Life is a lot more fun with good, positive people around you.
— Whitney Wolfe Herd
The most successful apps have taken a societal problem and built an accessible and democratic solution.
You know what I will do sometimes? I'll let my phone die... and I will say, 'You know what, I'm not lying, my phone died.'
So many entrepreneurs approach me and say, 'I want to start the next big thing,' and I say, 'Well, what are you solving?' And oftentimes they say, 'Oh, I'm not sure. I want to start something big.' You can never start something big without solving something small, right?
The implication that women are poised to make unfounded accusations in droves is even more alarming when every piece of data on false reporting contradicts that false notion. We need to believe women and believe in women.
I've run into women who can be highly problematic, detrimental, and mean, just like I've seen that in men.
Harass someone on Bumble, and you're banned for life. Harsh? Maybe. But I feel strongly that we won't end misogyny until we start holding each other to higher standards, and that starts with setting clear boundaries and enforcing them.
Are we solving the world's problems by allowing women to make the first move on a dating app? No. But I do believe we are helping to change some very archaic norms.
I've thought long and hard about this, and I think a lot of the dysfunction around dating has to do with men having the control.
As we all know, sexism in the workplace is a serious issue. It's something that needs active disruption and change.
I have been sexist before. I have called girls names. I have gone with the misogynist flow.
I'm obsessed with Topo Chico.
I don't believe revenge is part of my agenda. I'm a firm believer that, just like hate spreads hate, love and kindness spread love and kindness.
I believe in taking people away from their desks and making them feel collaborative and inspire one another instead of being siloed.
From its conception, I wanted Bumble's culture to match its values. If women were taking charge on our app, then they'd be running the show behind the scenes, too.
I always wanted to have a scenario where the guy didn't have my number, but I had his. What if women make the first move, send the first message? And if they don't, the match disappears after 24 hours, like in Cinderella, the pumpkin and the carriage? It'd be symbolic of a Sadie Hawkins dance - going after it, girls ask first.
Honestly, I'd rather hug than shake hands. I don't know where those hands have been!
I would pay good money for a British accent.
We need to eliminate hate speech. We need to do our part to really engineer kindness on our digital platforms.
I had to live through being a woman who thought men always had a one-up... I knew I didn't like it. I thought that's how it was.
I think, traditionally, power is perceived as something that belongs to men and is an excuse to behave in a disempowered way.
Companies must put infrastructure in place to support their female employees and ensure that they receive the benefits of male and female leadership.
I'm so tired of this notion that women only need to support women. Why can't we all support each other?
Don't let something hurtful in your past hold you back from what you want to do. Be brave.
I'd read a lot about the psychology around rejection and insecurity, and I had noticed that when people feel insecure or rejected, they behave aggressively, erratically. Especially when you can hide behind a screen name or a profile picture.
Often, the best jobs come out of just meeting people and letting one thing lead to another.
The dynamic of how women and men are meant to interact, for those of us who are looking for a heterosexual relationship, is very broken, and it leads to a lot of really dysfunctional relationships, abusive and otherwise.
I don't know why the leaders of social networks have overlooked the idea of rules. Real-life behavior is becoming more reflective of social media instead of vice versa, and that's a dangerous thing.
We will always put our values before our bottom line.
If you're doing anything disruptive, and if you know it to be good and true and progressive, let the naysayers fuel you to work harder and go faster and sleep less.
When women fight for a higher salary, they can often feel guilty. When men fight for more pay, they feel empowered. I've always wanted to encourage women to go after the money they deserve.
I was tired of a system where women waited around for men to send them a message or ask them out. With Bumble - first a dating app, now a social network that helps you make empowering connections in love, life, and business - women had to make the first move, or the match was void.
I just don't harbor resentment toward anything or anywhere or anyone - I'm too busy.
If we want to create change, we all have to be feminists - men, women, everyone needs to acknowledge that. Sometimes I have more in common with the man than I do the woman in the room.
I think it's smart to always keep an eye on the companies that sit within incubator communities, which bring together the skills and expertise needed to grow an enterprise.
The biggest lesson I've learned is that hurt people hurt people, and kindness is just as contagious. So if you can focus your efforts on engineering kindness, it will prevail.
I didn't really understand the concept of feminism until the media started to talk about it surrounding my name.
The women at all levels of the entertainment industry - from interns to Oscar winners - who kept quiet to protect their careers should be a lesson to every CEO and HR department.
I was 24 when I was embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit. This was 2014, long before, en masse and on social media, we said #MeToo and #TimesUp. At the time, I felt completely alone. Visceral, hateful online harassment from strangers left me paranoid and anxious for years afterward.
Everyone deals with trauma differently, and recovery is always a work in progress. But courage is contagious, and the more that people stand up and speak out against misogyny, the faster we can create the kind of world where we won't have to.
Bullies will attack your confidence, but you cannot let them kill your ambition.
I always felt that, for me, as a woman, I always had to wait around. In all other arenas, I was ambitious and a go-getter, but when it came to dating, I wasn't supposed to go after what I wanted.
Networking is extremely masculine. It's a vulnerable thing to admit to, but even I experience feeling super insecure around certain masculine meetings. So, we put women in control. Women will make the first move on Bumble Bizz as well.
If I could police every other social platform in the world, I would.
I run a dating site, but I will gladly tell someone, 'Do not date someone if it's not right.' And don't settle. This settling thing is insane. I've literally had to force friends out of relationships because they want to be married by a certain age, so they just date these guys that are not right for them.
I actually don't think about Tinder.
If people are telling you that they don't believe what you're doing, that means you're doing something out of their comfort zone. And generally, people don't want to be taken out of their comfort zone because it's outside of the status quo.
Candidly, I've noticed that throughout my career, whether in offices that are majority male or majority female, the men are quick to advocate for themselves for a higher starting salary or more pay bumps over time.
In Italy, they say rain on your wedding day is symbolic of fresh beginnings, cleansing, a pure marriage, and also a wet knot that can't be untied.
The power lunch is no longer just for men. We all deserve a seat at the table.
