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The tinder app made a word lovely place. It just revolutionized meeting people with the help of technology. Even it is one of the world’s best dating apps.
But many of us don’t know about the tinder success story also about the Tinder founders’ controversy.
Surprisingly, the Tinder app was built in three weeks. So it will be exactly to explain about tinder startup story.
So in this block, dive deep into a Tinder success story. Also, about the tinder founders controversy.
Tinder Startup Story
The main character of Tinder is Sean Rad. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California. During his graduation, Sean Rad was too sick to listen to the boring business lectures.
But he had a great interest in building a real business. Sean Rad at the age of 18, build an app with his friend Justin Mateen. It was a flirting app called ” HOT OR NOT”.
After the launch of the app, it did not reach the founder’s expectations. So it did not become a youth success in their life. Finally Sean Rad with his entrepreneurial spirit tried new things. Simultaneously he was also working at Cardify.
Sean Rad was actively participating in the startup incubator. So his spirit of entrepreneurship never died. Frequently, he used to participate in hackathons.
So in 2012, there was a hackathon launched by the Match Group. There Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, and Whitney Wolfe took part in the hackthon.
During this hackathon, the Tinder app was built. Then it revolutionized the dating culture. So during the time of its building, tinder was known as Match Box.
Then the idea of the app was mesmerizing. So the Match Group that has organized the hackathon is ready to invest in the app. In our match group acquire a lot of dating apps like Hinge, Meetic, OkCupid, Pairs, PlentyOfFish, OurTime, Azar, and more.
So the name “Match Box” was a contradiction. Then The Match Box was renamed Tinder. Then it was the bubbling moment for the Tinder app. Because it had a lot of use cases.
Marketing by Tinder founders
So it was all dependent on the marketing. However, Tinder app features are so attractive and engaging. Therefore, Tinder founders just wanted to make them aware of the product.
Whitney Wolfe leads the marketing team. Her approach was unique and untraditional. She understood the target consumer of the app are teenagers. So every day she went to colleges, and universities to make marketing.
There she used to explain the app. Sometimes she used to launch party events, and then invite the college students as well. On the condition that it all must have to install the tinder app. Show the guide or girls without Blender app are not allowed to the party.
Couples would get an entry if they would have installed the Tinder app. In this way, Whitney Wolfe took the charge of marketing. As a result, the Tinder app got viral and there was no stop for the right of the app.
After a year, another triggering feature was introduced in the Tinder app. It has taken the dating app by storm, “swipe feature”.
The swipe feature went on to become an iconic feature of the dating app. In this way, Tinder got all its initial consumers. Even the marketing strategy was unique and lucrative.
Tinder founders controversy
The tinder app was in that crazy spot. Everyone got stuck up with the dating app. So it was a successful venture for Tinder founders.
But there were controversies started rising within the team. It all started with Whitney Wolfe. As you all know that Sean Rad, Justin Mateen, and Whitney Wolfe were the pillars of the Tinder app.
So there was a love affair between Justin Mateen and Whitney Wolfe. Then they both were dating. But for some reason, Whitney Wolfe started avoiding Justeen.
Then Justeen was rebellious against Whitney. More frequently used to miss behave with Whitney. Then, he used to send awkward messages to Whitney. So it was so irritating for her.
Then he approached Sean Rad to get some assistance. But to her surprise, even Sean Rad supported Justeen.
After a while, there was male dominance in and around the company. Even Sean Rad and Justeen thought to snatch the power from Whitney as a co-founder of Tinder.
Then finally Whitney Wolfe left Tinder in 2014. Even then she filed a lawsuit against Justeen and Sean. Finally, put up the settlement worth $1 million.
Finally, the case was in the favour of Whitney and of and she got a settlement of $1 million.
After exiting Tinder, Whitney Wolfe founded Bumble. It was a blockbuster hit and another most anticipated dating app. Still, it is now the second most loved and downloaded dating app. Even it gave fierce competition to Tinder.
In this way, the Tinder founders controversy lead to making a negative impact on the company’s growth.
Tinder business model
At the end of 2014, people just collected and started using the tinder app insanely. There were over 1 billion swipes per day. A lot of teenagers started hooked up to the app. As a result, the average time a user spends on tinder was around 90 minutes.
So it was a better chance to make money or out of it. So tender founders are never too late to make a business out of it. As soon as the app started becoming viral, then they came up with the subscription plan.
Tinder Plus subscription
In 2015, a tinder Plus subscription went on crazy. From this subscription, there was more chance to get more matches. By uploading a passport, they can find a match from anywhere.
So it was great to find a match. As everyone started subscribing to the plan. Even it gave the power to change the location.
So the prices were $9.99 for people less than 28 of age and $19.99 for those who are age than 28. Then it backfired for tinder. A lot of users started complaining about discrimination in age. So it was a bad sign and disappointed users.
But still, Tinder’s founders are adamant and stick to the plans.
Tinder Gold Subscription
The tinder app was plenty of users. After the success of tinder plus subscription. Then it came up with the Tinder gold subscription pack.
Here the main focus was on profile boosting. So the number of matches one can get will increase. Then it was beneficial for the users to get a match.
The price of the subscription plan was $14.99 per month and $29.99 for users less than 28 and over 28 respectively.
Tinder Platinum
This was one of the premium subscription packs. Once again it came up with exclusive features. Till now, one can message their partner after the right swipe.
But with the tinder platinum subscription plan, one can text to another without swiping. These were crazy and mind-blowing features. In this way, Tinder’s business model was working.
In the Tinder business model, the main source of revenue is the subscription pack. However, the users were ready to pay and use the app.
The main problem tinder was solving was loneliness. In their teenage, a lot of youngsters will feel lonely. At this age, they are not close to their parents. So they need some ko partner to share their feelings.
By then there was no other App except social media. So it was very difficult to get connected with the people closely. So Tinder came as a savior for them.
The Tinder app was monetizing loneliness. Even tinder business for also working about psychology. The tinder app become addictive for users.
It was all dopamine play. Dopamine is a chemical, it will be released whenever, one felt accomplished and attracted by someone.
In the Tinder app, whenever the user login into the app, it shows profiles then dopamine is released by seeing the beautiful faces. Then Tinder started tricks on the users by getting a few matches.
Then it insists users buy a subscription pack to continue the run. Till now the users were accomplished by getting matches. Now the US was ready to pay for a subscription plan so that their matches can continue.
In several cases, Tinder went to make money in unethical ways. In the app, there were a lot of fake accounts, so it was just fooling the users. So that they can hooker around the app.
Tinder founders Controversy with IAC and Match Group
Tinder founders Controversy did not end with Whitney Wolfe. Instead, it went against the investors of Tinder, IAC, and Match Group.
By then Tinder what’s one of the most download dating apps. So it was generating a lot of revenue. So Match Group lot of other dating apps under their couch. They are trying to snatch Tinder from Sean Rad and Justin Marteen.
Now the Match Group and IAC were tricking the tinder founders by giving false valuations for the company. Then there was a rebellious action taken against Match Group.
They filed a lawsuit against the Match group for $2 billion. Then the lawsuit went on for many years. In 2021 they got $441 million as compensation.
In this way, the Tinder founders controversy made a big impact. Now Tinder is one of the most lucrative dating apps.
In 2020 Dating app revenue was over $3 billion, and the tinder app was leading in revenue. Then in the next consecutive year,2021 Tinder app made $1.6 billion in revenue.
At present, Tinder’s valuation is over $42 billion. There are over 75 million monthly active users in the app. Then there are 6.2 million subscribers. Know the current CEO of tinder is Renat Nyborg.