Forbes has posted the full video of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s recent appearance at the Under 30 Summit.
The Bumble CEO took part in a discussion at ‘Women@Forbes Under 30: Closing the Investment Gap’ to talk about the evolution of the social app and give advice to the next generation of female visionaries.
Wolfe Herd explained that the story of Bumble was very unique as she didn’t have to pitch to numerous investors in order to secure funding. Instead, Andrey Andreev and Badoo approached her to purchase a 79% stake in the app.
However, she was quick to reiterate that this was a very rare instance and people should actively target investment from established businesses.
She said: “I was very fortunate to have my business partner reach out to me. That’s not going to happen to everybody, I don’t want to paint fictitious stories here for people.
“I’ve been thinking, why not just contact the companies that you’re trying to disrupt? Why not go out into the industries that you are trying to shake up? Knock on their doors and say ‘I’m coming to you first and if you’re not interested then somebody else is’.”
She was also questioned about the recent launch of the Bumble Fund and how it’s going to give back to Bumble users and help them follow their projects.
It was announced in August that Bumble pledged to invest $1 million in female-led startups.
Wolfe Herd explained: “We sat as a company and said […] let’s find a way to reinvest. If we have the opportunity to invest in the next wave of female founders this is our duty. Who are we to wake up in the morning and say we’re empowering women if we end at just our user.
“So reinvesting in the next wave of companies founded by women is really how we’re going to make a difference in the world.”
Watch the full interview here.