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Despite Grindr's controversial nature, the app was an incredible business opportunity due to its profitability and strong market position. The company was growing rapidly, and users loved the product.

Grindr had several challenges: a public privacy issue with user data, complications with Chinese ownership, and a PR problem. Despite these, we saw potential due to the strong customer love for the product.

Jeff Bonforte reflects on the success of Grindr: 'We took Grindr from $100 million of revenue to $200 million in two and a half years by upgrading talent, tech, and launching new products. Applying the Tinder playbook was key to our strategy.'

Raising $600 million for Grindr involved $200 million in equity, $200 million in debt from Fortress, and another $200 million due upon exit. The process of raising such large sums is similar regardless of the amount.

COVID-19 hit during the acquisition process, causing user numbers to drop by 20-30% as Grindr is a location-based app. This added to the stress and complexity of the acquisition.

When Grindr was up for sale, many typical buyers were deterred due to the app's association with gay dating, revealing latent homophobia in the investment process. This allowed non-traditional private equity firms to purchase the company.

When we took Grindr public for $2 billion on the New York Stock Exchange, we created a 9x return on the $200 million of equity, generating about $1.6 billion in value.

The App Store rating for Grindr was shockingly low at 1.8, and the Glassdoor management rating was 19%. Despite this, the company was generating $100 million in revenue and $45 million in profit, indicating severe mismanagement but also great opportunity.