The Best One Yet - 🐐 “37 best sneaker listicles ever” — BuzzFeed’s SPAC. Goat’s $3.7B fundraise. 6 Big Tech bills.

Episode Date: June 25, 2021

After 15 years, BuzzFeed is going public because it’s the Charles Darwin of media. Sneakerhead marketplace Goat hit a $3.7B valuation since sneakers are the ultimate selfie collectible. And the House is about to look at not 1, not 2, but 6 bills to mess with Big Tech (spoiler: They’ve got bipartisan support).$ENFA $AMZN $GOOG $FB $MSFTGot a SnackFact? Tweet it @RobinhoodSnacks @JackKramer @NickOfNewYorkWant a shoutout on the pod? Fill out this form:https://forms.gle/KhUAo31xmkSdeynD9Got a SnackFact for the pod? We got a form for that too:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe64VKtvMNDPGSncHDRF07W34cPMDO3N8Y4DpmNP_kweC58tw/viewformLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. And this is Snacks Daily. It is Friday, the real Friday, June 25th. Stocks jumped to a record high yesterday on four words from President Biden. We've got a deal. Sounds like a game show. Details of the bipartisan infrastructure deal are not final, but there's cooperation.

Jack, completely unrelated to that news. Today's pod's the best one yet? I second that motion. For our first story, here's 42 reasons why BuzzFeed is going public. We found one and a half billion reasons why more on that soon. Second story, Goat is the sneaker marketplace for sneaker heads just hit a $3.7 billion valuation.

Here's the thing. Amazon offers every shoe on earth, but hell. For our third and final story, the government just whipped out not one. No. Not two. Not three. Trace. But six bills to beat down Big Tech.

And he can pass. It all comes down to three takeaways. We're whipping them up in a bit. Before we hit those three wonderful stories now. Fantastic, Mick's said AJ. Are you single? Have you ever been single? You feel this on a first date.

Did you ever say to yourself, I wish my head was shaped like a dolphin so I could test if the person actually liked me for my personality because my head is shaped like a dolphin? Age old first date scenario. We've all been there, Jack. Now, the answer is probably no for most humans, but the answer is definitely yes for the executive team at Netflix. Jack and I noticed the newest Netflix show coming out has a trailer so strange. First of all, it deserves an Emmy. Second of all, we have to tweet this out ASAP, Jack. This new Netflix show is called Sexy Beasts.

Sexy Beasts. And honestly, it sounds simple. This show, Sexy Beasts. You film two people on their first date. But there's a cat. You dress up one person as a beast. And you dress up the other person also as a beast. Or maybe as an alien.

Maybe as a dolphin. Maybe as a cricket. Person A is trying out order a Nogroni and just get to know Person B. Person B though was transformed into a creature from Tatooine. You can't see that. the other person's face because both are obscured by fur and wigs and hilarious prosthetics. Honestly, it's kind of like The Bachelor, but if The Bachelor was run by the makeup artist from Lord of the Rings.

Okay, these makeup artists had an unlimited budget to transform these people. And this isn't just a Netflix show. Jack and I are thinking this is the ultimate memeification of TV. Every scene's a meme, especially the woman dressed as a dolphin. Because every frame is a meme, especially that dolphin woman. Snackers, to make something. got truly viral. You got to make every strand of its DNA viral. Let's hit our three stories. Yeah, I'm going to do that I'm going to do. You're tuned in the snacks daily. We spoke to the lawyers and we got to get something legal out the way.

The snacks about to hear ain't food. It's air candy. They don't reflect the views of the robberhood family. It's all informational just so. You know, we're not recommending any securities. It's not a research report or investment advice. Not an offer or sale of a security. Right. Snacks is digestible. Business news for you. Financial LLC. Member Fenbara slash SIPC. For our first story, BuzzFeed is obsessed with going public in a one and a half billion dollars spack. BuzzFeed's going public.

After 15 years, BuzzFeed has a new plan to pioneer media again. Jack, you know how they figured out they should go public, right? No. They clicked on this link that said, Finish this quiz and will tell you which company to be spacked by. It would be very BuzzFeedy of them. This company was founded by Jonah Paredi, And it was actually his side hustle while working at the Huffington Post.

This podcast started as a side hustle first too. But going back to 2014, Jonah and the BuzzFeed team, they tried to sell themselves to Disney for a billion dollars. They got rejected. Yeah, they did. And then in 2016, things were still going well. They reached $1.7 billion valuation. And BuzzFeed News started breaking news.

