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Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

businessweek.com

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Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#11

Post by optimusclimb »

hyperliner wrote: post #8
minimaxir wrote: post #2

Despite the linkbaity headline, this article actually adds new information and context to the controversy. Also, NSFW Instagram images.

Yes people. Please flag [EDIT, as in write "NSFW" when applicable. Thanks shawnz]. The article feels that is going to be serious, which it kind of is, but then the pics. What was the point of that? The writer could not have simply mentioned the pics ?

I think the expression, "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies. Sometimes points merit reinforcing. I'm guessing the author thought that adding the pictures added impact. I'd say it did. Too easy to gloss over phrases like "twitter account littered with misogynist/immature/whatever pictures".

Also, great article, I thought.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#12

Post by redthrowaway »

hyperliner wrote: post #8
minimaxir wrote: post #2

Despite the linkbaity headline, this article actually adds new information and context to the controversy. Also, NSFW Instagram images.

Yes people. Please flag [EDIT, as in write "NSFW" when applicable. Thanks shawnz]. The article feels that is going to be serious, which it kind of is, but then the pics. What was the point of that? The writer could not have simply mentioned the pics ?

The pictures, from the Instagram account of the men accused of misogyny, are directly pertinent to the purported misogyny of the people in question. Why shouldn't they be included?

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#13

Post by msie »

minimaxir wrote: post #5
msie wrote: post #3

Pretty shocking revelations. Was this ever revealed before? Only because of Wolfe's firing?

The author had done an article on Tinder last year: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-05/dating-app-t... It's likely that current events help explain some oddities in Tinder's past.

Interesting differences in reporting between the two articles. 1) Rad is given more credit in the first with development of Tinder than in the second article where Munoz is now mentioned. 2) Wolfe isn't mentioned at all in the first: Mateen is credited with the idea of seeding the app at sororities and fraternities.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#14

Post by hyperliner »

hyperliner wrote: post #8
minimaxir wrote: post #2

Despite the linkbaity headline, this article actually adds new information and context to the controversy. Also, NSFW Instagram images.

Yes people. Please flag [EDIT, as in write "NSFW" when applicable. Thanks shawnz]. The article feels that is going to be serious, which it kind of is, but then the pics. What was the point of that? The writer could not have simply mentioned the pics ?

I don't disagree with optimus. It's just about lacking the flag.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#15

Post by WoodenChair »

While the allegations are shocking, it was irresponsible for the journalist to add the little bit in the very last paragraph on the third page about one of the founder's former startups having an FBI investigation as a kind of final pot-shot. How was that relevant to the thrust of the rest of the article? What did it add? Was it fair to include it without elaborating?

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#16

Post by _delirium »

robg wrote: post #9
henryw wrote: post #6

Interesting that Tinder is owned by the company behind Match.com.

Not just owned, but incubated by their employees. That completely blows me away that IAC is so, so good at rebranding for different audiences.

Yeah, the most interesting part of this article is that, if true, it seems like Tinder was kind of a pseudo-startup, a subsidiary of an established corporation given a more media-friendly backstory by positioning it as a startup. In retrospect I'm surprised that kind of thing isn't more common. (Or maybe it is?)

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#17

Post by austenallred »

"Here is the truth as I see it, having spoken to nearly everyone who was involved in the project: What made Tinder Tinder was the work of a team:"

You could replace "Tinder" with any company and find that the above statement holds true. Twitter isn't Jack or Ev or Biz, it's the combination of the three. Facebook was mostly Zuck, but not all. Apple was indeed [very] heavily influenced by Steve Jobs, but Apple wasn't Steve Jobs.

I've found the idea of a single genius founder being behind anything is largely a myth; they're just the public face of a company that is doing great things in the background.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#18

Post by bigdubs »

WoodenChair wrote: post #15

While the allegations are shocking, it was irresponsible for the journalist to add the little bit in the very last paragraph on the third page about one of the founder's former startups having an FBI investigation as a kind of final pot-shot. How was that relevant to the thrust of the rest of the article? What did it add? Was it fair to include it without elaborating?

I was struck by that too, the "I wasn't going to mention this before, but now, here it is." nature of it was strange.

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#19

Post by dbloom »

It's ironic that Mr. Rad went to such great lengths to keep his friend Mr. Mateen from facing the consequences of his behavior for so long. Because by putting his friend above his company, he ended up hurting both even more.

If Rad had just forced his friend Mateen to resign earlier on for "creative differences" before his behavior got out of hand, everyone -- including Mateen! -- would have been strictly better off.

And this definitely isn't the first time that this has happened (Rap Genius, and I'm sure there are others too...)

TL;DR: Do your sexist, racist friends a favor by getting them out of your workplace.

(By the way, to be clear, I don't feel bad for any of these guys. They deserved what happened. But this sort of thing really shouldn't be happening again, and again, and again...)

Re: Tinder's Forgotten Woman: Whitney Wolfe, Sexism, and Startup Creation Myths

#20

Post by jjsz »

Does one really lose the freedom to express themselves once they are VC backed founders? Tinder is a hook up app, and yes, perhaps Tinderslut is too revealing and direct about what any female or male users do with it, but, if he were to use promiscuous tinderian and have a gender neutral tone: would there be that much controversy? If I love naked women and art do I have to throw naked men and art in the mix to not be called a misogynist? The author exaggerated his article with those pictures. Tinder, being male dominated, will naturally have a slight chauvinistic culture. She wasn't pushed aside for being a female, the author hasn't provided evidence to support such a claim. As one of my favorite YouTuber said in his video [1], "if a women has a skill and passion for something she is already pursuing it." Thus, to not be brushed aside she had to battle for relevancy like anyone else does with skillful work instead of lightly accepting her irrelevancy and looking for the media to gain an undisclosed agreement.

Edit: As usual, anything not supporting the usual response gains downvotes.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_dRt00ufp4

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