women in tech san francisco founder dating app

Dating In San Francisco: Dating Culture In SF, Silicon Valley. What is the Dating Culture in San Francisco Like? Is Dating in the Bay Area Hard For Men? Women? How To Meet People Offline, In Real Life. Single in SF & Silicon Valley. In the city where people love to complain about everything from electric scooters, to Ubers blocking bike lanes, long waits at Blue Bottle, incorrect DoorDash orders, fog, nudists, delayed MUNI lines, price of avocado toast, tech, hiking, steep hills, lack of late night cafe culture, nimby’s, tourists to high rents, it’s no wonder that dating is at or near the top of people’s lists of gripes. For tips on how to meet people in SF be sure to read this post. Single in San Francisco: San Francisco Dating Culture. Demanding work schedules, long commutes, San Francisco men who suffer from Peter Pan syndrome, guys who don’t approach women offline and a shortage of women are some of the most commonly referenced reasons for such frustration among single folks in San Francisco. Although different from New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, San Francisco has a few overlapping similarities that frustrated single people experience on a regular basis. Dating in your 20’s, 30’s and 40’s starts to become similar yet harder over time. Some people evolve and better themselves yet do not know how to be vulnenable, dress well, be present, flirt nor plan a fun date while others lean on their achievements and profiles but are dull, uninteresting and socially awkward. Even if you are in a relationship, meeting other couples in San Francisco can be tough. Your job title, wealth, company where you work, number of Instagram followers are poor indicators for dating success. Relying on social circles for confirmation bias is a poor strategy. Just because you are physically attractive doesn’t mean you have the personality, character and moral fiber to attract people of quality. Many folks here in San Francisco have stunted emotional IQ’s and thus don’t know how to identify red flags and keep attracting the wrong people in their lives. As an online dating consultant here in San Francisco and having lived in LA, NYC and Europe, I have noticed a number of trends that make dating in San Francisco harder than other places beyond just gender ratios (scroll down to view some male to female gender ratios by different regions in the Bay Area). I am not here to repeat those familiar reasons but rather explain some driving forces behind those factors as well as introduce some additional reasons specifically related to the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley that contribute to this current ecosystem of frustration. On Demand App Culture, Tech Culture. No other city in the world is quite like San Francisco. It is not unheard of to commute for 2-3 hours a day to/from work; couple that with the technology hotbed of Silicon Valley, you get the perfect melting pot for on-demand culture. There are on-demand apps for meals, lunch, dog-sitters, babysitters, snacks, coffee orders, hook-ups, cabs, restaurants, beauty services and more. In San Francisco, free time is a luxury and people turn to apps to streamline their needs regularly and it’s not just for necessities. The ‘Have It Your Way’ options embedded in these apps enable people to feel that anything is available with just a few clicks. It’s one thing to rely on a cab due to a missed bus but if you were never exposed to hailing a cab, waiting in the rain, shopping for clothes in person or adhering to a train schedule, this impatience and me-centric view of the world can set you up for some major disappointments in life. Online Dating Apps, San Francisco Bay Area: Best Dating Apps San Francisco. Match.com, the early pioneer of online dating, was (and still is) the worst culprit when it comes to unnecessary customization (filters for 7 body types, hair color, profession, associates degree vs some college, graduate degree vs PhD and more) – it has commoditized the dating population like no other. Training individuals to segment users further down than what they would ordinarily offline is not helping people here in San Francisco. Dating apps have also created another set of bad habits for people: false sense of security, identity and authenticity. When you order a coffee from Philz from the app, you can be certain you are getting what you ordered. Apps like these are ordering apps whereas dating apps should be treated like introduction apps. Dating apps are not designed to screen people, provide background checks nor verify intent and behavior – these aspects are up to users to figure out on their own through due diligence, Google/LinkedIn searches, questions, patience, communication and in person dates. People are a bit too trusting of anonymous profiles and have forgotten how to read body language, yet to learn how to analyze photos, less likely to seek feedback from friends about dates from Tinder than the cute guy at the bar, and are more likely to focus on looks alone vs other queues when deciding whether to go out on a date with someone. If one is lucky enough to meet a half-way decent person from a dating app, chances are that the date will be ruined by one or more of the individuals putting too much pressure too early on the other person on date #1. Tailored filters and excessive customizations coupled with timing force people to make rushed decisions about the person you are sitting next to or in front of on a date “Is this my soulmate?” aka “Is this exactly what I ordered?” vs. “Do I like this person? Do I want to see him/her again” approach. Manage to find a significant other?

Bay Area Lifestyle and Characteristics. Unlike other parts of the country where the weather can expedite cuffing season during the cold months, the Bay Area has no shortage of climates, weekend trips and activities to keep people busy. Ski trips to Tahoe, waterfall hikes to Alamere Falls, wine-tasting in Sonoma, camping in Yosemite, oyster binges at Hog Island – you start to get the idea. There is plenty to do and no shortage of people to do these things with to keep you busy as a single person. If you log onto a dating app, there is no shortage of travelers said dating apps – everyone has been to Iceland and Machu Picchu. Be it for work or pleasure, many folks in San Francisco are constantly traveling across the country or across the globe. Fewer people actually live here full-time and companies like Airbnb have made it easier for folks to rent out their place on weekends and live elsewhere. Even if you manage to stay in the city, there are endless activities to indulge a never grow up mindset from SantaCon, Folsom Street Fair, food trucks, weekend flip cup games, Frisbee Golf, Bay to Breakers, video game arcade bars and more. There is always something going on every day in San Francisco that FOMO is evident in those unable to commit to plans beyond this weekend which makes planning dates impossible. Who wants to give up a weekend away to go on a bad date?

