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Irish Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol: The pursuit of pleasure in Paris
I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself Author : Glynnis MacNicol ISBN-13 : 978-1785123627 Publisher : Leap Guideline Price : £10.99 Glynnis MacNicol is far from the only person who spent the pandemic in complete isolation, but her experience – 16 months alone in a tiny Manhattan apartment as a 46-year-old single woman without children – was especially punishing. When she is offered the chance to sublet a friend's apartment in Paris, she books a flight right away and announces on her arrival that she has 'moved into an abundance mindset'. In France, she swiftly begins hooking up with men she matches with on a dating app called Fruitz , having felt starved of touch for too long. Subtitled 'One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris', this somewhat self-indulgent memoir of a liberated middle-aged woman's adventures might appeal to lots of readers, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. In fact, I would have preferred a nice cup of tea over reading about MacNicol's ceaseless need for self-gratification. Her unapologetic self-possession is impressive, her confidence admirable. And yes, women who embrace this kind of sexual agency are often unfairly judged, especially compared to men. Irrespective of that caveat, her choices appear risky, reckless, wildly trusting and self-indulgent – even without factoring in a global pandemic. There are jarring tonal shifts throughout. In one chapter, MacNicol recounts a rough night out when she abandoned her friends and got lost in the Bois de Boulogne. Her sulky narration – 'I don't want to stay. I don't want to have a bad night. I don't want to not have fun. And I don't have to not have fun. So I leave. And now how to get myself out of the forest' – is oddly affecting. Just as the tension begins to build, she veers wildly off course: 'It's shocking to understand how recent the notion of time travel is.' The digression breaks the spell entirely. Elsewhere, she comes off as overly enamoured of herself. 'In every pool I swim, my stroke is remarked upon, my sharp flip turns marvelled at,' she writes. On seeing an old video of herself: 'I watch it again and again and stare at my own beauty, which leaps off the screen at me … My jawline, my eyes, my hair. I find myself coveting myself.' Moments like these come across less as reflections on ageing or self-acceptance and more as unchecked self-regard. Even the back cover blurb leans into overstatement: likening MacNicol to Nora Ephron and Deborah Levy, the former a comedic genius, the latter a razor-sharp chronicler of interior lives, is quite a stretch. This book seems written primarily for the author's pleasure and occasionally forgets that the reader is also there.
UPI
25-06-2025
- Business
- UPI
Dating app company Bumble cuts 30% of workforce in turnaround bid
Whitney Wolfe Herd arrives on the red carpet at the 2019 Time 100 Gala at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019, in New York City. Earlier this year, she returned as CEO of Bumble. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 25 (UPI) -- Bumble, the company that produces the online dating app designed to empower women, on Wednesday announced it is laying off 30% of its staff in a bid to reverse financial problems. The company, which is based in Austin, Texas, announced the reduction of 240 positions at a saving of $40 million, with reinvestment of most of that money into product and technology development as it "realigns its operating structure to optimize execution on its strategic priorities," according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Bumble said it will incur $13 million to $18 million of nonrecurring charges, mainly related to severance, benefits and associated costs for affected employees in the third and fourth quarters of 2025. Bumble, which also runs Official, Badoo, Fruitz and other dating apps, announced it is increasing its second-quarter revenue forecast to $244 million to $249 million, up from the previously forecast $235 million to $243 million. In 2024, Bumble had revenue of $1.07 billion with a $557 million net loss. Bumb's stock price closed up 25.14% to $1.31 on NASDAQ. The stock had a high this year of $8.64 on Feb. 4. Its public offering was $76 per share in 2021. In February 2024, the company also cut 30% of its workforce. At the start of the year, Bumble announced that founder Whitney Wolfe Herd was returning as CEO in March after stepping down from the role in 2023 though she remained on the board of directors. She co-founded Bumble in 2014 and helped create another app, Tinder, in 2012 and left two years later. She filed sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits against Tinder, which later were settled. Match, which owns Tinder and Hinge, also has been struggling. In May, Match said it was laying off 13% of its staff to reduce costs and streamline its organizational structure in a struggle to attract and retain users, including young ones. Wolfe Herd said online dating is at an "inflection point." "The reality is, we need to take decisive action to restructure to build a company that's resilient, intentional and ready for the next decade," she wrote in an email to Bumble employees. It was a much different situation one year ago. Bumble was the most downloaded dating application in the United States with 735,000 downloads. "Bumble is designed to help you feel empowered while you make those connections, whether you're dating, looking for, according to Bumble's website. "On Bumble, women set the tone by making the first move or by setting an Opening Move for matches to reply to. Shifting old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging equality from the start." Like with other dating apps, potential matches are displayed to users, who can "swipe left" to reject a candidate or "swipe right" to indicate interest. In February 2022, Bumble announced it had acquired Fruitz, a French-owned freemium dating app popular with Gen Z and used across Europe.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bumble forecasts first-quarter revenue below estimates on sluggish user growth
