Grindr’s former CFO talks about the right career risk at the right time

“I think taking some breaks is important,” says Krantz, who resigned as CFO this month but still works in an advisory role at Grindr. “I think I can show a lot of passion, and give people the feeling that I’m here to get this done for you, and that’s worked well for me.”

Her work ethic and presence have set Krantz’s path through some of the most transformative chapters of her career. Earlier in her career, at organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Merrill Lynch, and later Morgan Stanley And Credit Suisse, I learned how to deal with the intensity of the financial world in New York. “Those were fairly difficult environments,” she recalls. “He forced you to see if you could sink or swim.” The result was the confidence and rigor that would anchor the rest of Krantz’s career.

The turning point came when a senior executive at Thomson Financial seized a chance, appointing her as senior vice president just months before the company acquired Reuters. Later, another leader took an “incredible risk” when she chose Krantz to become CFO of Reuters Media. Experience taught her that opportunities often arise when a person is seen as competent and committed.

At Thomson Reuters, Krantz has spent a decade improving what she calls “academy-level finance,” learning what best-in-class looks like when finance is not a back-office function but a strategic driver. This foundation would prove invaluable when she joined BAMTech Media, the live streaming infrastructure startup she later acquired DisneyShe became the CFO of the newly formed Disney+.

She argues that this shift was driven more by instinct than by a calculated strategy. “It was a leap of faith,” Krantz says. She joined the fledgling Disney+ team, attracted by the people and promise of the project, and no success was guaranteed. She says everyone involved hoped this project would take off, but no one could have predicted how big it would become.

Krantz helped guide Disney+ through Sunday Most successful streaming launches In history. When Grindr came calling, it was a new challenge and an opportunity to apply its leadership expertise through transformation. As CFO, she helped create the LGBTQ+ social community Public platform in 2022positioning the company as a digital community rather than just a dating app.

However, she is the first to admit that not every jump lands cleanly. “When you take a leap of faith, it doesn’t always work out 100% of the time, and that wasn’t the case for me either,” she says. Krantz admits that in previous roles, her certainty was sometimes too strong. She would make her case forcefully, armed with data and conviction, but not always with tact. Over time, I realized that being right is not enough to win people over; Persuasion requires connection as much as proof.

“You have to realize when people need to feel comfortable first,” she says.

In recent years, a professional coach has helped Krantz hone that instinct. She jokes that her tolerance for discomfort is unusually high, and harsh reactions or harsh criticism rarely bother her the way it might others. But she has since inculcated the helpful feedback she received years ago when someone said to her: “Can you find a velvet glove instead of a boxing glove?”

“The velvet glove is an important tool in the toolbox that took me a little longer to realize how much I needed it, given my pain tolerance,” Krantz adds.

For Krantz, this combination of flexibility and empathy has become the hallmark of the new leadership.

Looking back at what first attracted her to Grindr, Krantz says the appeal was immediate and undeniable. “It has always been a dream of mine to become a CFO of a public company, and when this opportunity came, it was too good to be true,” she says. “When I saw their financial statements, I literally went to the guys and said, ‘Is there a typo here?’

She says Grindr’s financial performance — especially EBITDA margins of more than 40% — was rare in the industry. Krantz seized the opportunity, guiding Grindr through its public debut, where it has achieved 11 consecutive quarters of revenue growth exceeding 25%, while maintaining EBITDA margins above 40%, she says. Along the way, she refinanced the company’s debt, hosted its first investor day, and garnered analyst coverage.

Now, having achieved every milestone she set for herself, Krantz says she’s ready to take on the next big challenge.

“I feel like we’re on this wave of something very big and new,” she says. “It’s impossible not to be excited about it and I feel like if I don’t join it, I might regret it.”

That wave, of course, is artificial intelligence. “I’m not even saying that I would be lucky enough to have the opportunity to work in this field,” she says. “I’m just saying I’ll give it a try.”