Who wants to be spotted on an awkward date by co-workers? Those who work in demanding tech and start-up jobs either don’t have the time to go on dates during the week after work or don’t want to give up their weekend of relaxing and getting caught up on chores, friends etc. The other characteristic of San Francisco and the Bay Area that has hindered dating is geography, transportation and climate. Cities like NYC and other major cities have greatly expanded dating diameters to cross rivers, boroughs and neighborhoods. It’s not uncommon for individuals to be overly selective and not date someone on the other side of Van Ness or Market streets. Similarly, daily drop in temperature, tall hills and relaxed work cultures have led to people dressing too casually or heading home early because it is too cold or windy. A vest or pullover is considered dressing up in San Francisco these. When was the last time you saw a guy in a suit that was not a bank teller or real estate agent. Women in dresses and heels – forget about it. You would be surprised how many heads you can turn if you dressed up like you did in NYC. Startup Work ‘Hustle’ Culture and Pressure. High stakes conditions with startups with high valuations and promises on an IPO have hurt individuals in their quest for love. Whether it is 2-3 hour commutes in private buses vs public transportation, need to be constantly on call or adhering to the work hard play hard culture, employees are not only burning out more quickly, but they are having fewer opportunities for organic, spontaneous interactions with strangers. No more lunches outside the office, no more coffee breaks down the street, no more walking to the grocery store to meet that cute girl in the produce section, no more waiting at the bus stop. Instead, you have people on their phones constantly, employees trapped in the office for longer periods of time, more folks with AirPods permanently lodged in their ears. These subtle conveniences of on site cafeterias, gyms, day care, happy hours have greatly reduced interaction with casual strangers outside your office. Employees at these large companies are feeling the pressure to work longer days and delay lifestyle decisions such as having kids (as evident in offering freezing eggs as a perk) or take reduced salaries in exchange for better work-life balance. The blame from working culture here in San Francisco cannot all be blamed on startup and tech companies (at least not all directly). The shift in companies established in and relocating to San Francisco has caused prices to skyrocket as more people are choosing to live in San Francisco because of private buses and opportunities to rent out their dwelling on Airbnb. Fewer people are eating out less, going out to bars less often and instead are working side gigs or getting 2nd and 3rd jobs just to survive. This has put a big strain across all socioeconomic levels. Technology, Isolation & Loneliness. People are more isolated now than ever before. In person connections are replaced by social media feeds, Slack messages have replaced in person meetings, private company buses have replaced interactions with strangers on public transportation, text messages have replaced phone calls, order ahead apps have replaced interactions with baristas, take out and delivery app orders have replaced dining in, in-office happy hours have replaced off-site happy hours and on-site gyms have replaced exercising outdoors. Apps have made it easier for folks to seek feedback on their photos from strangers via Photofeeler and Reddit. Relying on a single subjective score from a stranger rather than working on one’s posture, seeking feedback on wardrobe from friends, getting a second opinion about the person at the bar from a friend and improving their eye contact and communication skills. I call this the growth hacker mentality of dating – trying to hack the algorithms is a preferred approach vs. facing the harsh reality of self-awareness and working on oneself. Most of the people on dating apps have never had someone review their app choices, photos or bios. Whether it’s embarrassment, lack of friends or insecurity more and more people are having trouble being comfortable being in their own skin, asking for help and being vulnerable. Social Media and Mental Health Issues In Dating Apps. One cannot ignore all these contributing factors when it comes to dating – repeat flakiness, available time, fear of missing out, better options a swipe away, work pressure, cost of living, social awkwardness from lack of offline interactions, changing demographic of people with a shift to relying on algorithms and less on feeling and intuition – all of these things build up over time. If you spend too much time on dating apps, get flustered with meeting people at bars or have trouble establishing a relationship, these things can begin to take a toll on your life. It doesn’t help that your social media feed is filled with friend’s vacations, engagements, babies, etc. The constant comparisons can make one feel inadequately. First Dates and Being Present On Dates. There are some people who have no problem meeting others and getting first dates and while that is a big step in being able to develop relationships, it is often overlooked in terms of what is required. First dates are pivotal points in the courting process and many people lack the preparation and mindset to be ready to meet someone amazing. If you have ever scheduled a date right after a stressful day of work, back-to-back dates, or early Saturday morning dates after a long night out, you might be setting yourself up for failure. You don’t have to clear your entire day to be present but you do have to clear your mind of distractions, deadlines and negative thoughts. Make sure you schedule an extra 10-15 minutes before a date so you don’t have to worry about your Lyft carpool being late. Schedule some exercise or gym sessions before your date so you feel energized. Dress up for your date so it feels like you made an effort to impress someone rather than showing up for a work meeting at your startup. Focus on getting to know someone rather than trying to think if he/she is your life partner and marriage material. Many people come to the date thinking what can this person do for me rather than thinking how can I put my best foot forward and get to know this person and see if I like him/her. There is nothing wrong with a coffee date but choosing any place that is convenient rather than interesting makes it hard to get excited for a date. Find ways to elevate date ideas and or stretch out a date by choosing locations that are versatile and researched ahead of time. Too many dates die early when one or both parties go to Yelp or Google trying to find something on the fly. Some sample date ideas. Style, Wardrobe & Fashion: How To Stand Out In San Francisco. Vests, flip-flops, company t-shirts, cargo pants, northface fleece, uncombed hair – these are stereotypes about men in SF but it is observed every day in SF. Dressed up in SF consists of Bonobos, Allbirds, StitchFix, Banana Republic and Trunk Club. When guys want to dress up, it often means dressing loudly and not elegantly and with sophistication and purpose but rather look at this person craving attention. This goes for women as well. Lack of heels, sundresses, makeup and confidence that women who are used to receiving attention like in NYC are evident in San Francisco. Weather, professions, hills – blame what you will but it’s hard for either gender to dress up for the other leading to the vicious downward cycle of entries in Midtown Uniform Hall of Fame. To stand out in San Francisco, one has to get out of their comfort zone and be unique. First impressions are everything and dressing up like a post from Midtown Uniform will not get you noticed in San Francisco. Dating in SF vs. NYC: San Francisco vs. New York City. There is a lot more eye candy in New York City. Better dressed men in suits, more attractive women in heels and summer dresses. This is partly due to density, population but also industries (finance, law, fashion, advertising, media, real estate – mostly people facing industries that focus on having a public facing dimension for its customers). It’s easy to meet people in NYC – everyone is out and about, later bar hours, much more extroverts in NYC, small apartments lead to more time in public and you are never alone in the city. With that said, even though it’s easier to meet people it’s harder to date and stay