How I Built This with Guy Raz

Hinge: Justin McLeod (2021)

May 8, 2023

Justin McLeod, the Founder and CEO of Hinge, shares his remarkable journey from heartbreak to entrepreneurship. He reveals how personal experiences influenced the app's evolution into a space for meaningful connections. In discussing the challenges of launching within a saturated market, he reflects on pivotal shifts, user engagement strategies, and the impact of the pandemic on dating dynamics. McLeod’s heartfelt anecdotes and insights highlight the quest for authenticity in a digital dating world, underscoring Hinge's mission of being 'designed to be deleted.'

01:32:28

Episode guests

Justin McLeod

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Rebuilding Hinge: From Scratch to Success

01:14

Balancing Idealism and Practicality in Entrepreneurship

01:27

How to Reboot Your App

01:14

Secret Agent Cupid

00:38

Intro

3min

The Evolution of Dating: Building the App Designed to be Deleted

5min

From Heartbreak to Entrepreneurship

23min

From Prototype to Hinge: The Birth of a Dating App

8min

The Evolution of Hinge: Simplifying for Success

4min

Navigating the Dating App Dilemma

5min

A Hail Mary Launch Party: Overcoming Obstacles with Creativity

3min

Navigating Love in a Digital Age

19min

Reviving a Brand: Challenges and Competitive Strategies

2min

10.

Reinventing Hinge: Navigating Change and Challenges

18min

11.

Dating Apps in a Pandemic: Resilience and Reinvention

6min

12.

From Launch Parties to Life Stories

3min

In 2010, Justin McLeod was in business school, still trying to get over a bad breakup that had happened years before. Determined to solve his own problem and convinced that the best way to meet people was through friends of friends, he built an app to replicate that experience. Gradually, Hinge grew into a streamlined swiping platform that yielded mixed results: good dates, bad hookups, mismatched swipes, and missed opportunities. Disappointed with this outcome and inspired by a sudden twist in his own love life, Justin redesigned Hinge as an app for finding meaningful relationships, with the tag line "designed to be deleted." Today, Hinge is owned by Match Group and is one of the most popular dating apps in the U.S.

This episode was produced by J.C. Howard, with music by Ramtin Arablouei

Edited by Neva Grant, with research help from Daryth Gayles.

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