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🍋 TikTok is Boomin'

🍋 TikTok is Boomin'

TikTok is expected to generate over $10 billion in ad revenue this year, which would eclipse Twitter and Snapchat. ikTok might not rake in as much money as Meta or Google yet, but the company is still rapidly growing and showing resilience in an economic slowdown.

November 15, 2022

Together With

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” ― Jeff Bezos

Good Morning! Bezos announced he’ll give most of his $124 billion fortune away to charity. Meanwhile Amazon announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs in the largest-ever layoffs for the e-commerce giant, starting as soon as this week.

U.S. regulators want to investigate FTX, but some argue the Bahamas isn’t in their jurisdiction. The Tyson CFO apologized yesterday for his drunken arrest. And Elon Musk complained that he has too much work on his plate after buying Twitter. Musk says he's working around-the-clock, but his investors didn't like to hear that.

Want to be the most interesting person in the room? Check out Daily Valet, your guide to what’s being talked about - distilling news, fun facts, new gear and motivation all in one quick read.

1. Story of the Day: TikTok is Boomin'

Tech companies have lost a lot of money in 2022. But TikTok may have cracked the code. The platform is expected to generate over $10 billion in ad revenue this year, which would eclipse Twitter and Snapchat.

TikTok realized that the amount of time spent on an app is the name of the game for social media. The company can capture and hold users’ attention better than anyone else - the average TikTok user spends 96 minutes per day on the app!

Every minute a user spends on TikTok over Snapchat or Facebook equals more ad revenue TikTok snags from its competitors. TikTok might not rake in as much money as Meta or Google yet, but the company is still rapidly growing and showing resilience in an economic slowdown.

Companies are flocking to TikTok as they try and advertise their products. The hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has almost 30 billion views. Companies like Nerf now have a Chief TikTok Officer, and some business executives at other companies comment on as many videos as possible to drive engagement.

Takeaway: TikTok has had an incredible run since the pandemic - one technology analyst said the company is ‘eating the world.’ While TikTok’s ad business is rapidly growing, some companies say they take TikTok data with a ‘grain of salt’. TikTok has a rapidly growing Internet foothold, but some still have concerns over the company’s privacy policies and bot traffic.

2. Markets Rundown

If you want access to Wall Street insider interviews, industry deep-dives, and investment ideas, check out our Insiders newsletter.

Stocks closed lower as investors make sense the Fed's policy path.

Movers & Shakers

(+) Peloton ($PTON) +6% after the company lost less money than expected.
(+) Moderna ($MRNA) +5% because its new Covid booster works against variants.
(–) Robinhood ($HOOD) -9% after concerns SBF could sell his 7% stake in the company.

Private Dealmaking

MBX Biosciences, a developer of endocrine disease therapeutics, raised $115 million
Amagi, a media tech startup, raised $109 million
Maven Clinic, a telehealth platform for women’s health, raised $90 million
Island, an enterprise browser manufacturer, raised $60 million
Vow, a cultivated meat company, raised $49 million
Estee Lauder will buy Tom Ford for $2.8 billion

A Message from Daily Valet: Get Ready to Be More Interesting

There’s a Lot Going On.

Just like with the Short Squeez, you want to skip the BS and focus on what matters the most, right?

The Daily Valet does just that. It distills the news you need to know in order to start your day.

Let’s face it, it can be difficult to know what deserves your attention with so much going on these days. This newsletter curates dozens of sources into a quick and entertaining read.

It’s not just the latest headlines. There are also fun facts, new gear and some motivation.

It’s your guide to what’s being talked about. So you can always be the most interesting person in the room.

Give it a try for free today

4. Book of the Day: The Gift of Influence

Researchers estimate that the average person will influence up to eighty thousand people over the course of their lifetime—or 2.8 people daily.

In this compelling and deeply personal book, Spaulding explores how we can be more mindful and effective in wielding the influence that each of us has over others—in our careers, our everyday interactions, and the relationships we cultivate throughout our lives.

*****

Interested but don't have time to read?

Shortform has the world's best guides to 1,000+ non-fiction books. Learn key points, gain insights and understand the world's best ideas. Short Squeez users get a 5-day free trial and 20% off on an annual subscription. Start getting smarter today.

What Else To Read

For years on the show We Study Billionaires, The Investor’s Podcast Network has made a habit of chatting with the world’s best investors, like Ray Dalio, Joel Greenblatt, Howard Marks, and many more. With 100+ million downloads, they make podcasts by investors, for investors.

Now, they’re joining the newsletter space. Read The Investor’s Podcast Network’s full daily commentary and expert insights in the We Study Markets newsletter.

Click here to sign up (for free) today.

5. Daily Visual: Wakanda Forever's Big Opening Weekend

Films with the biggest opening weekends at the domestic box office 2022

Source: Axios

6. Daily Acumen: Expectations Gap

"In 1907, author William Dawson wrote about how the feeling of wealth is relative to what you’re accustomed to:

A man of education, accustomed to easy means, would suffer tortures unspeakable if he were made to live in a single room of a populous and squalid tenement, and had to subsist upon a wage at once niggardly and precarious. He would be tormented with that memory of happier things, which we are told is a ‘sorrow’s crown of sorrow.’

But the man who has known no other condition of life is unconscious of its misery. He has no standard of comparison. An environment which would drive a man of refinement to thoughts of suicide, does not produce so much as dissatisfaction in him. Hence there is far more happiness among the poor than we imagine.

To drive home his point: Dawson was himself an educated man, fairly successful and accustomed to easy means by the standard of his day. But Dawson, who died in 1928, spent most of his life without electricity or air conditioning. He never had antibiotics, Advil, or a Polio vaccine. He never experienced reasonably accurate weather forecasts, or an interstate highway.

An average American today sent back in time to experience Dawson’s life would suffer the same “tortures unspeakable” he wrote about.

But he didn’t have modern times to compare his life to, so it felt luxurious to him.

Everything good in life is just the gap between expectations and reality."

Source: Collab Fund

7. Crypto Corner

The week the crypto dream died
FTX sits in crosshairs of U.S. regulators
Sam Bankman-Fried’s money pit
What to expect as FTX heads to bankruptcy court
FTX’s balance sheet was bad
FTX’s bust comes with two silver linings

8. Job Board

PayPal - Finance Transformation Manager - New York, NY
Facet Wealth - Sr. Financial Planner - Remote (EST/CST)
Mastercard - Lead Technical Program Manager, Builders Enablement, Architecture & Technology - New York, NY
MUFG - Vice President Project Finance Investment Banking - New York, NY
Citi - Senior Executive Assistant - USPB Analytics - New York, NY
Ripple - Staff Software Engineer, Crypto Trading Infrastructure - New York, NY