One of the co-founders of Tinder, Whitney Wolfe, will be Trevor Noah's Daily Show guest Tuesday night, and you should pay attention to what she has to say. Wolfe has quite a storied past, and a rocky relationship with Tinder, which she co-founded and later sued for sexual harassment. (The lawsuit was later settled with no admission of wrongdoing from the accused parties.) Although Wolfe's lawsuit has been widely discussed in the media, she hasn't let that stop her from pursuing her dreams. Wolfe launched her own dating app, Bumble, earlier this year, and this entrepreneur has no plans to slow down.
Bumble gives women the upper hand in the online dating sphere. Like Tinder, the app features potential matches, and you can swipe right if you're interested in someone. After both users swipe right, though, there's a catch — only women can send the first message. If a female user doesn't reach out to a match within 24 hours, the connection is lost. Male Bumble users can extend the match for another 24 hours, but women still have to make the first move. Wolfe hopes that the app will help end the harassment and sexism that are all too common with many dating apps.
Wolfe was born in Salt Lake City, and created her first business right out of high school, making bamboo tote bags to raise money after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. She headed to Southern Methodist University for college, and then moved to Los Angeles after graduation, where she got her first job at Hatch Labs. It was that job that started her on the path with Tinder.
In 2012, Wolfe, along with co-founders Sean Rad, Chris Gulzcynski and Justin Mateen, founded Tinder, which is now valued at $750 million. In July 2014, she filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Tinder after resigning from the company. The lawsuit was extremely public, and Wolfe said she was sexually harassed by both Mateen, whom she used to date, and Rad. Matteen resigned after the allegations, Rad was demoted from CEO to president, and the lawsuit was settled with "no admission of wrongdoing" from either Mateen or Rad.
These days, though, Wolfe would rather be known for the other dating app she's created. Wolfe's success in creating a new app for young people shows that she's a strong woman who can learn from her past without being trapped in it. And for anyone who's experienced a hostile work environment, that's a powerful message to send. Even if she doesn't discuss her Tinder experience (or co-founders) on Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show, Wolfe's appearance on the show signals that she's a force to be reckoned with.
Images: Bumble
