Good morning. It's Thursday, Feb. 12, and welcome to this week's Business & Finance newsletter. This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we're covering both the dating app industry and the Wedding Industrial Complex. Plus, in light of Peloton shares plunging to their lowest point since 2021 last week, we wrote about the fitness tech company's rise and fall.
As always, thanks for being a reader!
—Phoebe Bain, 1440 Business & Finance Section Editor
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The business of dating apps
From Bumble to Hinge, the dating app industry is made up of mobile phone-based applications that use algorithms to match users with romantic prospects. While it generated roughly $6B globally in consumer revenue in 2024, its financial impacts pale in comparison to its social ones. Dating sites and apps have become a hallmark of modern romance: 53% of US adults under 30 have admitted to using them.
Dating apps evolved from online dating websites, such as Match.com, which launched in 1995 and has since evolved into the dating app parent company Match Group. It now controls roughly 65% of the US market by revenue share with its ownership of industry powerhouses such as Tinder and Hinge. Today, some estimates claim half of all online relationships began on a Match Group platform.
In recent years, dating app business models have become increasingly dependent on "freemium" subscription models. Parts of these platforms are often free to use, but to get certain perks (such as seeing more potential matches per day), users must pay a subscription fee.
Explore everything else we've found on Dating Apps.
Also, check out ...
> Bumble's origin story includes a Russian billionaire, a Tinder cofounder, and a private jet. (Listen)
> Computer scientists first started trying to optimize dating using computers in the 1950s. (Watch)
> How Tinder gamified dating. (Read)
> The paradox of dating app business models. (Read) |
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In partnership with Northwestern Mutual |
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Is It Healthy To Talk Money? |
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Your gut instinct is probably a firm “No!” because, well, that’s what we’ve always been taught. But the truth is, it’s not just healthy – financial discussions can actually improve your relationships. Open communication can help you understand each other’s values, goals, and attitudes toward money, all of which will help you build a base for your family’s financial future. The only question now is where (and when) to start?
While the right topics and questions to ask may be a bit tougher (although that link can help), the timing couldn’t be any easier – right now. Whether you and your partner are newly dating, married for years, or anywhere in between, it’s never too late to get on the same page and start achieving your shared financial goals.
Get started by learning how Northwestern Mutual plans differently. |
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What is Peloton?
Best known for selling stationary bikes that stream on-demand and live spin classes, Peloton is a fitness, tech, and media company founded in 2012. Since then, it has not only expanded beyond cycling, selling treadmills, rowing machines, and corresponding classes for both, but also surged in popularity, attracting a cultlike following of more than 5 million users.
Cofounder and former Barnes & Noble executive John Foley was inspired to start Peloton after he and his wife found themselves frequently skipping in-person spin classes due to busy schedules. Boutique cycling classes were booming at the time—SoulCycle hit $100M in revenue in 2014.
Despite a loyal early group of users, Peloton struggled to find early investors. Things picked up soon after its 2019 IPO, with 2020's pandemic-era lockdowns spurring Peloton's growth significantly: Sales grew roughly 172% between Q4 2019 and Q4 2020.
More recently, Peloton has struggled with profitability (partially due to many users returning to gyms post-pandemic), reporting net losses in 2025 amid significant executive turnover.
Explore everything else we've found on Peloton.
Also, check out ...
> The controversial "Peloton Wife" ad from 2019 cost the company more than $1B in market value. (Watch)
> Raising the price of a Peloton bike helped consumers believe the bikes were high-quality. (Read)
> How Peloton got moms hooked. (Read)
> Peloton pays artists more for music than most streaming platforms. (Read) |
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The wedding industrial complex, explained
The “wedding industrial complex” refers to the network of businesses capitalizing on society’s desire for picture-perfect weddings. Think: wedding-specific dress designers, venues, planners, bands and DJs, photographers, jewelers, and caterers—the list goes on.
Critics say businesses facilitating the wedding industrial complex—from upscale wedding styling services to social media consultants for brides—take advantage of and contribute to the pressure couples feel to have extravagant weddings. Others, however, have praised the wedding industry for creating jobs and small, often female-founded businesses, as well as for meeting consumer demand.
The term “wedding tax” is often used to refer to the extra money that many wedding industry suppliers, like caterers and florists, charge for goods and services specifically intended for a wedding rather than another type of event, like a corporate dinner or birthday party.
The US wedding industry is worth roughly $70B, and the average 2024 wedding totaled around $33K, up from $29K in 2023.
Explore everything else we've found on the Wedding Industrial Complex.
Also, check out ...
> The American middle class started imitating high-society weddings in an attempt to establish status around the 1920s. (Read)
> The rise of wedding styling services for "wedding weeks" has driven wedding costs up in recent years. (Listen)
> A wedding cost calculator. (Use)
> Average wedding costs by state, visualized. (View) |
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One Story We're Taking Stock In |
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In case you missed it, the cryptocurrency markets are having a tough winter: Bitcoin (which experienced an all-time high of $126,273 in October), for instance, fell 16% last week to $70,008.
While crypto markets are famously volatile, experts suggest that there was no "smoking gun" for this sharp decline. According to the below Wall Street Journal article (the most informative piece I read on the subject last week), a variety of forces could be to blame, from an uptick in crypto ETFs to Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick Kevin Warsh.
If you've read this far and are curious about crypto, we have good news for you: We're giving bitcoin the 1440 Business & Finance treatment in this newsletter next week—stay tuned. |
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> A new crypto winter is here and even the biggest bulls aren’t certain why. (Read) |
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In partnership with Northwestern Mutual |
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Financial Future Got You Frazzled? |
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Welcome to the club. Every day, countless people get overwhelmed at the thought of how to save, grow, and protect their money. And every day, Northwestern Mutual’s trusted financial advisors take the burden off their shoulders with custom-tailored financial plans to help them succeed.
If it sounds easy, that’s because it is. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions, and the fine folks at Northwestern Mutual will help you build the perfect plan for you. That means integrating strategies to grow and protect your money so your goals stay on track (and you can relax). Get matched with a financial advisor right now. |
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Please support our sponsors! |
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We curate hundreds of resources into 1440 Topics each week. Here are some of our favorites from the world of business and finance.
> The top cryptocurrencies, ranked by market cap.
> Americans' emergency fund balances have dropped recently—here's why.
> Are Costco's gold bars good investments?
> How reforms reducing postage rates helped popularize Valentine's Day cards.
> Jeff Bezos' most extravagant adventures—and how much they cost.
> The countries with the highest household debt, ranked.
> What causes economic bubbles?
> How the Nasdaq differs from the NYSE.
> Inside the investing strategies of family offices.
> Bitcoin, explained. |
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"To do what you love and feel like it matters—how could anything be more fun?" |
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