Bumble's CEO on Wall Street debut and empowering women
Whitney Wolfe Herd is the head of the dating app Bumble, which famously puts women in charge of making the first move. Now the company is taking a bold new step in the business world. Bumble is beginning trading Thursday on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
With so much buzz surrounding her company, Herd said business would continue as usual even though Bumble's IPO could bring the company a valuation of up $8 billion.
"We are so focused on our commitment to our community and to our mission and to driving a good and ethical business. And we're just going to stay committed to that. We are going to really focus on the long-term," Herd told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King.
Herd's road to this moment hasn't always been as bright as the company's yellow logo. She said in 2014 she was in a dark place personally and professionally. Fast forward to 2021. Herd has a new sense of pride in her achievements and the challenges to overcome.
"Today is a remarkable day for me in the sense that you know there was a time that I thought my career was over in 2014. And if I can sit in this seat today, it just goes to show that anything is possible. And anybody can rebuild themselves just starting over, taking that first step, making the first move. And they can reinvent themselves when they go through hardship," she said.
Making the first move has been different for some women using Bumble during this pandemic. But Herd said it has also created new pandemic dating habits that have been beneficial to its users.
"We have seen some really remarkable shifts in behavior through the pandemic. One of the most profound is slow dating, where people are really taking time to get to know each other digitally first before venturing into the real world. And of course, this was really imposed due to the quarantines," Herd told "CBS This Morning" co-host Anthony Mason. "Something quite beneficial came out of this, that people are really getting to know each other on a deeper level and understanding if they're compatible before they go and meet a stranger in real life."
The staff behind Bumble is also taking a swipe at the tech industry — which is known to be male-dominated. Bumble's board is 73% women, and more than 50% of its leadership is made of women. Herd said the company has achieved these numbers by empowering its female staff the same way they empower female users.
"There are incredible women out there, and we have really, really tried to empower women not only from our product standpoint but internally as well. And it is really important to walk the walk. So we've really prioritized gender diversity in our business," she said.
Herd is a mother to a 14-month-old baby boy, juggling motherhood along with being the youngest female CEO to take a company public, at the age of 31. She's also been open about postpartum depression and said she has learned how strong women are to navigate postpartum along running a business.
The platform has 42 million users and has expanded its business to include a network and friendship-building platform on its app separate from the dating aspect— allowing anyone to join Bumble regardless of relationship status.