it was a bit 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.680 of a of a unique UM match, but it has 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.600 been absolutely sensational and they have really given us UM 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:48.399 a wide range of resources and support, ranging from helping 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:52.479 us scale our talent, to placing our board, to helping 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.840 us dig deeper into data analytics and really double doubling 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.719 down on privacy and security and you know coming in 0:20:58.760 --> 0:21:03.200 and really helping us just really further accelerate the business 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.920 from every every side. UM and I have a great 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.000 partnership with with the folks over there, and has just 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:13.440 been it has really been a remarkable opportunity. There's been 0:21:13.440 --> 0:21:16.040 talk about an I p O a six to eight 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.600 billion dollar I p O. Does black Stones involvement now 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:25.840 change the path forward? So I cannot comment on the 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:29.399 future prospect of a potential I p O. But I 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:31.960 can tell you that we are working hand in hand 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:35.919 every day black Stone and Bumble to pursue UM the 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.439 best future outcome for the business. And we love our 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:43.479 partnership and we stay very close UM on all future 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.119 potential opportunities where a high growth business, and so we're 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.720 exploring all options now. Tender, along with all the other 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.119 dating apps, is now your competition. So why should people 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:58.720 use Bumble when there are now Pick your Flavor, Coffee Meats, Bagel, Hinge, 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:04.359 the League, all of these other options out there. We 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:09.000 fundamentally believe that the way a relationship starts is very 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:13.160 um suggestive of how it will end, and we're really 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:16.959 trying to recalibrate the way relationships begin so they can 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:21.520 become more healthy, more equitable, more long lasting. And when 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:25.480 a woman makes the first move, she really establishes control 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.080 and has um you know, an equal footing from the 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.760 very first hello. And that's what we really fundamentally believe 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:37.000 sets us apart from a product standpoint. Even if you 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:41.320 saw the same person on five products on Bumble. Saying 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:44.600 hello first changes the course of the way that relationship 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:47.119 will go and the way that conversation will go, and 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:51.000 it really does just promote more healthy and equitable relationships 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:53.920 for all. Any dating app has the problem that once 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.520 you create a successful match, those people don't need the 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:00.200 app anymore, certainly don't need to pay a subscribe ship. 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:04.439 How do you reconcile that and keep making money? That 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:07.000 is an issue for certain dating apps. But we are 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:09.680 not just a dating app. We offer so many other 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:13.960 verticals inside our product, and we see that our users 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:17.280 and our customers really come for more than just dating. 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.240 We have a large sector of our user base that 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:23.960 comes and uses all three modes, which is dating, friend finding, 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.159 and business opportunities. Does that mean then you're competing with 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:31.639 Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and snapchat? And how do 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:34.919 you compete? What's really interesting about the Instagrams and the 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:37.919 facebooks and the snapchats of the world. You're communicating with 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:40.639 your friends. That is the place you are keeping in 0:23:40.720 --> 0:23:44.080 touch with the network you already have. You are commenting 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:48.600 on friends photos and exchanging um updates with one another. 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:52.119 Bumble connects you to people you don't know yet. So 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:55.320 Bumble is really what comes before social media. This is 0:23:55.359 --> 0:23:57.560 what is giving you a network. This is what is 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:01.840