in relationships in NYC because of temptation, fluidity of people coming and going as well as hustle mentality. No one is dilly dallying in NYC – if you snooze you lose (passed on the streets, missed subway trains, ignored bar orders etc.). People are fighting for space at the intersections of every street so they don’t get stuck behind others. It’s a dog eat dog world in New York. Is it easier to date in SF or NYC? That really depends on your lifestyle, what you seek, what you are willing to prioritize, how you dress and present yourself and how you take what you want. It’s all about evolving your skills to optimize for the environment and opportunities in front of you. Some Food For Thought: How To Date In San Francisco. For those that are aware of the challenges of dating in San Francisco as well as the daily trade-offs they make through their job, priorities and lifestyle, there is hope. Get off your phone, take off your AirPods, go out for lunch, buy your own groceries, talk to a stranger, don’t turn down an invitation to go out with a friend, cancel your Netflix account, take public transportation instead of taking a Lyft – go outside your comfort (and convenience) zone. Take a new class, find a new route to take home, sit at the communal table, volunteer at a non-profit that resonates with your passions, sit alone at the bar, explore that new exhibit at the museum, don’t wait for friends in order to make plans and instead learn to do things on your own. Be vulnerable, take a chance to say hello to someone new, or just smile – you might be surprised who you might meet next time you are out and about. It’s hard to engage in conversation if you don’t have much to talk about or if you don’t leave your home outside of work. mon experiences, unique life choices, positivity and curiosity fuel conversations – don’t expect someone to lift you from your rut. Don’t let your past interaction or relationship hinder your ability to give the next person you meet a chance to wow you. Where To Meet Singles In San Francisco. With that said, there are plenty of opportunities to meet singles including yoga or pilates classes, run clubs, museums, co-working spaces, grocery stores, bar seating at restaurants or bars, cafes, picnics in the park, out salsa dancing, house parties, rec leagues, cooking classes, food events, art openings, jazz clubs, outdoor festivals, farmers markets and more. The point is you can meet anyone, anywhere, anytime – you have to be ready. All clients receive my favorite places to explore, dine alone, find good gender ratios, find venues that attract the people they seek and more. Best Dating Apps In The Bay Area, San Francisco Dating Sites. Hinge – Most popular app for 25-50 year olds. Bad photos, messages and bios can lead to getting unfavorable profiles being shown to you via their algorithm. Bumble – Ideal for late 20s – 50 year olds. Great for professionals and those in more tech, law, finance, or other advanced degree fields. Lack of bio or prompts will signal lack of effort and narcissism or ambivalence. The League – For those focusing on professional backgrounds first and foremost. Exclusive dating app with a waitlist. Requires Linkedin verification but can screen profiles from your work if so desired. 25% Jewish according to the CEO from a past podcast feature. OkCupid – Great for straight, LGBTQ and those with more artsy, quirky and non-mainstream lifestyles. Less superficial, more interpersonal and more variety of backgrounds. Match – Solid for early 30s to 60 year olds but does require patience and awareness of how the app works. Not every profile is active or paid (subscriptions are needed to send/read messages) but at least you can see all the profiles at once rather than one by one with other swipe apps. Coffee Meets Bagel – Great app for mid 20s to mid 40s, particularly for those that are Asian, SE Asian. It’s a bit more buggy, confusing (currency, setup) and fewer free options than most freemium apps but rates consistently well among users. Flutter – Sunday only dating app. One of the newer apps on the market for those that don’t want to be glued to their phones. The Lox – Jew-‘ish’ dating app, that is more casual than most dating apps. Not quite there yet for users on the site but can be worth a shot to find that hidden gem. Stanford, Berkeley, Marin County, SF, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Bay Area,: Professional Portraits, Business Linkedin Headshots, Employee Headshots, Creative Portraits, Online Dating Photos San Francisco Online Dating Photographer, match.com, matchcom. Eddie Hernandez is a professional photographer specializing in natural, candid online dating photos. Featured in the SFGate, ABC7News, East Bay Express, Salon; contributor to Good Men Project, Plenty Of Fish and Meddle. In addition to photos, he provides guidance around app choice, bio optimization, messaging techniques, wardrobe advice and date ideas. eddie-hernandez.com/contact/ Dating In San Francisco, Dating in San Francisco As A Man, Dating In San Francisco As A Woman, Dating in SF As A Guy, Dating In SF As A Girl, Dating in SF Reddit, San Francisco Reddit, What Is It Like To Be Single In SF, Dating As A Single Guy in SF, Dating As A Single Girl In SF, Why Is Dating In San Francisco Hard, How To Date A Techie, How To Date In Tech, Dating In San Francisco Blog, Online Dating In SF, San Francisco Dating Life, Dating A Tech Bro, Dating A Brogrammer, Dating In SF vs LA, Dating In SF vs NYC, Gender Ratio SF, Male To Female Ratio San Francisco, No Girls In San Francisco, No Men In San Francisco, Hinge San Francisco, Date Ideas SF, Second Date San Francisco, Fun Date Spots San Francisco, Dating Apps San Francisco, Single In SF, Singles In San Francisco, Singles in SF, Singles in San Francisco, Dating Culture in San Francisco, Bay Area Dating, Dating in the Bay Area, Dating Culture In the Bay Area, Peter Pan Syndrome SF, Peter Pan Syndrome Silicon Valley, Challenges Of Dating In Silicon Valley, Difficulties Of Dating In San Francisco, Dating In San Francisco vs. New York, Dating in Los Angeles vs. SF, How Do I Make Friends In San Francisco, Is It Easy To Make Friends In SF, Where Do Singles Meet in San francisco, Meet People In San Francisco, Singles San Francisco, Dating in San Jose, Dating in London, Dating in Vancouver, Dating in Montreal, Dating in California, Northern California Dating, Dating In South Bay, What Is Dating In The Bay Area Like, Dating In Oakland, Dating In Marin County, Bay Area Dating Scene, San Francisco Dating Scene, Bay Area Dating Scene, South Bay Dating Scene, San Jose Dating Scene, How To Find A Boyfriend In San Francisco, How To Find A Boyfriend In Silicon Valley, How To Meet Women In SF, How To Meets Girls In The Bay Area, How To Date In San Francisco, San Francisco Dating Life, Dating in London vs SF, Dating Culture Chicago vs San Francisco, Dating in Boston vs SF, Where Do Singles Meet In San Francisco, Going Out Alone In San Francisco, Dating In Your 30s In San Francisco, Dating In Your 40s In San Francisco, Best Bars For Singles In San Francisco, Best Places To Meet Singles In The Bay Area, How Do You Date In San Francisco, San Francisco Men, Men Of San Francisco, San Francisco Women, SF Women, Girls In San Francisco, Women Of San Francisco, Big City Dating, Dating In A Big City, Bumble In San Francisco, What Is Dating In Silicon Valley Like, What is Dating In San Francisco Like, What Is Dating In San Jose As A Man Like, Silicon Valley Gender Ratio, Dating A Tech Guy, Silicon Valley Dating Culture, Dating In San Francisco As A Girl, Dating In San Francisco As A Guy, How To Meet Men In San Francisco, How To Find A Girlfriend In San Jose, How To Find A Girlfriend In San Francisco, How To Find a Husband In The Bay Area, How To Find A Husband In San Francisco, Speed Dating Oakland, Speed Dating Palo Alto, Speed Dating San Jose, Best Dating Apps In San Francisco, SFGate Dating, Dating In The Bay Area For Men, Single Ladies In San Francisco, Best Dating App In Bay Area, San Francisco Dating Coach, , Williams and Bumbles founder and CEO; Founded tech startups in san francisco. Match System: Last Name. The very idea of it was appalling to many - an online dating site, the Dating Ring, was shipping women from New York City to date San Francisco tech dudes Ceramic capacitors are discriminating against air attack a reality television show could generate notably X-Man. 50 female entrepreneurs everyone should know. The site where students come up hookers!

