I don’t even
think but that a post is due for this final week, but there are two things that
I have an inexorable need to do: (i) get some extra credit (wink, wink –
talking to you Jeremy), and (ii) rant about Snapchat. If you have taken the time to read any of my
previous blog posts, you might have noticed that I have neither any affinity for
nor understanding of the phenomenon known as Snapchat.
My
understanding of the Snapchat investor value proposition is that the platform
will be able to scale and penetrate an older user demographic – me. Yeah right.
It looks like that value proposition might prove to be untrue as the number of
daily active users in Q2 is down from the prior quarter. Ominous much? I think
so. The hype around Snapchat will never be higher and in order to realize the
potential underlying its value proposition, I would have thought that the
growth in new users would have continued to increase.
If the new
trend is augmented reality, this seems like old hat to a degree – didn’t Niantic
(on of Google/Alphabet’s “Other Bets”) capitalize on this over a year ago with Pokémon?
This doesn’t seem like any sustainable competitive advantage unique to
Snapchat. From my perspective, the only real barrier to entry is the switching
cost that Snapchat’s asinine interface imposes on its users. I’m not going to
lie, I can’t figure out how to use the app and don’t have the need (none of my
friends, colleagues, or family members on using the app) to attention to take
the time to figure it out.
I’m still
baffled that they keep pushing ad tech to appeal to a younger generation because
they have soooo much disposable income that isn’t devoted to Taco Bell (I do
love that taco head). I would have thought that this demographic would be at
risk to jump off the platform if they are bombarded by ads. To be fair, Snapchat does do some cool things
– who doesn’t like a dancing hot dog! They also had something Game of Thrones
related for the premier, but alas they couldn’t capitalize on this avid fan of
all things Westerosi as I’m on their platform. I even went so far as to open
the app on my phone but then got bored and didn’t set it up…I just don’t need
another platform. To put this in appropriate context, I lobbied incredibly hard
to keep my $400 replica of Long Claw hanging in my now three month old’s
nursery – and I mean incredibly hard. Now, if the allure
of looking like a White Walker isn’t enough for me, an ardent supporter of the
King in the North, to sign up for Snapchat I’m not sure how they are going to
penetrate into their older target demographic.
Oh and have
we talked about how great a leader Spiegel is? If you had any doubt, this
little excerpt from the article really sums it up:
At
one point in the quarterly conference call, Spiegel sounded impatient with one
of the questions from an analyst who asked about "growth hacking,"
which apps use to attract more visitors by sending notifications. The analyst
asked which types of techniques Spiegel didn't like. There were plenty of
examples to look for online. Spiegel told him to Google it.
Really, you
are the CEO of a publicly traded company and you have the gall to tell someone
on your earnings call to ‘Google’ an answer…way to go BRO.
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