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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.

The Committee for Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) forced the sale of Grindr due to concerns that data collected by the app could be misused by its Chinese owners, potentially for blackmailing purposes.

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.'

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.

Grindr's mission extends beyond dating; it provides crucial sexual education and healthcare information in 57 languages, especially for trans people in non-English speaking countries.