“Her story won’t be rare headline, but become the norm.”
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Whitney Wolfe Herd whose name itself needs no introduction, is an American entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Bumble - a female oriented dating app, where women get to make the first move over conventional male-dominated dating culture. Whitney created Bumble as a service “by the women, for the women,” exalting it as a platform where women were empowered and harassment was rigorously policed. It’s become the second-most popular dating app in the US with the help of advertisements bearing amazing taglines such as: “Be the CEO your parents always wanted you to marry.”
Certainly, A 31-year-old billionaire, holding a baby in her arms ringing Nasdaq’s opening bells is a rare sight to hold but the journey of this site is strenuous. Whitney’s Journey is a story of Courage, Grit & Persistence. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she majored in international studies, she was involved in a couple of startups before she joined the development team of Tinder- the rival dating app she helped found which became a widely popular dating app later. Whitney is also credited for coming up with the name Tinder and growing its user base. Tinder was also called Wolfe’s Brainchild. However, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately as It was harassment that spurred the creation of Bumble. Her journey of rising and shining ended with Tinder after differences with other executives. She subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging among other things that she was repeatedly called derogatory names by executives and stripped of her co-founder role since having a “girl” with that title “makes the company seem like a joke” against Tinder for sexual harassment. Although, the suit was later settled.
Looking on the other side of the coin, her experience with Tinder shaped the next leg of her entrepreneurial journey. In Dec 2014, Wolf founder Bumble, A female focussed dating app, where unlike Tinder, women make the First Move. It received Backing from Russian Billionaire & entrepreneur Andrey Andreev, who later sold his majority stake in Blackstone in 2019, leaving Herd with a 19% stake. Bumble had an estimated 100 mn subscribers in 2020, Shares of Bumble Inc. notched 64 per cent in its trading debut a few days ago, valuing Whitney’s stake at $1.5 billion. The company’s stock closed at $70.31 in New York, which puts its value at $13 billion, including debt. Additionally, Bumble raised $2.15 billion with its initial public offering (IPO).
Whitney’s feat is all the more remarkable considering women-led start-up gets a lower share of funding even though studies indicate that they generate more revenue and are capital efficient. Of the 559 companies that have gone public in the U.S. over the past 12 months, only two, aside from Bumble, were founded by women. While women make up about half of the global population, self-made women — mostly from Asia — account for less than 5% of the world’s 500 biggest fortunes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Self-made men comprise almost two-thirds of the wealth index. That means women are largely being left behind in what’s likely the fastest wealth-creation boom in history. Last year the world’s 500 richest people gained $1.8 trillion, yet 91% of that windfall went to men, according to the Bloomberg index.
Whitney is notorious for her bold nature and decisions and it has reflected in her journey of becoming one of the youngest billionaires and making history by becoming the youngest female CEO to take a company public in the US. In 2020, Forbes listed Herd at number 39 of the top 100 "America's richest self-made women. The listing caps a saga that’s both an inspiration and a cautionary tale for women tech founders. Wolfe Herd capitalized on an underserved market and built a multibillion-dollar company that was in a sense born from one of the most vexing obstacles to women entrepreneurs: sexual harassment.
Entrepreneurship is the most examined and supported idea everywhere in the world to tackle financial problems. Women being the significant gender of the whole population have extraordinary limits and potential to be a contributor to the large economic development of any country. The need is to identify that potential. As in Wolfe’s own words “Do not be scared of the ‘what ifs,’ because the truth is, the only failure is not trying”. So ladies, buckle up, try because you can fail only when you try, trying and having it not work out isn’t a failure, it's called experience. Believe in the idea that still exists in the corner of your heart, believe in your capabilities, and most importantly believe in you.
Piece by-
Prerna Mishra
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