{"id":32033,"date":"2016-02-04T14:19:14","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T21:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=32033"},"modified":"2016-07-27T15:52:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T22:52:33","slug":"stanford-gsb-alum-transforming-online-dating-for-the-ambitious-ep-139","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/stanford-gsb-alum-transforming-online-dating-for-the-ambitious-ep-139\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford GSB Alum Transforming Online Dating for the Ambitious [Ep. 139]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Amanda<\/a>With a hat-tip to Valentine\u2019s Day, this show is about a dating app for the \u201csmart, busy and ambitious\u201d as well as life at Stanford GSB and start-ups.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet Amanda Bradford<\/strong>:\u00a0[0:46]<\/span><\/p>\n

She earned her bachelors in Information Systems in 2007 from Carnegie Mellon. \u00a0After getting her degree, Amanda worked for leading tech companies like Salesforce, Google, and Sequoia Capital. After earning her MBA from Stanford GSB<\/a>, she founded The League, a dating app with privacy controls and \u201ccuration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What is The League? And how is it different from other dating apps?<\/strong>\u00a0[1:16]<\/span><\/p>\n

Online dating<\/a> can be overwhelming, and offline dating can be inefficient; The League is designed to address both of these issues. It aims to provide \u201cquality over quantity\u201d and takes people\u2019s professional privacy into account\u2014the app serves up 5 matches a day, with no overlap from Facebook or LinkedIn contact lists.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does \u201ccuration\u201d mean in this context?<\/strong>\u00a0[3:26]<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the app\u2019s admissions process\u2014which limits the profiles on the app to \u201chigh quality\u201d profiles (to eliminate the problem of fake profiles many sites have)\u2014and the careful matching process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plans to Expand\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>[4:00]<\/p>\n

They currently operate in SF and NY and have 100,000 people registered. They plan to expand to other large cities with a young urban professional demographic\u2014such as LA, Boston, London, etc.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda's Story\u00a0<\/strong>[5:56]<\/p>\n

After various media reports about The League \u2013 not all flattering \u2013 Amanda wrote her own story on LinkedIn explaining why she founded The League. She decided to tell her personal story about dating as a career focused woman, and clarify the mission and values of the company. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m Not An Elitist, I\u2019m Just An Alpha Female<\/a>\u201d has been viewed over 235,000 times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did she pursue her MBA?<\/strong>\u00a0[8:24]<\/span><\/p>\n

Working at Google, she had strong role models and saw the career paths of women she admired \u2013 many of whom had MBAs. And she was looking for the tight knit network that you build during an MBA. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Stanford?<\/strong>\u00a0[9:49]<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s known for cultivating entrepreneurs<\/a>, and she wanted to help build something from the ground up. <\/span><\/p>\n

What did she learn in b-school?<\/strong>\u00a0[10:57]<\/span><\/p>\n

You learn how to respond to situations \u2013 gain self-awareness and business acumen. The management skills she gained have been helpful. <\/span><\/p>\n

The League\u2019s initial funding<\/strong>\u00a0[14:41]<\/span><\/p>\n

Her Stanford network was definitely crucial! Stanford provides a lot of opportunities for networking with venture capitalists, and she did an internship in venture. A lot of the initial investors were connected to Stanford and people she met there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additional value: classmates<\/strong>\u00a0[16:04]<\/span><\/p>\n

Being around such smart, talented people also helped her develop the company \u2013 feedback from her classmates helped her with marketing, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do people get wrong about Stanford GSB?<\/strong>\u00a0[17:05]<\/span><\/p>\n

Often, people think b-school is just about partying and networking. But at the core, you\u2019re meeting hardworking, smart people who are doing really interesting things. It\u2019s a powerful network.<\/span><\/p>\n

For people who want to go to Stanford GSB \u2013 is there a \u201csecret sauce\u201d? Something that students there have in common<\/a>?<\/strong>\u00a0[19:21]<\/span><\/p>\n

A tendency to take risks: speak up in class; start an organization. People at Stanford are doers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Qualities of entrepreneurs<\/strong>\u00a0[21:20]<\/span><\/p>\n

Hustle, scrappiness, hard work, grit\/persistence. Don\u2019t say you don\u2019t know how to do something.<\/span><\/p>\n

Advice for Stanford GSB applicants<\/strong>\u00a0[24:01]<\/span><\/p>\n

Apply Round 1. Start early!<\/a> Allow plenty of time to write (and rewrite) your essays. And allow time for self-reflection. The MBA is a major investment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Relevant Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0The League
\n<\/a><\/span>\u2022\u00a0@theleague<\/a>
\n<\/span>\u2022\u00a0\u201c<\/span>I\u2019m Not An Elitist, I\u2019m Just An Alpha Female<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/a>\u2022\u00a0<\/span>How to Get Into Stanford GSB<\/span><\/a>, a webinar
\n<\/span>\u2022\u00a0<\/span>Stanford MBA essay tips
\n<\/span><\/a>\u2022\u00a0<\/span>Stanford zones page
\n<\/span><\/a>\u2022\u00a0<\/span>The Smart Timeline for MBA Applicants<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Related shows:<\/strong>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Entrepreneurship at Stanford GSB: Carlypso Drives Down the Startup St.
\n<\/a>\u2022<\/span>\u00a0Valentine\u2019s Day, Economics, and Stanford GSB
\n<\/a>\u2022<\/span>\u00a0An HBS Student Helping HBS Applicants
\n<\/a>\u2022<\/span>\u00a0Insights into MIT Sloan MBA Admissions with Dawna Levenson
\n<\/a>\u2022<\/span><\/b>\u00a0UCLA Anderson: Cool, Chic, and Tech<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribe:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"Listen<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Accepted.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a hat-tip to Valentine\u2019s Day, this show is about a dating app for the \u201csmart, busy and ambitious\u201d as well as life at Stanford GSB and start-ups. Meet Amanda…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[104,924,48],"class_list":["post-32033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-stanford","tag-stanford-graduate-school-of-business","tag-stanford-gsb","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32033"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32035,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32033\/revisions\/32035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}