BuzzFeed News. They actually got a Pulitzer over there. Hopefully now they're going to go public at a $1.5 billion valuation. Okay, the valuation was low. Then it went up. Now it's down a bit, but they're spacking with a company called 895th Avenue. Which you may recognize because that also happens to be the headquarters of the Marvel Superheroes Avengers characters. Right. It's like Stark Towers's address. I guess this guy's a Marvel fan.

It's totally fair. Now, BuzzFeed, Nick and I are thinking, is like the Chuck Darwin of media. Charlie Darwin. That's who BuzzFeed is. They're constantly adapting in a tough world of online ad space. Early on, BuzzFeed pioneered the Listical, which is the viral post just begging for your click of your mouse. Yeah, got to love the Listical. Jack, can you like whip up a classic one for us over there? 33 furry toys, you'll definitely recognize if you were born before 1996.

I mean, Jack, I went a little bit lower, clicked a little bit more. Which mean girls character are you? Wrong answers only. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, or Miranda. Always, Samantha. Always. Now, BuzzFeed then went on to Pioneer. near the native advertisement.

Now, this part is key because the native ad is where BuzzFeed hit that $1.7 billion evaluation. Yes, this is when a brand writes an article, but they posted on BuzzFeed and tried to disguise it as any old BuzzFeed article. I mean, case and point, Jack, you got your 37 things you wouldn't do with a Snickers bar in Paris. Now, sounds like a typical listicle, except for that conspicuous brand in the middle there. Turns out that's a paid ad by Snickers bar.

I don't know, Jack. I'm pretty curious. I love Paris. And what wouldn't you do with the Snickers bar in Paris? BuzzFeed is still at it. Just this month, Nick and I notice they're pioneering another thing that we're calling crowdsourced virality. I mean, this is basically like Evolution 3.0, Jack.

They got a new limb growing right now. BuzzFeed is offering like the cleverest creators on the internet a cut of ad revenue if they post their viral meme content on BuzzFeed instead of on like social media. So it's another way for BuzzFeed to make money. Instead of a big influencer putting their stuff on social media, instead they're saying, hey, put it right here on BuzzFeed. We're going to sell some ads. We'll give you 50% of those ads.

So why is BuzzFeed constantly evolving, like some kind of 500 million-year-old reptile? Because there's three volcanoes intruding into BuzzFeed's habitat, and those volcanoes are Facebook, Google, and Amazon, eaten up all the online advertising revenue that BuzzFeed needs to survive. So BuzzFeed is literally in a survival of the, the fittest situation, and it is constantly evolving to get more fit for media. And it's running out of space to live because Facebook, Google, and Amazon in 2020, they took home 90% of all digital ads in the U.S.

That is an insane and terrifying number. Let that sink in. Big Tech took 90% of all digital ad revenues. That adversity helps explain why BuzzFeed's private stock has fallen over the last five years. I mean, perfect timing, Jack. So what's the takeaway for our buddies over at BuzzFeed? BuzzFeed is evolving again. To take on big tech, it's creating big media.

Snackers, the other BuzzFeed announcement yesterday, Jack and I found interesting, they're also acquiring a media company called Complex for $300 million. And this is just the beginning. They're trying to roll up all these other media icons that they're competing against today, and they're all struggling, into one mighty force. So BuzzFeed is basically John Snow of media, rallying the disunited tribes north of the wall to battle, out of the wall. So Mark Zuckerberg is basically the night king. We didn't say that, but the analogy

said that. As a publicly traded company, which BuzzFeed is about to become, it'll have access to cash, credibility, and the attention of other media companies. Then BuzzFeed can more easily acquire and merge and partner with other media companies and then combine all their content into big media. By rolling up all these media rivals into big media, it can take on the real enemy, which is big tech. Except there are about a hundred reasons why there is no guarantee this may actually work. For our second story, Goat is the sneakerhead of sneakerheads, and it just doubled its valuation to $3.7 billion. Amazon offers everything.

And that is exactly why Goat is bad. I'm messing with some people's heads right there, Jack. I feel like we should take a Socrates moment. Now, Snaggers, here's the thing. Some people, you know, they splurge on handbags. Other people, they splurge on cars. Some people use their garden to express themselves. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

You're totally welcome to. Others buy sneakers. Ideally, sneakers you've never seen before. I mean, Jack, are you picturing the Lakers color Nike Dunk Lowe's? Is that what's in your head? Not just the purple Nike Dunk Lowe is the ones with the upside down swoosh. Is that a thing? Nick, what is swoosh spelled backwards?

