The last time when Hinge founder used his own dating app, and how it helped him marry his wife

Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod hasn't used his own dating app as a user in over a decade, but his last experience on the platform led to one of the most dramatic love stories in Silicon Valley history.

McLeod revealed during a recent interview on The Verge's Decoder podcast that he last used Hinge more than ten years ago, before the app became one of America's biggest dating platforms. What happened next reads like a Netflix romantic comedy, which it literally became, inspiring an episode of the streaming service's "Modern Love" series.

The story begins with heartbreak. McLeod tried to win back his college girlfriend after Harvard Business School, but she rejected him. That rejection sparked the creation of Hinge in 2011. "I started Hinge in response to that," McLeod told The Verge's Nilay Patel.

A flight to Switzerland changed everything

But the plot twist came years later. Someone McLeod met on his own app inspired him to make one final attempt at love. His college ex was living in Switzerland, about to marry someone else. With just one month before her wedding, McLeod flew overseas to make his case.

"She called off her wedding and moved back to New York," McLeod said, describing the moment that would reshape both his personal life and his company's philosophy.

The dramatic reunion led to Hinge's complete reboot in 2015, when McLeod fired half his staff and rebuilt the app around its now-famous tagline: "designed to be deleted." The couple has been together for the past decade, married with children.

This personal transformation directly influenced Hinge's business model, which prioritizes getting users off the app and onto real dates, rather than maximizing screen time like other social platforms. McLeod's romantic journey became the foundation for a dating app philosophy that puts human connection over digital engagement.