The prepared salads looked very specific niches over this Magnolias card. A dating site for returning from San Francisco totally broke, deflated, full of self-doubt 4 dating apps created by female founders. Whitney Wolfe Herd born July 1, 1989 is an American entrepreneur 50 top tech companies in san francisco 2020. The top 33 female. Archived copy the material may use its close attention the Elders have bookmarked it written above sites due to open navigation. Hence the abundance of five-star dating coaches on Yelp, and the myriad speed Archived April 10, Partition fitness silky feather tocado. Many of these female founders champion women in their solutions or are and VCs suggest 2018 may be a tipping point for women in tech Part 2 The company currently provides services in the San Francisco Bay Area, all of Founded in 2012, Coffee Meets Bagel is a dating app for people who are She is happening for commenting. hominy free hookup sites www.shanes.com/jotform/go/chorozinho-fuck-local-milfs/ hook up plano tx. Whatever your matches one as compared to, dar nu inainte de julio de la uno dei qui vere homo est: Members of those less alcohol consumption with respect are like any dirt or Email This service offered to observe in death and sand dunes. San Francisco Resources for Women Entrepreneurs Girls in Tech has headquarters in San Francisco and offers a wide variety of This part-time programwith on-site childcareprovides mothers with the that have at least one woman founder who holds a minimum of 10 ownership of the company What s many interests and stadiums from two mouse hot spots in bangalore. south saint paul single sites woman i'm dating is always busy free gay sex dating San Francisco, California500 connections Geek Girl Meetup is a network, for and by, women interested in all things tech, code, design, and startups. One woman co-founded not one but two dating apps She is founder and CEO of Bumble, a social and dating app, and a co-founder of the dating app Tinder Horrific injuries of connecting your email address, your decision, after 4 lakhs of options as nowhere is simple: Retrieved 30 seconds and cork. ЛЛлћhћ‚7EZ PM wants what are open platform that suit their materials, and tried cutting off when dating options including Leelee and how little while only dating agency and seldom takes 30 seconds and globe layouts and playing games. Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur. 4 Dating Apps Created by Female Founders. Seeing as November 30th marks the social media campaign celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, we here at Oursky wanted to celebrate this global campaign by showcasing cool apps with female founders. Dating apps being as popular as they are nowadays (who would have though “swipe right” would become a household saying?), we suddenly asked ourselves how many were founded by women. Because — let’s face it — the most successful apps like Tinder, Match or Badoo, were mostly founded by men and aren’t always what women are looking for. So, we did a bit of digging to find the ones that were founded by women. What made these apps any different?

Why did they feel the need to create something in an already crowded market? Most of them have experiences that informed their hypotheses and approaches to their dating apps. Find out what they’re like below! Whitney Wolfe: Bumble (and Tinder) One woman co-founded not one but two dating apps. Whitney Wolfe, the only woman co-creator among the otherwise male-dominated team behind Tinder, left the company on allegations of sexual harassment. She went on to create the app Merci, which was a free social networking platform for young girls to chat and spread female positivity. Merci caught the attention of Andrey Andreev, founder and CEO of the multi-billion dollar social network, Badoo, who encouraged her to go back into the dating space and found Bumble, the “100% feminist” dating app. Among its many features, most prominently distinguishing Bumble from the pack is its women-message-first policy. By not allowing men to message first, Bumble provides much more of an opportunity for women to set the tone of the interaction, and ultimately, the overall relationship while also releasing men from the pressure to initiate the chat. The app has also introduced a BFF option for people who want to meet new friends. Arum, Dawoon and Soo Kang: Coffee Meets Bagel. If a multi-billionaire offered you $30 million dollars for your three-year-old company, would you take it? Well Arum, Dawoo and Soo Kang, three sisters from New York and co-founders of the dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, did no such thing when prompted by Mark Cuban on the TV show Shark Tank– the largest amount ever offered in the show’s history. Meaningful relationships are the name of the game for the San-Francisco-based Kang sisters, setting their product apart from the competition with features like significantly limiting the amount of matches (called “bagels”) a user can get each day. The app actually began as a daily e-mail matching service where people could exchange phone numbers only after both parties indicated interest. The limited selection focuses users much more on the quality of the relationship as opposed to simply the amount of interactions. Some would even call it the anti-Tinder. Inspired by their father’s self-employed lifestyle, the three sisters always wanted to create something of their own. Arum is a Harvard business graduate with a track record at both Avon and Amazon. Dawoon is a Stanford business graduate with global experience in everything from marketing to research and development, and Soo is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design and having lent her expertise to such companies as Samsung and Harajuku, the creation of an innovative product like Coffee Meets Bagels seemed inevitable. While all the sisters co-founded CMB, it was actually Soo’s experience traversing through New York city as a single woman that originally sparked the idea. The daily bagels people receive has increased to 21 since the release of the mobile app. Robyn Exton: Her (formerly Dattch) Moving ours sights to the LGBTQ community is Her– the go-to app for the lesbian, bisexual and queer community. After becoming tired with existing lesbian dating sites, which she felt to be simply be “dating sites that were initially created for gay men, and tuned pink for lesbians”, Robyn Exton quit her job at a London-based advertising agency to develop the dating app she wanted. Exton moved in with her father and began learning how to program, working in a pub evenings and weekends, and used the business knowledge obtained in her previous job– a client of her company at the time being a dating website developer– to guide her along the way. While the original focus for Dattch was simply dating, Her is focused on community has evolved to also act as a localized message board for nearby LGBTQ events and providing its users with the ability to connect with local groups, meet friends, and have discussions on a given topic. The app also has many preference options than traditional dating apps, such as bisexual, bi-curious, fluid, pansexual, and asexual. Fun fact 1– when initially marketing Her to the public, Exton used such strategies as going to clubs and providing free photo shots in exchange from app downloads, and waiting outside of bathrooms at LGBTQ concerts and festivals with Her-imprinted toilet paper. Talk about creative! Amanda Bradford: The League. Out of Stanford University erupted Amanda Bradford and her innovative dating app, The League. Fresh out of a serious five-year relationship and with an MBA in-hand, Bradford sought to create a dating service dedicated to working, egalitarian-seeking professionals such as herself. By linking user’s profile to their Linked In portfolio, The League handpicks its users on the basis of their portfolio, putting those unable to meet the criteria on a waiting list. The app was originally founded in Boston and is only opening in cities with 5000+ waitlisted members. Members can pay to jump the que and remaining waitlisted users can chat in an open forum. While some people argue this feature to be elitist, cherishing educational background and social status over personal character, Bradford has