Oh, my God. Shoes. Emilio. Shoes. That was a big deal for me. So Nike is the Litterati? Illuminati. Aluminati.

Yes. And Snackers, that's where you get Goat, as in Goat and Fight Club and Alias. They're all part of this big $3.7 billion startup called Goat Group. It ain't just a startup. Goat is a sneaker marketplace that is sprinting. It is just raised $195 million of venture capital money to double its valuation to $3.7 billion. This company is worth a fifth of a lift, but they're still private. have an IPO. Basically because in the last year, sneaker sales on their platform doubled to a hefty

$2 billion in sales. They've got 30 million customers because sneakers are the ultimate selfie collectible. I mean, Jack, you can't walk out of your house and take photos with your stamp collection smacked on your face. It's not going to work. That'd be extremely late. Yeah, been there and it hurts. Now, Snackers, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about Goat. Because Goat, it fights Stock X and it fights eBay and all these other auction site companies. But Goat does both resale and direct sale of sneakers. That's right. Goat lets you sell your collectible shoes worn or unworn on Goat. And then they're going to verify that it's what you describe.

They're going to verify it's Gucci, as you say, not Fucci. They also sell directly from 350 partners like Nike A6 and Vance. And here is why that is actually a huge deal. It's a huge deal because limited sneakers are a lot like tickets to live events. Yes. bots are programmed to snag them up the moment they drop, and then they flip them later on for way more than the face value, way more than the retail price.

Streetwear sneakers are just like a John Bon Jovi concept. So instead of letting some fast, quick control make all the money, Brutal connects directly to the shoemakers and sells them for them. That way, Nike's getting the profit by selling its 1986 Air Force ones because Nike actually made those shoes and it's selling them on goat. Todd's not making the profits just because Todd knows how to coach. Come on, Todd. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at go?

To beat Amazon in e-commerce, don't go wide. Go deep. Go deep. Snackers, if you talk to venture capitalists right now, they aren't investing in e-commerce companies that are saying, hey, go to our pitch deck page six. We're trying to be the next Amazon and here's why. Must be nice. Talking to venture capitalists.

Well, a sec, Jack, I'm getting a phone call. Just another venture capitalist. Apparently, somebody wants preferred shares of Nick. No, I can talk right now. It's fine. We're just recording a pod. Amazon, Walmart, they are too big to be. They're selling everything from TVs to salad bowls to trampolines to T-Woos.

Tea-Woos, you know, that thing I won't use. So Goat isn't interested in wide, comprehensive product range to try to compete with Amazon and Walmart. No, it thinks it can win instead on deep curation. That is why the CEO loves to say, we at Goat, we have a point of view on fashion, culture, and style. Jack, you know who doesn't have a point of view on fashion, culture, and style? I think I do. Jeff, Jeff Bezos. Yeah.

And that point of view for goat is streetwear and sneaker culture. So here's the thing, Snackers. I can find everything on Amazon, but I can't find anything when I'm actually on Amazon. You can't find everything on Goat, but you know you'll find that one perfect thing you're looking for on Goat. For our third and final story before the weekend, Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing.

Big Tech is too big. It's like everyone agreeing. Bruno Mars is great. Voice of our generation, feet that can dance forever. And since Republicans and Democrats agree big tech is too big, a House committee just moved forward on six bills to limit the power of big tech companies in America. Yeah, basically, junior senators and representatives from blank pretty much everywhere, have bashed big tech for pretty much forever.

This week, they actually did something. Six bills have passed the House antitrust committee on Wednesday and Thursday. Now, Jack and I jumped in snack style on Thursday night. We saw these six bills. bills broke them down into three key things. All right. First, the bills say that you may not engage in favoritism. If you're at big tech company, no favoritism anymore. It bans big platforms from favoring their own products or services.

Like Apple, they can't favor their own iPhone apps over their competitors in your iPhone. Or Amazon can't favor Amazon basics when you search for plates on Amazon. Or Google can't favor its own reviews over the reviews you would get from Yelp, for instance. Because favoritism is unfair to everyone else who has to compete. on the platform if the platform is pushing their own children profit levels. Okay. The number two key in these bills is data portability. Data portability would let you delete Facebook and start up social media on another app very easily. So data portability will let you export your whole Facebook profile and all the data and all your friends list and all the photos

of your buddy, Jimmy into a nice file. And then you upload that file to Face Magazine, a startup app trying to compete with Facebook. So data portability could give other startups a chance in the social media game. Instead of having to start scratch against the Facebook empire. Now, number three, the third key in these six bills is to give anti-monopoly enforcers a big fat wallet and a big fat sword. These bills would give more money to the FDC, the Justice Department, and state attorneys general to review acquisition mergers before deciding whether to approve or block them.

