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Sean Rad Talks Regaining Position Of CEO, Competitors And Super Like

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A year ago, before taking the stage at the Forbes 30 Under Summit, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad was phoned by Sam Yagan and told he was losing his position as CEO of Tinder.

A year later, Rad was on the same stage speaking to Forbes journalist Steven Bertoni, back as CEO of the company he founded.

Rad’s successor, former eBay executive Chris Payne, was turfed out of the company in August after just six months, with owners IAC saying it was simply not “the right long-term fit.”

And in an interview with Bertoni at the 2015 Forbes Summit this week, Rad discusses the rollercoaster year for him personally, and for the all-conquering dating app.

Their conversation touches on the app’s progress over the past year, with the introduction of new features like Super Like, and Tinder’s roll out of its premium offering, Tinder Plus.

IAC and Rad have been very tight-lipped about actual figures or evidence on its performance, and the CEO continued this, merely saying with a smile that: “It’s doing very well, it’s hard to talk about revenue, given the position we’re in in the market, but it has exceeded…it’s doing great.”

Rad also revealed Tinder is approaching 10bn matches, which has increased from 3bn since last year, and the team is currently at 75, with the company looking to hire another 60.

The CEO said this increase has enabled the dating app to build a number of features that have been on its product radar for years. 

This includes Super Like, something actually conceived by ousted co-founder Justin Mateen three years ago, which was released last month.

After testing it in Australia – where Tinder always tests new features – it has now been rolled out globally, and Tinder has already seen over 20m Super Likes dished out, with the new feature said to increase your chance of a match by three times.

In addition to this, Rad talks about his personal motivation after losing his position as CEO, his views on competitors like Hinge and Bumble, and their plans for the future, which currently seem firmly routed in the realm of romance.

As Rad says: “As a business, we could be one of the largest tech companies in the world by just focussing on the massive single mobile audience. I think people underestimate not only how large it is, but how impactful the service that we’re bringing to their lives is, and how game-changing it is. And how they would pay a lot for that value.”

Check out the full video interview here.

Simon Edmunds

Simon is the former editor of Global Dating Insights. Born in Newcastle, he has an English degree from Queen Mary, London and after working for the NHS, trained as a journalist with the Press Association. Passionate about music, journalism and Newcastle United.

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