(This Feb. 18 story has been corrected to fix the spelling of 'transpire,' in paragraph 8, and 'picker,' in paragraph 4) By Kritika Lamba (Reuters) - Bumble forecast its first-quarter revenue below analysts' estimate on Tuesday, signaling that the dating app operator's efforts to boost growth are taking longer than expected, sending its shares down 16% in extended trading. Online dating apps have been grappling with declining user engagement and customer spending on their platforms amid a lack of new features and pressures from still-high inflation. Bumble, however, is increasingly investing in marketing initiatives and generative AI-driven features to attract more young users. The company will include features such as ID-verification and AI-photo picker in its upcoming winter release, as it aims to increase safety for its users, CEO Lidiane Jones said on the post-earnings call. Bumble said it expects to see a temporary decline in paying users by 100,000 to 120,000 in the near term, as it is in the early stages of this process. As part of its monetization strategy, the company also said it would discontinue its smaller dating platforms, Fruitz and Official. Bumble is finding it difficult to maintain the multi-app strategy — unlike Match, which is benefiting from its portfolio — and is further struggling to manage in a matured dating market, said Jamie Lumley, fundamental analyst at Carbon Arc. "One area Bumble has talked about that is yet to transpire as a revenue opportunity is (the) friends and community feature, but that is yet to materialize," he added. "But could potentially change the game for Bumble." Bumble's total average revenue per paying user decreased to $20.58, compared with $22.64 a year ago. Total paying users for the Bumble app were at 2.8 million, down by 57,000 from the third quarter. Earlier this month, the company's bigger rival Match Group, which offers dating app services such as Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, also forecast its first-quarter revenue below estimates. Bumble expects its first-quarter revenue to be between $242 million and $248 million, below analysts' average estimate of $256.9 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. The Austin, Texas-based company's fourth-quarter revenue fell 4.4% to $261.6 million. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
19-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Bumble shares slide after weak forecast signals slow dating app turnaround
Feb 19 (Reuters) - Bumble's (BMBL.O), opens new tab shares fell 16% on Wednesday after the dating app operator forecast first-quarter revenue below market estimates, as it continues to grapple with a slowdown in the growth of paying users. Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company have slumped about 40% over the past 12 months. Bumble recently announced executive changes including the return of its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd as its chief executive in March. Over the past year, the company has cut jobs, refreshed its Bumble app and expanded its signature "make the first move" feature to include " opening moves" that allow women to set a question that their potential matches can respond to for better conversations. "There's clearly more work to be done on the turnaround and we see visibility limited as management did not provide full-year guidance for the first time," Citi analyst Ygal Arounian said. The company is set to lose more than $142 million in market value, if premarket losses hold. As of last close, Bumble's valuation stood at $876.3 million compared with Tinder-parent Match Group's $8.85 billion. Bumble said it would discontinue its Fruitz and Official dating apps by the first half of this year. "As we prioritize the execution of the important work we're undertaking to reposition Bumble App, we have taken a hard look at how we're allocating our resources across our portfolio," said departing CEO Lidiane Jones. At least six brokerages cut their price target on Bumble after its latest earnings report. Bumble currently trades at 9.98 times the estimates of its earnings for the next 12 months, compared with 16.51 times for bigger rival Match Group (MTCH.O), opens new tab.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bumble shares slide after weak forecast signals slow dating app turnaround
(Reuters) - Bumble's shares fell 16% on Wednesday after the dating app operator forecast first-quarter revenue below market estimates, as it continues to grapple with a slowdown in the growth of paying users. Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company have slumped about 40% over the past 12 months. Bumble recently announced executive changes including the return of its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd as its chief executive in March. Over the past year, the company has cut jobs, refreshed its Bumble app and expanded its signature "make the first move" feature to include "opening moves" that allow women to set a question that their potential matches can respond to for better conversations. "There's clearly more work to be done on the turnaround and we see visibility limited as management did not provide full-year guidance for the first time," Citi analyst Ygal Arounian said. The company is set to lose more than $142 million in market value, if premarket losses hold. As of last close, Bumble's valuation stood at $876.3 million compared with Tinder-parent Match Group's $8.85 billion. Bumble said it would discontinue its Fruitz and Official dating apps by the first half of this year. "As we prioritize the execution of the important work we're undertaking to reposition Bumble App, we have taken a hard look at how we're allocating our resources across our portfolio," said departing CEO Lidiane Jones. At least six brokerages cut their price target on Bumble after its latest earnings report. Bumble currently trades at 9.98 times the estimates of its earnings for the next 12 months, compared with 16.51 times for bigger rival Match Group.
