Bumble -- Match Group’s most formidable competitor -- released a fiery blog post this week throwing quite a bit of shade at Match. It accused Match of copying its product and some poor behavior within its apps while trying to establish itself as the kind vendor in the concentrated field. I would mention that massive dating apps will inevitably deal with bad actors and Match (not just Bumble) has focused heavily on limiting these outcomes.

But that’s not the main point I wanted to make here. Companies don’t send notes like this out of positions of strength -- but weakness and insecurity. Perhaps Bumble should focus on Hinge quickly passing it as the 2nd most popular dating app globally rather than getting upset with them for being better at competing. Match is eating their lunch -- Bumble can get mad about it or they can be better. It’s their choice and they seem to have made the wrong

one. It’s not illegal for Tinder to emulate the female-first offering of Bumble, it’s a good business decision and something I as a shareholder applaud.

If Bumble were smart (and regulators allowed it), they would sell to Match Group in an instant. The synergies associated with combining Match’s 50%+ global market share with another successful app would be compelling to say the least, but Bumble won’t sell. Its founder came from Tinder and left in a not-so-amicable way. To her, this is clearly personal and if I were a Bumble shareholder that would gravely concern me. Business is not personal. Match is a better company, Match boasts a more sustainable business model and this somewhat childish blog post merely reiterates that to me.