Maxim Poulsen

Tinder economics.

Or how bad apps can make more $$$.

Imagine you’re building Tinder.

You want to help people meet, right?
Then you optimize for matches.

But if people meet…they uninstall Tinder.

Keep in mind — this is a business.
Some revenue comes from in-app ads.
But a substantial part comes from premium plans.

So the same problem arises.

Paying for a premium plan to get more matches?
More likely to match and…cancel their subscription.

If Tinder was building a product to help people…
They would optimize for people meeting.

But they don’t.

They optimize for the least amount of matches possible while maintaining hope high.

To keep users coming back for more.
Locking users into a desperate search.
Offering validation through paid premium plans.

...only to increase match rates temporarily.
Until they flatline to the minimum, once again.

So is Tinder a bad product?
It depends for whom.

But they made $1.8B in 2022.