In her life, she has known "unequal relations which have had a negative impact on (s) her whole existence".
It was by starting with these few words about her personal story that Whitney Wolfe Herd asked in a letter in February to go public with her company, the dating app Bumble.
At 31, the founder and CEO, already the youngest woman at the head of a company listed on the Nasdaq, has also become the darling of the American press.
But the American blonde, pretty and talented, has also hit the headlines in another way in recent years.
In 2012, this woman of character founded, with six other associates, including her ex, Justin Mateen, the Tinder application, today the world No. 1.
Appointed vice-president in charge of marketing, it was she who found the name of the company - "fire-lighter" in English - and its logo in the shape of a flame.
The idyll fizzles.
In 2016, relations with the rest of the team deteriorated.
Separated from Justin Mateen, Whitney accuses him of sexual harassment and slams the door of the company.
In the process, she received many offensive messages on social networks.
Painful years on which she refuses to pour herself out because of a legal procedure still in progress.
Still, the entrepreneur has not wasted her time.
Put an end to body-shaming
A few months later, she launched her own application, the concept of which sounds like a snub to her own story: giving control of interactions to women and allowing users to exchange only compliments and kindness (far from the insults she has itself received).
Bumble's slogan: "Make The First Move" (
Editor's note: take the first step
).
A principle held by the feminist Whitney, who now juggles brilliantly between professional and family life.
She also answered questions from the Parisian at home, taking care of her young children.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, 31, applied in February for her company, the Bumble dating app, to go public.
DR
Because the dating application Bumble (
Editor's note: English: stammer
), landed in France in 2017, intends to shake up the codes of online relationships.
Should this be seen as a marketing coup or a real breakthrough for the millions of singles?
In a manifesto that she is making public this Monday, and that we are revealing to you, Whitney Wolfe Herd asks users to stop with their bad online practices, which persist, under Anglo-Saxon terms such as
ghosting
(the fact of interrupting a relationship without explanation) or even body-shaming (criticizing the physical appearance of the other).
Read also The "body shaming", this evil that comes to us from social networks
Very popular in the United States and now in the top 10 applications used in France, Bumble, which claims to be feminist, allows women to write the first message after a "match".
Without this first step, the exchange is not possible.
“Bumble is the synthesis between different very current trends, both digital, marketing and societal, such as feminism.
This site offers both flirting and professional networking.
It's clever and it's not insignificant that it was a former Tinder who created it.
This is the story of a
woman revenge
!
»Emphasizes Pascal Lardellier, professor of communication science and specialist in online love.
A "friendly relationship" option
The app also develops tools, thanks to artificial intelligence, to filter out inappropriate photos and other jokes.
Thus, a "detector" must make it possible to see if the photo posted on the profile dates back several years.
Already present for years, the “BBF” option also allows for the initiation of purely friendly relations.
On the user side, opinions remain mixed.
“The concept is enticing, the design very studied and I made interesting meetings there for more than a year.
But it is horribly time consuming.
It takes a long time to solicit the boys!
“Relates Mélanie Mage, founder of Bridgets, a blog on romantic relationships.
She herself ended up coming back to Tinder where… she met her current companion.
