When MasterClass launched “Rewriting the Rules of Business and Life,” I was instantly intrigued.
I am not in business or marketing, but l am always eager to learn more about brilliant minds that come up with innovative ideas. Whitney Wolfe Herd is one of those minds – she created Bumble, one of the most successful dating apps that changed the whole online dating game.
Before Bumble, women felt unsafe and overlooked in the dating app space. But Whitney’s personal experiences and a strong wish to make a difference led her to turn her vision into reality.
So, how did Whitney manage to do it, and is it possible to take Bumble as an example to build your own brand?
In this review, I’ll answer these questions and tell you all about my learning experience.
Table of Contents
What is the Whitney Wolfe Herd MasterClass?
In her MasterClass, Whitney Wolfe Herd shares her story of how she came up with the idea for the Bumble app. She talks about marketing tools and techniques that helped her build a brand that went viral without delving too deeply into business terminology.
The course is primarily focused on finding innovative ideas and incorporating your values into your brand. As Whitney puts it, this MasterClass is part playbook and part inspiration. That said, you can use Whitney’s playbook to approach your ideas and start a new project, but you can also draw inspiration to create your own set of rules.
Whitney is a passionate entrepreneur and leader, and she approaches business in a very thoughtful and emotional way. She believes that emotional attachment to what you are building matters.
“Rewriting the Rules of Business and Life” is an inspiring course that can help you take a deeper look at your values, craft a bold story, and become your own kind of leader.
This is also a rather short MasterClass, consisting of only one video with a duration of 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Who is Whitney Wolfe Herd?
Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur and the creator of Bumble.
As a founder and CEO of Bumble Inc., Whitney Wolfe Herd became the world’s youngest female self-made billionaire.
She is also the co-founder of Tinder. She was the vice president of marketing there, too, but she resigned due to tensions with other company executives. With Bumble, she wanted to solve the problem of online harassment and create a positive social network that benefits everyone, not just men.
What is the target audience for Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass?
At the beginning of her MasterClass, Whitney Wolfe Herd tells a story of how Bumble was born. It’s an inspiring story about turning failure into opportunity and making your voice heard. She is obviously passionate about her work, which makes her lessons perfect for those who need a little encouragement.
Each part of the course is full of useful tips and honest advice that will help you build a brand and make noise to stand out.
Whitney doesn’t have a marketing a business degree; she was a student of International Studies. Therefore, this isn’t a theory-heavy course that will teach you business terms and methods. Whether you think this is a good thing or not depends on your needs and expectations.
If you dream of starting a business, but you’re not sure how to approach it, Whitney’s story is certainly something worth hearing.
All in all, the target audience for Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass is business beginners as well as more experienced entrepreneurs who want to discover what’s behind the creation of a multi-million dollar brand. However, if you want to gain more theoretical knowledge and concrete guidelines, you should find additional learning sources.
What does Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass cover?
Whitney Wolfe Herd’s class is one of the shortest MasterClasses I’ve taken so far.
But in less than 2 hours, she manages to deliver her message and tell a compelling story of how she created one of the world’s most popular dating apps. Her rules can be applied to any other project, so the marketing tools and ideas she used to grow Bumble serve as examples.
Although there’s only one video in the course, the MasterClass is divided into 8 chapters, each focused on a specific rule.
All chapters contain examples from Whitney’s project and will teach you how to:
- Identify your customers
- Recognize the quality of a big, innovative idea
- Nail down the ‘why’ of your project
- Find a way to make your brand go viral
- Make noise to stand out
- Become your own kind of leader
- Be innovative
- Build your confidence to succeed
Although it’s primarily focused on the emotional side of approaching a business idea, the course also features a bunch of useful tips and examples regarding effective marketing strategies.
Whitney’s lessons are also great for anyone who needs direction and guidance to determine the details of their idea. Some of the questions Whitney usually focuses on include:
- What do I want to contribute?
- What do I want to put out in the world?
- What do I wish was different?
My favorite parts of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass
Many of Whitney’s questions and examples got my creative juices flowing. She is a confident, inspiring, and relatable teacher, and she is a living example that it’s important and worthwhile to dream big.