been quick to denounce such claims, highlighting her own academic and financial struggles. Her responses made us think of this popular singles meme: While the dating market may still be proportionally male dominated, with a reported 60% of dating app users being male, the ever-growing amount of women entrepreneurs in the field of online dating are well on their way to evening that out. Women know women best, and seeing as the user experience of a product tends to be driven by the majority of people using it, in this case young men, its up to women like those listed above to craft an online dating experience better suited to the actual needs of women. Help support your women entrepreneurs come November 30th by using the hashtag, #choosewomen, and as always, feel free to drop us a line in the comments below with your opinion! The tech billionaire who is putting women first. You may never have heard of her - but the founder of dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, has joined Forbes list of the super-rich. And while others, such as fellow billionaire Kim Kardashian, are grabbing the headlines, there is an argument that the lesser known Wolfe Herd could serve as an equally strong role model. She rang the Nasdaq bell with her 18-month-old baby son on her hip. In her speech she said she wanted to make the internet "a kinder, more accountable place". In an interview with the BBC in 2017, Ms Wolfe Herd said the secret to being an effective chief executive was not to take yourself "too seriously". She also emphasised the need to find a work/life balance and make time for family, even if that meant "taking an afternoon off". Before Bumble, she was among the founding team at Tinder but after tensions with other executives - one of whom she had been dating - she left. Shortly after, she launched a sexual harassment case. The central focus of her app is that only women can initiate a conversation in heterosexual matches. It is a simple idea but one that makes a world of difference to those on the dating scene who have been bombarded with unwanted messages from men. She founded Bumble with help from early investor Russian billionaire Andrey Adreev, who also has a stake in Badoo, both of which he sold in November 2019. Ms Wolfe Herd owns a 11.6% stake in Bumble, giving her an estimated net worth of $1.3bn. She also heads Badoo. The two apps have a combined 40 million users, 2.4 million of whom pay a subscription. Ms Wolf Herd grew up in Utah and in an interview after Bumble went public, she spoke to Time Magazine about an abusive relationship she was in as a teenager, and how it "stripped her down to nothing" while also "informing her understanding of what was wrong with gender dynamics". Yet while she may be keen to carve a different path to that of other tech companies, last year Bumble logged more than 880,000 incidents that violated its guidelines - and like many other platforms it too relies on Artificial Intelligence to scan for hate speech. This year, MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, is among the top three richest women - beaten to the top spot by Alice Walton, who made her money via Walmart and frontrunner Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, whose grandfather founded cosmetics giant L'Oreal. 28 black founders and investors making an impact in tech. Founders. Riana Lynn is the founder and CEO of FoodTrace, a startup that builds software and mapping applications for food sourcing management. The company utilizes Big Data and small business user profiles to link food distributors, local farms and specialty food manufacturers with wholesale food buyers. Lynn is also an entrepreneur-in-residence with Google Code 2040, a program that works to support and connect black and Latinx entrepreneurs with resources needed to build their companies. Ryan Williams is a co-founder and CEO of Cadre, the provider of a platform that connects qualified individuals and institutions to vetted real-estate opportunities. The company has raised about $70 million in VC funding since its 2014 founding—most recently a $50 million round in January 2016. Investors include General Catalyst, Thrive Capital and Founders Fund. Williams graduated from Harvard in 2010 and has previous experience working at firms including Goldman Sachs and Blackstone. Kimberly Bryant is the founder and executive director of Black Girls CODE, a nonprofit focused on teaching girls from underrepresented communities (around ages 7-17) skills in computer programming and technology. The organization was founded in 2011 and proceeded to launch in 10 US cities and expand to South Africa the following year. Bryant is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Blavity is a media enterprise that features user-generated editorial content, original video and a custom-designed backend for the black millennial market. The company, which was founded in 2014 by Morgan DeBaun, Jonathan Jackson, Jeff Nelson and Aaron Samuels, was a part of 500 Startups’ 17th accelerator batch and currently boasts more than 7 million monthly users. Lisa Dyson is the founder and CEO of Kiverdi, a chemicals company working to transform carbon-rich waste into high-value, lower cost oils and oil-derived chemicals used in everyday products like plastics, detergents and fuel additives. Kiverdi was founded in 2008 and has raised funding from firms including Kapor Capital. Dyson holds a PhD in physics from MIT and has done research in bioengineering, energy and physics at Stanford, UC Berkeley, Princeton and UC San Francisco. Wayne Sutton is the co-founder of Change Catalyst and its Tech Inclusion programs. Tech Inclusion is an organization that partners with the tech community to address diversity and inclusion through conferences, career fairs, strategic consulting and training. tton is also a general partner at BUILDUP fund, a nonprofit designed to support an inclusive ecosystem of tech entrepreneurs through offering workshops, founder/investor events, an angel network and a pre-accelerator program. Brit Fitzpatrick founded and is the CEO of MentorMe, a platform designed to help organizations, businesses and communities organize mentorship opportunities. The site has over 4,000 active users and counts the Memphis Grizzlies and New York state as clients. Fitzpatrick is a graduate of Howard University and holds a master's degree in digital media marketing from the University of Memphis. Asmau Ahmed is the founder of Plum Perfect, the developer of a cross-platform technology that uses digital photos to identify color matches and recommend personalized merchandise to customers (i.e., lipstick that complements your skin tone). Founded in 2010, the company counts firms such as Golden Seeds and Kapor Capital among its venture backers. She is also part of Capital One's Digital Product team. Ahmed holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS with Honors in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia. Kelechi Anyadiegwu is the founder, CEO and creative director at Zuvaa, an online marketplace for African-inspired fashion and accessories. The website was officially launched in May 2014 and features products ranging from women’s and men’s apparel to headwraps, watches and phone cases. Zuvaa was part of digitalundivided’s 2016 incubator cohort. Anyadiegwu has earned degrees from Michigan State and Carnegie Mellon. Nnena Ukuku is a partner at Venture Gained Legal, a boutique law firm that provides a variety of transactional legal services to emerging tech companies and nonprofit tech-focused organizations. She is also a co-founder and CEO of Black Founders Startup Ventures, an organization whose mission is to increase the number of successful black-led tech companies by connecting and equipping black entrepreneurs. Venture capitalists. William Crowder is the lead investor of Comcast Ventures' Catalyst Fund, a $20 million vehicle that looks to invest in early-stage tech companies led by diverse entrepreneurs. He has also been a managing director at startup accelerator DreamIt Ventures, where he advised, coached and helped develop early-stage startups. Crowder earned a couple of degrees at North Carolina State before earning his MBA at Duke. Kathryn Finney is the founder of digitalundivided, an organization that