Coffee Meets Bagel co-founder Arum Kang
Arum Kang, co-founder and former longtime CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel, is our guest this week.
She's one of three Korean sisters who, back in 2012, were fed up with how online dating often felt dejecting and demoralizing — especially for women. Their solution? To create a serious dating app.
From the start, it billed itself as a platform for serious daters, boldly calling the app “the anti-Tinder.”
This meant that instead of giving users a sea of endless swipes to go through, it sent them just one curated match each day.
Together, the Kangs have turned Coffee Meets Bagel into a household name.
But not without plenty of tears, workshopping, sisterly "bickering" and key leadership lessons along the way.
The company reports that 91% of its users are looking for a serious relationship — and have no time to waste. Meanwhile, the Asian American community, along with users in the Asia Pacific region, have become the app’s biggest drivers of growth.
The app is so prolific that Arum is often invited to the weddings of users, and once even officiated the wedding of a couple who met on the platform.
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