However, the course is rather short, and Whitney doesn’t delve deeper into any of the topics. Many parts of the course are impactful and insightful, nevertheless, and here are some of my personal favorites:
Spark a big idea
By sharing her personal story and experiences, Whitney teaches how to identify what you’re looking for and come up with a big idea.
According to Whitney, every great idea comes from the following questions: what feels broken in society or your life? What do you wish existed? What do you wish was different?
Nail down the “why”
If you want to create an impactful, innovative brand, you need to nail down the “why” of your idea. For instance, Whitney wanted to create a safe online space for women, so she created a dating app where women get to choose first. And it all started with Merci, a female-only app.
Whitney also talks about the significance of crafting a bold story. Think about what kind of impact you want to make with your brand, and stay true to your “why” throughout the whole process.
Make noise to stand out
Once you create your brand, you need to find an effective way to show the “why” in one sentence. “Be the CEO your parents always wanted you to marry (then find someone you actually like)” was a great way to grab the attention of potential Bumble users.
You should get attention with your ads, but you also need to show your customers that you’re here to advocate real change. In this chapter, Whitney also explains how she helped change the law regarding sending lewd images without approval.
How much does Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass cost?
Since MasterClass is a subscription-based learning platform, you can’t purchase courses individually. Therefore, if you want to take Whitney Wolfe Herd’s class, you have to become a subscriber.
Annual plans are typically available at $120 a year (or $10 per month) for the Individual plan, providing access to MasterClass courses on one device, $180 a year for the Duo plan (two devices), and $240 a year for the Family plan (six devices).
A MasterClass subscription gives you unlimited access to a catalog of 180+ classes. So, if you’re interested in taking multiple classes throughout the year, the subscription is definitely worth it.
Also, the platform offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so if you’re not happy with your learning experience, you can request a full refund.
What I liked about Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass
Whitney’s MasterClass is short and concise, which is great for anyone who needs a quick confidence and motivation boost.
Some of the things I liked the most about the course include:
Great teacher
Whitney is an experienced, skilled, and capable entrepreneur. She is also very charismatic and friendly, which makes her lessons fun, empowering, and easy to follow.
It was interesting to hear more about Whitney’s perspective on work, life, and love. She is a very passionate and proactive person, talking openly about her fears, failures, and dreams and sharing secrets of the trade without hesitation.
Inspiring lessons
As I just mentioned, Whitney’s MasterClass is short but empowering.
The thing is, you can learn a lot about business, branding, and innovation from books and other online courses. But hearing about the emotional and creative side of it all from the perspective of a successful CEO is a completely different experience.
Whitney’s lessons are packed with honest advice and helpful tips that you won’t find in regular textbooks.
Concrete advice
Whitney’s advice is not just honest – it’s also very concrete. For instance, she talks about the specific ways you can identify your customers and find the white space for your project (an area where someone is overlooked and where business can thrive.)
Drawbacks of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass
I generally enjoyed the course, but I believe there are some things that could be improved.
Lack of in-depth knowledge
Even though Whitney openly shares secrets of the trade, her stories and advice do tend to get a bit abstract.
It’s great advice to focus on the problem you’re passionate about – in her case, it was women’s power in an online dating space – but what are you supposed to do next? How to gather a team of professionals, and how to find your first financial sources?
All of this is pretty basic, but beginners (like me) would probably find this information useful and valuable.
For example, it would be cool if the course included some in-depth case studies that show exactly how Whitney approached certain parts of her branding process.
On the other hand, the course is simply too short to include this. If Whitney’s class was made to encourage someone to start following their ambition fearlessly, then mission accomplished.
If you don’t dream it, you’ll never be able to do it. Dream the impossible, and then start doing those possible steps.
Review conclusion: Is Whitney Wolfe Herd’s MasterClass worth it?
If you want to take multiple courses or you’re already a MasterClass subscriber, taking Whitney Wolfe Herd’s course is definitely worth it. Since it lasts a little more than an hour, it may end up being too pricey otherwise.
Overall, the course was surprisingly insightful and impactful despite its short duration. Whitney is very open, charismatic, and engaging, and she is able to make a point in a quick and effective way.
I believe that anyone interested in starting a business would benefit a lot from this course. It won’t provide you with any college-like knowledge, though; it will teach you something more valuable instead.
There’s no formula for success, but if anyone came close to cracking it, it’s someone like Whitney Wolfe Herd.
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