So, Jack, let's say Facebook just made Snapchat an offer it couldn't refuse. Well, now the government would have more money and power to potentially stop Facebook acquiring Snapchat. Because like an antitrust SWAT team is going to show up, jacked up on Myaplex and stormed Zuck's office. Yeah, that's basically what would happen. Instead of letting the acquisition happen like they did with Facebook acquiring Instagram in 2012. Now, funny thing Jack and I noticed out of all these six bills. They only applied to big tech. That's right.

These big tech regulations, they define big tech as $600 billion in market cap and having 50 million users. Ifso facto, these six bills only apply to five companies. Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. Which means our buddies over at Pinterest having a pretty fun weekend. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in big tech? Nick, the goal of these bills isn't to help us, the consumers, directly. No, it's not.

First and foremost, they want to help startups and small businesses. Snackers, from those five big tech jobs. We get free Gmail, free Instagram, and a bunch of other free techy daily stuff. But at the same time, we as consumers, we suffer from lack of options in the digital space. Big tech is so dominant, it's scary and basically almost impossible for competitors to crack into their markets. There's been like one company in the past 10 years that's tried to compete against Gmail. So these new rules, they could make the next version of Gmail less convenient for us. But that would also open the door potentially to help the next Gmail or the next

Google start up and gain some traction. Now, there's no guarantee of these six bills passing, but there is one thing that they have in common in the house. Bipartisan support, which is very rare. And if they do pass, it'll help startups and small business. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us before the weekend? I'm going to miss the pod this weekend. BuzzFeed is finally going public with a $1.5 billion spec acquisition.

BuzzFeed is evolving again, Darwin style to become a big media creature. Goat is a private sneaker company worth $3.7 billion. To beat Amazon, they're going deep. They're not going wide. Or our third and final story, six antitrust bills are headed to the House floor after passing through committee. And their goal is to get big tech some competition so that we all get a little more choice. Now, time for our snack fact of the day. This one, though, it's actually correction, not a snack fact.

Ouch. Yeah. Laura Yan pointed it out. We said yesterday that Microsoft's stuff. stock value, which is $2 trillion, the market cap. That is equal to 92% of all German publicly traded stock. I mean, when you hear that, you got to sit down, stand up and sit back down again. Like BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens, everything. Funny the last risk here, we didn't convert the euros to U.S. dollars and vice versa. Yeah. It's not $2.1 trillion. It's $2.1 trillion

euros for Germany. So it's actually 77%. Microsoft's $2 trillion valuation is equal to $7,000. 77% of Germany's stock. Which is probably more than like 90% of countries in the world, which probably is going to need to be corrected on the next pot. Snackers, you look fantastic today. Jack, I'm going to miss his weekend. Are you going to wear the same sweater? What are you going to do?

What are we doing? I'm actually wearing hats all weekend. I'm going baseball caps all weekend. It's also, it's very hot on the East Coast right now. It would be absurd if you're wearing that sweater stuff. But I know what you're updating your Twitter page too. What's that? Man who discovered what swooshes backwards.

Swish back. phonetically, his shoes. Snackers, we're tweeting out that Netflix video at Jack Kramer at Nick of New York. You got to see this thing to believe it. We'll see on Monday. And before we go, congrats to the Boublee Bay Boys in the Air Force who just completed field training at Can't Shelby and our Snackers. Congrats to Kyler and Alex who are getting married in Oregon. And Matt and Justine also getting married over in Denver.

Jack and Maggie just enjoyed an epic engagement in Darien, Connecticut. Meanwhile, happy birthday to Ariel Meeney down in Montego Bay, Jamaica. And happy birthday to Alex Agile B in Great Union City, Tennessee. And Brandon Jacobs over in Seattle. And Michael Lorich in New York City. And Maris-Saving in the Bloomfield Hills up Michigan. And Gretchen Cotech in McComb, Michigan. And Kelsey, turn in 30 over in St. Paul, Minnesota.

You're going to love it. Happy birthday to Ross Thompson in Birmingham, Alabama. And Tena in San Diego. And Gabby Lubin in Chicago. And Rebecca, living her best life on the Upper East Side. Happy anniversary to Chris and Annie in Brooklyn, who's got a Shiba Innu named Luna. Interesting. And Amanda and Trey Cox, congrats on the 10-year down in Charlotte.

Happy first home to Josh and Chivani.