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What's new on Taking Inventory: Snap Mafia, Special Guests, and Marketing in the New Era

In partnership with

Snap Mafia, a new Taking Inventory series

Snapchat is a $20B company, does nearly $5B in annual revenue, has 414M daily active users (DAU), and is the biggest consumer app since Instagram.

Some of the brightest minds in tech helped Snap get to where it is, and now many of those people have left to go from employee to founder. Over 30 companies, founded by ex-Snapchatters, have raised a staggering $1B from venture capital. Here’s a list of some of the companies with $$ raised (thanks to Mehmet Karakus for putting this together).

Taking Inventory: Snap Mafia, is a new series where we highlight these stories. Join us every month as we release a special episode of Taking Inventory where we speak with former Snapchat employees who are building something new.

Our first two episodes are with some of Snap’s earliest employees: Dante DiCicco (Snap user #10) and Ellis Hamburger (the voice of Snap for 7 years). Hear their stories from the early days at Snap, how the company evolved, and what led to their new big ideas.

This month on the Taking Inventory podcast

Don’t miss these new episodes with James and Daniel, where they speak with industry leaders shaping the digital economy. This month’s guests included:

The state of the digital economy

Eric Seufert returns to the podcast to give his take on what’s happening across the digital economy. We cover everything you want to know, including questions like:

  • Is the open web being overly optimistic?

  • Are walled gardens poised to win?

  • What’s happening with EU’s attack on big tech?

  • Will TikTok get banned?

The business of audio and building a $2B ad business

Spotify generated $14B+ of revenue in 2023. Ads are a fast growing part of that business so we brought Per Sandell, VP of Product Management, on to discuss Spotify’s approach to ads and how how brands are using audio as a marketing channel. Per previously helped build Snap’s ad business ($5B yearly revenue), Nanigans ($1B+ revenue), and now Spotify ads ($2B+)

The Bitcoin Episode: Why it’s surging and how it’s going to change the world

If you’ve every had questions about Bitcoin then this is the episode for you. James and Daniel sit down with Fred Krueger, renowned Bitcoin analyst and someone who has years of experience in tech and on wall street, to chat about the recent rise in the price of Bitcoin. Fred explains why he's so bullish on Bitcoin, examples in history of what we're witnessing, and what the future holds.

Why online shopping is broken and the new Gen Z retail experience

Harry Dixon and Rory Garton-Smith are co-founders of Checkmate, the app that unlocks savings at over 50,000 online stores. Hear how they hustled their way to the top of the App Store, their realization that online shopping is broken and how to fix it, how Gen Z shops vs. everyone else, and what’s still in store for retail.

Watch Daniel discuss “Marketing in the New Era” at Identity Con 2024

Daniel joined Keith Petri, CEO of lockr, and Soren Larson, CEO of Crosshatch, to discuss how marketers are navigating the ever-evolving digital landscape. Below, Daniel explains how marketers have been adjusting their strategy and tactics to react to signal loss resulting from new consumer privacy regulations.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube.

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