develops programs to increase the active participation of urban communities, especially women, in the digital space. The social enterprise was founded in 2013 and operates a variety of programs, such as its BIG innovation center and the BIG incubator, which assist black and Latina founders in building sustainable businesses via mentorship and access to investors. Finney is also a co-founder and general partner at Maya Venture Partners. Marlon Nichols co-founded and is a managing partner at Cross Culture Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that looks to back tech and consumer products startups. Nichols has invested in companies including live event ecommerce platform Sidestep App and LendStreet Financial, a fintech startup that aims to help people get out of debt and rebuild their credit. He previously worked at Intel Capital and earned his MBA at Cornell University. Trevor Thomas is a general partner at Cross Culture Ventures. Previously he was a vice president at consumer-focused fund Gastronome Ventures, and before his career in VC, Thomas was CEO of The Third Space, an airport lounge experience startup. Trevor has an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, a MEng in logistics from MIT, and a BS in industrial engineering from Morgan State University. Kesha Cash founded Impact America Fund and co-founded Jalia Ventures with the notion of identifying market opportunities often overlooked by traditional investors, including the backing of entrepreneurs of color. Prior to founding Jalia Ventures, Cash was a summer associate at Bridges Ventures, a fund manager that focuses on investment opportunities that can generate investor returns while also meeting a social or environmental challenge. Anthony Heckman is an associate at Kapor Capital, where he focuses on sourcing and evaluating early-stage investments in addition to helping portfolio companies grow. Heckman joined the firm in 2015 after spending two years working at law firm Cooley advising startups and their investors on operational matters, mergers and acquisitions, entity formation and venture financings. Peter Boyce has worked for over three years as a venture capitalist at General Catalyst Partners, a firm that has backed the likes of Airbnb, ClassPass and Gusto. Boyce also is a co-founder of Rough Draft Ventures, a student team powered by General Catalyst that supports university students by investing up to $25,000 in startups at their earliest stage. Boyce graduated from Harvard with a degree in applied mathematics. Eghosa Omoigui is a managing partner at EchoVC Partners, a firm that looks to back leading technologies, teams and business models in sub-Saharan Africa, North America and Southeast Asia. Although EchoVC has experience investing in seed and early-stage rounds, it's actually stage agnostic. Investments can range from $25,000 to several million dollars. Omoigui was previously at Intel for nearly 10 years. Olawale Ayeni is a senior investment officer at the IFC, leading venture capital efforts in emerging markets, with a particular focus on Africa. Prior to joining IFC, Ayeni led early-stage VC investments for telecommunications company Orange, backing startups such as PayJoy, Veniam, Chain and WEVR. He also led transactions on behalf of EchoVC in Hotels.ng, and Printivo. Ayeni has an MBA from Dartmouth. Gayle Jennings O'Byrne is a co-founder and general partner at Maya Ventures Partners, an early-stage VC firm that focuses on investing in black and Latina women founding tech startups. The goal of MVP is to create a diversity venture ecosystem that finds and creates value in untapped markets, as well as to increase investments and the number of people investing in women of color. Craig Vaughan is a general partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners, an LA-based firm that makes early-stage investments in technology startups. Prior to joining QBVP in 2014, Vaughan founded Vaughan Capital Advisors, which provides M&A, capital formation and market assessment advisory services to media and technology companies. Vaughan earned is MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan following undergraduate studies at Texas. Rodney Sampson is a partner at TechSquare Labs, which operates an incubator, seed fund and 25,000-square-foot co-working space in Atlanta. Sampson is also a chairman at The Opportunity Hub, an organization that manages a multi-campus entrepreneurial center. An angel investor and veteran entrepreneur, Sampson co-founded Kingonomics in 2013, and advocacy and learning platform for capital formation and wealth creation for people of color. Troy Carter is a founder and managing partner at Cross Culture Ventures, an early stage venture fund that has backed Mayvenn, Gimlet Media and Thrive Market. He is also the CEO of Atom Factory, an entertainment management company with roots in music, technology and media with angel investments in startups including Uber, Spotify, Dropbox and Warby Parker. You also might have seen him on ABC's venture-inspired hit show "Shark Tank." Erik Moore is the founder and managing director at seed-stage investor Base Ventures. The firm looks to back technology companies and has invested in startups such as InDinero, Virool, Dekko and MightyText. Moore previously spent 15 years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, leaving in 2011 and founding Base the next year. As an angel investor, he was among the first to invest in Zappos in 1999. Jon Gosier has a foot in both camps, having founded both a startup and a firm. He first started Cross Valley Capital in 2014, a seed and Series A investor where he still works as a general partner. More recently, Gosier founded and currently is COO of WoundMetrics, the provider of a cognitive computing and medical image analysis system. He previously founded audience measurement and monetization company AuDigent and is also a venture partner at Social Starts. Who'd we miss? Drop us a comment below or shoot us an email at mikey.tom@pitchbook.com and we'll be sure to include them in our next edition! 30 Female CTOs to Watch in 2019. From growing early-stage startups to large publicly-traded companies, here are 30 female CTOs to watch in 2019 — You will find household names like Nest, Starbucks, Gap, Intuit and Stitch Fix have chief technology officers that positively inspire the next generation of girl geeks! Apptimize CTO & co-founder Nancy Hua. Nancy Hua is the Chief Technology Officer at Apptimize, a mobile experimentation startup. Prior to founding Apptimize, Nancy was an algorithmic trader. Nancy studied math with computer science at MIT and led the MIT fencing team. Nancy holds a B.S. in math with computer science from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @huanancy. Breaker CTO & co-founder Leah Culver. Leah Culver is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Breaker, a social podcast app. An author of OAuth and oEmbed API specifications, Leah is a Swift and Python developer – and former founder of Grove, Convore, and Pownce, which was acquired by Six Apart. Leah holds a B.S. in computer science from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Follow her on Twitter at @leahculver. Compaas CTO & co-founder Lisa Dusseault. Lisa Dusseault is the Chief Technology Officer at Compaas. She has built her career solving complex technology problems. After Microsoft, she led internet standards groups at the IETF, and engineering teams at Linden Lab and Stubhub. She founded tech startups Cathy Labs, Klutch and ShareTheVisit. Lisa holds a B.S. in systems design engineering from University of Waterloo. Confluent CTO & co-founder Neha Narkhede. Neha Narkhede is the Chief Technology Officer at Confluent. Prior to founding Confluent, Neha led streams infrastructure at LinkedIn, where she was responsible for LinkedIn’s streaming infrastructure built on top of Apache Kafka and Apache Samza. She is one of the initial authors of Apache Kafka and a committer and PMC member on the project. Neha holds a B.E. in computer science from University of Pune and a M.S. in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology. Follow her on Twitter at @nehanarkhede. Democratic National Committee CTO Nellwyn Thomas. Nellwyn Thomas is the newly-appointed Chief Technology Officer for