TECH CRUNCH – Dec 19 – Tinder has fired its VP of marketing and communications Rosette Pambakian, as well as other employees who sued Tinder's parent company Match Group and IAC earlier this year. In an email sent to Match Group's current CEO Mandy Ginsberg, Pambakian said that after being placed on leave when the lawsuit was filed, she was subjected to "ongoing intimidation and retaliation clearly designed to pressure me into resigning." Pambakian also said that after she declined to sign a non-disparagement agreement, "Match snuck an arbitration clause into its employees' most recent compliance acknowledgements, causing me, Jonathan, James and Josh to have to withdraw from the lawsuit. As a woman CEO, I truly hope that you reconsider the safety of your remaining female workforce and allow Tinder and other Match owned companies to follow in the footsteps of Uber, Facebook and Google in eliminating forced arbitration for sexual misconduct claims. We deserve better." In response, Ginsberg denied that Pambakian was fired for complaining about sexual harassment: "You couldn't have been, as you never reported Greg for sexual harassment. You were terminated because it was not possible for you to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of your role as Tinder's spokesperson for a number of reasons, including your public position against the company over a valuation process," Ginsberg continued.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Coffee Meets Bagel Goes Anti-Tinder With a Redesign Focused on Profiles & Conversations
by Sarah Perez
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Tinder Tests an Expansion of Tinder U
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 15 – Starting this weekend, Tinder will allow college students on its Tinder U service to match with others outside their own university for the first time. The dating app is positioning this market test of a potential Tinder U expansion as the "Rivals Week" – a way to match users with those who attend a rival university (for a limited period of time). Tinder U's Rivalry Week starts Nov 17 in the U.S. for students attending four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities. It ends Nov 24. Tinder U launched a few months ago as a way to attract more younger users to its service. College students can choose to opt into Tinder U by signing up with their ".edu" email address. Until now, however, Tinder U limited users to matching only with those who attend their same school. That changes with "Rivals Week". The Tinder U product is live in ~1,200 colleges across the U.S.
Tinder’s Head of Product Has Left
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 14 – Tinder's chief product officer Brian Norgard wants to get back to his entrepreneurial roots, citing former PayPal executive-turned-venture capitalist Keith Rabois as inspiration. Norgard, who joined Tinder as part of the acquisition of his Kleiner Perkins-backed ephemeral messaging startup Tappy in 2014, has confirmed that he's left Tinder to focus on building products and investing in early-stage businesses. Tinder has not yet identified his successor, but Norgard says "it's all positive vibes" between him and the company. Norgard began as Tinder's head of revenue before being promoted to the chief product role in late 2016. Prior to joining Tinder via Tappy, he co-founded two other successful startups: Chill, a Facebook app that garnered 30M users, and adtech startup Newroo, which was acquired by FOX Interactive in 2006.
Tinder to Roll Out Expanded Set of Gender Options in India
Tinder Doubles Down On Its Casual Nature
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 8 – Tinder has never really shaken its reputation as a "hook up" app, instead of one designed for more serious dating. Now, it seems Tinder is planning to embrace its hook up status. According to Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg, Tinder is launching its first-ever brand marketing campaign that will promote the "single lifestyle" with billboards and other digital initiatives. "The market defined the brand, versus the business defining the brand," said Ginsberg, referring to its "hook up app" reputation. The company will also invest more in Hinge going forward. Ginsberg said Hinge will help the company to address the "previously underserved" audience of 20-somethings looking for a serious relationship. The plan is to make Hinge the anti-Tinder, then pull in users as they exit Tinder in search of something real.
by Sarah Perez
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Tinder Now Has 4.1M Paying Users, Expects $800M In Revenue This Year
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 7 – Match Group surpassed analyst's forecasted revenue of $437M, reporting Q3 revenue of $444M, a 29% increase YOY. Match says it expects to bring in a total of $1.72B in annual revenue. Despite positive earnings, the company's 4Q outlook failed to satisfy Wall Street. Match said it expects $440 – $450M in revenue in Q4, falling short of the $454.5M analyst estimate. Shares of Match sank 10% in after-hours trading as a result. Year-to-date, Match's stock is up ~60%. Tinder continues to be Match's growth engine, responsible for half its paid users and half its projected annual revenue. Tinder is expected to bring in $800M in revenue in 2018. Hinge, another app-based dating service acquired by Match in June, is on its way up. Match says it's seen a 5x increase in downloads since it first invested. Match also announced that it would, for the first time, issue a special cash dividend of $2 per share on Match Group common stock and Class B common stock, to be paid out on Dec. 19.
by Kate Clark
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Dating App Vibes Aims To Create A Safe, Authentic Space For People To Meet
Hinge To Measure Real World Success
Donald Daters, A Dating App For Trump Supporters, Leaked Its Users’ Data
TECH CRUNCH – Oct 16 – A new dating app for Trump supporters has leaked its entire database of users – on the day of its launch. The app, called "Donald Daters," is connecting Trump supporters. On its launch day alone, the app had 1,600 users. Elliot Alderson, a French security researcher, could download the entire user database which included user's names, profile pictures, device type, their private messages – and access tokens, which can be used to take over accounts. The data was accessible from a public and exposed Firebase data repository, which was hardcoded in the app.