Three interviews were recently published with founders of HowAboutWe, Tinder and Grindr, so we thought we’d collect them together in one post.
The first, with Grindr’s Joel Simkhai in The Palm Beach Post, is a really good piece which asks about Grindr’s early days, how they funded, and how they monetise.
This all invites comparison to Tinder – who haven’t decided on a monetisation policy yet – and it’s interesting to hear how Grindr took a very different route, despite being very similar apps.
Simkhai also gives a good insight into their business model, and figures about their revenue – 75% coming from subscriptions to Grindr Xtra, 25% from advertising.
Post reporter Lagorio-Chafkin also asks him about the comparisons with Tinder and why their version, Blendr, didn’t catch on in the same way.
Read the interview here.
Tinder’s CEO Sean Rad did an interview with news.com.au, answering five questions about the app.
Rad has been the subject of many interviews recently, and although he doesn’t give away anything regarding their rumoured move into the business world, he does explain more about their matching systems, user experience, and how a “negative ripple effect” is one of their key philosophies.
Rad explains that asking as little as possible of their users is a hugely important part of Tinder.
Using the analogy of a party, he says: “I’m not forced to answer questions about what my political beliefs are and what my religious beliefs are. I am just there mingling and meeting people and one thing leads to another and maybe that comes up in a conversation organically, but I don’t feel out a survey when I answer the door saying that, “I’m Jewish and I am conservative, on and on.”
Read the interview here.
The third interview is with Aaron Schildkrout, co-founder of HowAboutWe.
The New York Observer interview sees Schildkrout talk about their new media division – HowAboutWe Media, which was launched earlier this year.
He says that the organic traffic they received from their title The Date Report convinced them to move into media, as although “there is a Food Network and a Sports Network and a Style Network, there is no network for love content.”
He also differentiates their service from competitors Tinder, Match and OkCupid, saying that if you are “a person living in a city who really wants to find an actual, serious experience, and who wants to do so in a fun, authentic way, HowAboutWe is the best solution.”
He also says that outside IAC sites, including Tinder, “you’d be hard-pressed to name a single other innovation in dating.”
Read the interview here.