The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan 320: Why Hinge’s Justin McLeod Decided To Rebuild His Dating App From The Ground Up
It’s not easy to rebuild an entire company—especially when things are going well. But that’s exactly what Justin McLeod did with his dating app, Hinge.
After Hinge first launched in 2012, it saw exponential growth. Despite this, McLeod made the risky decision to rebuild his app from scratch in 2016. Why? He felt that the company had strayed too from its original vision or helping people find and build meaningful connections. So instead of remaining the brand that connects “friends with friends,” it rebranded to become “the dating app designed to be deleted.”
McLeod’s decision paid off. Today, Hinge is a subsidiary under Match.com, has seen huge growth on a global scale, and is setting up a date every three seconds globally. In this podcast episode, McLeod shares exactly what it took to get through this challenging transition and what’s in store for this beloved dating app in the near future.
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Key Takeaways
- McLeod’s own love story, and how it inspired the idea behind Hinge
- Why, after years of success, McLeod decided to rebuild his dating app from scratch
- The reaction of Hinge’s board of directors and team in response to this change
- How Hinge fulfills its mission of getting more people out on great dates
- The type of data that Hinge collects to set itself apart from competitors
- The power of word-of-mouth when it came to Hinge’s growth
- What McLeod thinks are the mistakes he made while building Hinge for the first time (and how he fixed them the second time around)
- Why McLeod decided to join forces with Match.com, and how this decision has helped the business scale globally
- The type of research that’s happening at Hinge Labs
- McLeod’s approach to user testing and product development with Hinge
- Why McLeod recommends being firm about your vision but flexible about your tactics