Whitney Wolfe Herd

In our digital age, the Golden Rule is not enforced online.

Although it is tempting to describe the conduct of Tinder's senior executives as 'frat-like,' it was, in fact, much worse - representing the worst of the misogynist, alpha-male stereotype too often associated with technology startups.

After graduating in International Relations in 2011, I turned down safe, corporate job offers and instead accepted a position at an 'incubator' in L.A. - a tech word for a team of people who are funded by investors to create apps. I knew the future was digital and that I had to take a risk.

I truly believe that what we're seeing with online dating is very similar to what happened with the Myspace-Facebook era, where Myspace was once this place for online connecting for a very select group of young people. And then Facebook kind of hit at this moment where it was acceptable for everybody to do it.

Online, I would never friend a random cute guy on Facebook or start liking his pictures on Instagram - even if I had a crush on him. But with Tinder, it's like following or friending each other at the same time. The risk of revealing your feelings is removed.

Usually, it's men who run these big monster companies, and girl companies are usually much smaller - it's like an unwritten tech-industry stigma.

We have all been there: we see that gorgeous person across the room, and we want to go and speak to them so badly. However, the 'rules' of society mean we usually don't end up doing it, despite our friends' best efforts to convince us to. Time for a change. Be empowered and say hi! It's proven that people really like it when you take initiative.

I was always extremely creative. I was very artistic and never strong with numbers or science. I wanted to be an artist or a fashion designer. I wanted to be something that allowed for a lot of imagination.

Now, women are expected to be equal to men in so many capacities - financially, career-wise, in education - yet the one disconnect was, and is, with relationships.

Every point in your career is a learning lesson - I learned a lot about how much work is required to grow a user base and create a new product. I also learned that things take time and extreme hard work and passion.

If you're in a job that you hate, don't be scared of seeking out something that might be riskier. Anything can turn into something with passion and hard work.

Sometimes it's good to remember who you are outside of work.