What is the best way to get over a heartbreak? For Justin McLeod that was creating one of the world’s most popular dating apps.

Justin McLeod is the CEO and founder of the dating app Hinge, which has over 20 million users and sets up a date every 3 seconds.

In this conversation Justin and Steven discuss topics, such as overcoming addiction, early stigma around dating apps, the setbacks and difficulties when creating Hinge, his tumultuous love story, and why happy endings are for the movies.

00:00 Intro

02:07 My Addiction & Going to Rehab

05:18 12 Step Programme for Addiction

07:36 How My Love Experiences Influenced My Entrepreneurial Journey

12:22 Founding Hinge

15:46 How Do We Know Which Ideas to Go After?

18:50 When Did the App Form?

23:35 Tinder and How It Impacted Hinge

27:29 The Interview That Changed My Life

34:14 The New Era for Hinge

36:56 How to Be Successful on Hinge

38:56 What Is Hinge Labs?

42:51 The Worst Things to Do in Dating Apps

44:03 Advice for People Going on Loads Of Dates

47:30 Dating Apps Want People to Stay Single to Have More Customers…

49:23 How Has the Dating World Changed in the Last Few Years? 

50:31 Hinge First Principles

51:48 The Importance of Taking Risks

01:00:38 How to Have Great Company Culture

01:17:16 Biggest Hiring Mistakes

01:19:42 What the Future of Dating Apps Looks Like

01:21:33 The Last Guest Question

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