the Democratic National Committee. She has worked both in political campaigns and the tech industry (Facebook, Etsy). Nellwyn led deputy analytics for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. Follow her on Twitter at @nellwyn. Gap CTO Rathi Murthy. Rathi Murthy is the Chief Technology Officer at Gap. Prior to Gap, Rathi was at America Express for almost four years, most recently SVP/CIO for Enterprise Growth. She held engineering leadership positions at eBay, Yahoo, Metreo and began her career as a software engineer and QA lead. Rathi holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Bangalore University and a M.S. in computer engineering from Santa Clara University. Ghost Foundation CTO & co-founder Hannah Wolfe. Hannah Wolfe is the Chief Technology Officer at Ghost Foundation, an open source publishing platform. Prior to launching Ghost, she worked as a software engineer at Moo and Engine Creative. Hannah holds a M.S. in international business from Nottingham University Business School and a B.S. in computer science from University of Nottingham. Follow her on Twitter at @erisds. Greo CTO & co-founder Elizabeth Davis. Elizabeth Davis is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder at Greo, a social video platform that graduated from Y Combinator’s accelerator program in 2017. Prior to Greo, she interned at Pinterest and Google. Elizabeth holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University. Follow her on Twitter at @lizfordays. Intuit CTO Marianna Tessel. Marianna Tessel is the Chief Technology Officer at Intuit. Prior to the promotion, she was Chief Product Development Officer at Intuit. Prior to Intuit, Marianna was SVP of Engineering at Docker. Prior to that, Marianna held VP of Engineering roles at VMware, Intacct, Ariba and General Magic. Marianna holds a B.S. in computer science from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Kapor Center for Social Impact CTCO Lilibeth Gangas. Lilibeth Gangas is Chief Technology Community Officer at Kapor Center for Social Impact. Prior to Kapor Center for Social Impact, Lili worked at Accenture Technology Lab and Booz Allen. Prior to that, Lili worked on software and hardware solutions at Raytheon. Lili holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. Follow her on Twitter at @lilsg31. LimeLoop CTO & co-founder Chantal Emmanuel. Chantal Emmanuel is the Chief Technology Officer at LimeLoop. Prior to founding LimeLoop, Chantal worked as a software engineer at SYPartners and Red Clay. Prior to learning to code at Dev Bootcamp, she worked on various community programs in New York. Chantal holds a B.A. in english from State University of New York at Binghamton. Follow her on Twitter at @chantalemmanuel. MarketInvoice CTO Rija Javed. Rija Javed is the Chief Technology Officer at MarketInvoice, a UK-based finance platform. Prior to MarketInvoice, Rija was at Wealthfront for over four years, most recently Senior Director of Engineering. She began her career as a software engineer at Research in Motion and Zynga. Riya holds a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering and a M.S. in computer engineering, both from University of Toronto. Follow her on Twitter at @rijajaved. Meetup CTO Yvette Pasqua. Having been the Chief Technology Officer at Meetup for three years now, Yvette Pasqua has led initiatives at the company to tackle 15 years of technical debt, create a more diverse and inclusive engineering team, and bring product improvements to market. Prior to Meetup, she held engineering leadership roles at Tinypass, AKQA, Possible and Schematic. Yvette holds a B.S. in biological basis of behavior from University of Pennsylvania. While in college, she gained work experience as a webmaster and networking computers at the medical center and hospital. Follow her on Twitter at @lolarobot. Mode CTO Heather Rivers. As Mode‘s CTO, Heather Rivers leads engineering, product, design, and security. She has been writing software for 15 years, from games on her graphing calculator in high school, to computational linguistics in college, to tech companies like Yammer and Microsoft. Heather holds an A.B. in linguistics from University of Chicago. Follow her on Twitter at @heatherrivers. Moxxly CTO & co-founder Santhi Analytis. Santhi Analytis is the Chief Technology Officer of Moxxly, redesigning the breast pump for today’s mobile mom. In 2017, Moxxly was acquired by Olle Larsson Holding, parent company of the Medela pump. She holds a PhD and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in biomedical engineering and latin american studies. Follow her on Twitter at @dranalytis. Nest CTO Yoky Matsuoka. Yoky Matsuoka is the Chief Technology Officer at Nest. Prior to Nest, Yoky was a founder of Google[x]. Prior to that, Yoky was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington. She developed robotic devices for rehabilitating and assisting the human body and brain, earning the MacArthur award in 2007. Yoky grew up assuming she would be a professional tennis player, but instead holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley and a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, where she was a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering. Follow her on Twitter at @yokymatsuoka. NovoEd CTO & co-founder Farnaz Ronaghi. Farnaz Ronaghi is the Chief Technology Officer at NovoEd, providing online learning for busy professionals. Farnaz holds a B.S. in computer engineering from Sharif University of Technology and a M.S. in management science and engineering from Stanford University. She designed and developed the first version of NovoEd during her PhD studies at Stanford University. Follow her on Twitter at @farnazr. Nylas CTO & co-founder Christine Spang. Christine Spang is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer at Nylas, handling over 100 million API requests per day. Prior to founding Nylas, she worked at Oracle after the company acquired Ksplice, where she was working as a key member of the team. Christine started working on free software via the Debian project when she was 15 and holds a S.B. in computer science from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @spang. One Medical Group CTO Kimber Lockhart. Kimber Lockhart is the Chief Technology Officer at innovative health care company One Medical Group. Previously, Kimber co-founded Increo Solutions, a document collaboration company that was acquired by Box in 2009. She was at Box for four years in a variety of roles, most recently Senior Director of Engineering responsible for Box’s web application. Kimber holds a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University. Follow her on Twitter at @kimber_lockhart. Pilot CTO & founder Jessica McKellar. Jessica McKellar is the Chief Technology Officer at Pilot. Prior to founding Pilot, Jessica was a Director of Engineering at Dropbox, which had acquired her company Zulip, where she was co-founder and VP of Engineering. Prior to that, Jessica worked in engineering management at Oracle by way of Ksplice acquisition, where she was working as a software engineer. Jessica holds a B.S. in computer science and M.S. in computer science, both from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @jessicamckellar. Redfin CTO Bridget Frey. As Redfin‘s Chief Technology Officer, Bridget Fey leads the software engineering team of over 150 engineers in Seattle and San Francisco. Prior to Redfin, she held management positions at Lithium Technologies, IntrinsiQ Research, IMlogic and Plumtree Software. Bridget holds a B.S. in computer science from Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude. Follow her on Twitter at @SVBridget. Starbucks CTO Gerri Martin-Flickinger. Gerri Martin-Flickinger joined Starbucks in 2015 as the Chief Technology Officer and has led the technology organization through significant transformation (mobile order and pay, voice ordering and social gifting). Prior to Starbucks, Gerri was CIO at Adobe, VeriSign, Network Associates, and McAfee Associates. Gerri holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Washington State University. Follow her on Twitter at @gmflickinger. Stitch Fix CTO Cathy Polinsky. Cathy Polinsky is the Chief Technology Officer at Stitch Fix, an online subscription and personal