Who founded Hinge?
The dating app was inspired by Justin McLeod's broken heart
Justin McLeod created Hinge, which has become one of the most widely used dating apps.
The app, whose ads boasts that it was “designed to be deleted,” has already garnered more than 3.3 million downloads over the course of 2019 alone, according to data from mobile research firm Sensor Tower.
McLeod, who earned his bachelor's degree at Colgate and a master's degree at Harvard, originally designed the app, which he released in 2012, for himself after breaking up with the love of his life, according to the Daily Mail.
HINGE DATING APP OFFERS $100 TO GO ON A DATE — AND STOP USING THE SERVICE
Before starting his business venture with the app, the Kentucky-born entrepreneur, then a 15-year-old teenager, helped local businesses build their websites, according to Money Inc.
After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in mathematical economics and political science from the Hamilton, New York, institution in 2006, McLeod worked as a health care consultant, according to the outlet.
By 2009, he was enrolled in Harvard Business School, according to his LinkedIn. While in Boston, McLeod, who considered himself a hopeless romantic discovered his knack for technology, according to Money Inc.
Now, the reason why Hinge came to be: his love life.
In college, McLeod met a girl named Kate, who at the time was the polar opposite of him as she did not drink, Fast Company reported. Later on, the couple separated due to McLeod's dependence on alcohol and drugs. He told the outlet in a magazine he wanted to save her from his "corrupting influence." After their breakup, and during the last semester of college, he went to rehab and cleaned up.
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However, he couldn't get Kate out of his mind, even as he was about to graduate Harvard years later while in another steady relationship.
After breaking up with his girlfriend at the time, he emailed Kate. Unfortunately, she was happily living in London and seeing another man, Fast Company reported.
McLeod was devastated.
However, instead of turning to bars to meet the right woman, fearing a relapse, the heartbroken young man headed online. That's when Hinge was built -- a dating app "designed to be deleted."
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However, after 14 years of what McLeod's says were ups and downs, he finally married Kate, his college sweetheart.
By February 2018, the couple exchanged their vows in front of friends and family "in their favorite mountain town."