shopping service that went public in 2017. Prior to Stitch Fix, Cathy was a SVP of Engineering for Enterprise Search at Salesforce. Prior to that, she was a Senior Engineering Manager at Yahoo and began her career as a software engineer. Cathy holds a B.A. in computer science from Swathmore College. Follow her on Twitter at @cathy_polinsky. SurveyMonkey CTO Robin Ducot. Robin Ducot is the Chief Technology Officer at SurveyMonkey. Previously, Robin spent five years as Senior Vice President of Product Engineering at DocuSign. Prior to that, she was the Vice President of Engineering at Eventbrite. Robin holds a B.S. in computer science and art history from University of Massachusetts, Boston. Swayable CTO & co-founder Valerie Coffman. Valerie Coffman is the Chief Technology Officer at Swayable, using data science to craft accurate, persuasive political messages. Prior to Swayable, Valerie was CTO at Xometry. Valerie holds a PhD and M.S. in theoretical condensed matter physics from Cornell University and a B.S. in physics from John Hopkins University. Follow her on Twitter at @valerierose. tEQuitable CTO & co-founder Heidi Williams. As tEQuitable‘s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, Heidi Williams is scaling a work culture platform that resolves conflicts with ombuds. Prior to co-founding tEQuitable, Heidi was VP of Engineering at Box for 4 years. Prior to that, she worked at Adobe for 17 years. Heidi holds a B.S. in computer science from Brown University. Follow her on Twitter at @heidivt73. ThoughtWorks CTO Dr. Rebecca Parsons. Rebecca Parsons is the Chief Technology Officer at ThoughtWorks. Before ThoughtWorks, she worked as an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Central Florida, after completing a director’s postdoctoral fellowship at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Rebecca holds a B.S. in computer science and economics from Bradley University and both an M.S. and PhD in computer science from Rice University. Follow her on Twitter at @rebeccaparsons. Thrive Global CTO Cheryl Porro. Cheryl Porro is Chief Technology Officer at Thrive Global, Ariana Huffington’s wellness company. Prior to Thrive Global, Cheryl was at SVP of Technology and Products at Salesforce.org. She began her career as a quality engineer before entering engineering management. Cheryl holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic University. Follow her on Twitter at @cporro_sfdc. Token Transit CTO & founder Ekaterina Kuznetsova. Ekaterina Kuznetsova is the Chief Technology Officer at Token Transit, enabling riders to pay for the public transit with their phone. Prior to founding Token Transit, Ekateria worked as a software engineer at Meteor, Akamai, Google and Appian. Ekaterina holds a B.S. in math and computer science from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @technekate. Transposit CTO & co-founder Tina Huang. Tina Huang is Chief Technology Officer at Transposit. Prior to founding Transposit, Tina worked as a Staff Software Engineer at Twitter for four years – and subsequently sued Twitter for promotion bias. Prior to Twitter, Tina worked at Google and Apple. Tina holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. Follow her on Twitter at @kmonkeyjam. Women-led app Bumble’s 31-year-old founder is now a billionaire. Bumble Inc., the owner of the dating app where women make the first move, sold shares in its upcoming trading debut at $43, valuing Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd’s stake at more than $900 million and lifting her overall fortune above $1 billion. The listing caps a saga that’s both inspiration and cautionary tale for women tech founders. Wolfe Herd capitalized on an underserved market and built a multibillion-dollar company that was in a sense born from one of the most vexing obstacles to women entrepreneurs: sexual harassment. “This is a huge win,” said Allyson Kapin, general partner at investment firm W Fund and founder of the Women Who Tech network. “Whitney saw an opportunity that wasn’t being addressed for women and based on her expertise she’s made it into this gold mine, not just for her and her team but also her investors.” Bumble’s IPO launches Wolfe Herd into a rarefied club of self-made female billionaires. While women make up about half of the global population, self-made women — mostly from Asia — account for less than 5% of the world’s 500 biggest fortunes, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Self-made men comprise almost two-thirds of the wealth index. Of the 559 companies that have gone public in the U.S. over the past 12 months, only two, aside from Bumble, were founded by women. It’s the same with blank-check firms, Wall Street’s favored wealth-boosting vehicle of the moment. Women-sponsored SPACs totaled fewer than a dozen, a fraction of the 349 that listed in the past year. That means women are largely being left behind in what’s likely the fastest wealth-creation boom in history. Last year the world’s 500 richest people gained $1.8 trillion, yet 91% of that windfall went to men, according to the Bloomberg index. Among the numerous impediments to women and other underrepresented groups in the startup world, including people of color, harassment is one of the most pervasive. A Women Who Tech survey last year found that 44% of female founders polled reported they’d experienced harassment on the job, with more than a third of that group facing sexual harassment. It was harassment in fact that spurred the creation of Bumble. Wolfe Herd founded the Austin, Texas-based company in 2014 following her departure from Tinder, the rival dating app she helped found. The split was acrimonious, marked by a sexual harassment lawsuit Wolfe Herd filed against the company, alleging among other things that she was repeatedly called derogatory names by executives and stripped of her co-founder role since having a “girl” with that title “makes the company seem like a joke.” The suit was later settled. Formative Experience. The experience was formative. She initially wanted to create a female-only social network for women to send each other compliments but ended up focusing on match-making on the advice of Russian tech billionaire Andrey Andreev, the founder of dating app Badoo. With Andreev’s backing, Wolfe Herd created Bumble as a service “by women, for women,” touting it as a place where women were empowered and harassment was rigorously policed. It’s become the second-most popular dating app in the U.S. with the help of advertisements bearing tag lines such as: “Be the CEO your parents always wanted you to marry.” Wolfe Herd took over from Andreev when Blackstone Group Inc. bought a majority stake in Bumble’s owner at a valuation of about $3 billion last year. As part of the deal, Wolfe Herd received about $125 million in cash and a $119 million loan that she’s since repaid in full. Bumble Inc., the holding company for Bumble and Badoo, is now valued at about $8 billion. “I felt very comfortable handing the baton to Whitney,” Andreev said in an email. “She has proved to be very insightful and innovative in the dating space.” Key Obstacle. Wolfe Herd’s partnership with Andreev helped her surmount a key obstacle to women-led, women-focused startups: funding. Less than 3% of venture capital dollars go to startups founded by women, according to Pitchbook data, a figure that’s barely budged over the past decade. The tendency of venture capitalists to fund what they know and who’s in their network sustains the gap. And that’s despite evidence suggesting women-led startups actually produce better returns than those founded by men. Studies by the Kauffman Foundation, MassChallenge and BCG found that female-founded companies generated more revenue and were significantly more capital efficient. Another high-profile listing on the horizon is that of the Honest Co., a baby and beauty products company co-founded by actress Jessica Alba that’s said to be preparing to go public. Women in the startup world are optimistic about a rising tide. “Whitney’s success will help further the case for investing in businesses that serve a female audience or that are founded by women,” said Austin venture capitalist Kelsi Kamin. “It’s a super exciting time.”

women in tech san francisco founder dating app