🚀 Walmart welcomes Bitcoin
Plus, a starter guide for building online communities!
Snap saw its largest single-day drop in stock price, falling 27% after missing earnings estimates (despite crossing $1B in quarterly revenue for the first time!).
Why did revenue fall short of expectations? An Apple privacy change (which came with iOS 14.5) made it more difficult for advertisers to target users and measure the outcomes of their campaigns - so many are spending less on digital acquisition.
Alphabet, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest also fell 3-5% on Friday, as investors believe their earnings will be similarly impacted. Snap expects the privacy changes along with supply chain disruptions to continue to dampen revenue through Q4, typically a monster quarter for social companies due to higher ad spend.
🚨 Are you a UC Berkeley student? Olivia’s team at a16z is working with an awesome consumer social startup that would love to talk with Cal students this week. Email her at omoore@a16z.com if you’re interested in learning more!
news 📣
🏢 WeWork goes public. Two years after initially filing its S-1, WeWork finally went public - via SPAC! The company’s share price climbed 13% on the first day of trading, and it ended the week at a market cap of $9.4B. This is a sharp drop from WeWork’s $47B valuation in early 2019, when SoftBank invested $5B into the company. After the failed IPO, WeWork struggled through COVID - it’s now hoping that companies will favor flexible workspace as we return to the office.
📍 Is PayPal buying Pinterest? This week in unexpected M&A, PayPal has reportedly offered to buy Pinterest for $45B (a 25% premium to Pinterest’s market cap). It would be the largest consumer Internet acquisition in the past decade. Why would a payments company acquire a social network? PayPal’s CEO told reporters earlier this year that the company wants to become a “super app” - he specifically mentioned being able to target consumers with personalized offers based on their wish lists 👀.
💰 Bitcoin hits new high. It was a big week for Bitcoin! The cryptocurrency crossed $66,000 (an all-time high) after the SEC approved the launch of the U.S.’s first Bitcoin ETF. The ETF provides exposure to Bitcoin without holding the currency directly - it tracks Bitcoin futures, a point of contention among some investors. In other Bitcoin news, you can now use cash to buy Bitcoin (via ATM) at 200 Walmart stores across the country.
According to a report from The Verge, Facebook is reportedly planning to change its name. The big announcement is expected to happen on October 28, at Facebook’s annual conference. The new name (which has not been leaked) is apparently intended to reflect Facebook’s move from a social network to a “metaverse company.”
This move feels reminiscent to Google’s rebrand to Alphabet in 2015. The name of the “big blue app” will remain the same, but the parent company will be called something different. You can even bet on the new name, if you want - here’s the odds.
what i’m following 👀
Twitter reported its algorithms amplify more right-wing than left-wing content.
A juror was dismissed from the Theranos trial for playing sudoku during testimony (relatable).
How Roblox scaled safety & moderation for an underage user base.
Has the “Amex for Silicon Valley” arrived?
The Craft Ventures team outlines the SaaS metrics that matter.
This week, I dropped a new thread and Medium post on best practices for community building! It’s a mix of lessons learned from growing Accelerated + insights from leaders of a few awesome communities (like Femstreet, Gen Z VCs, and The Generalist).
I’ll summarize the key takeaways below, but I’d recommend checking out the full post if you’re building a community:
Start with “why.” There’s a lot of online communities out there - what will you be adding to the table? If you want to build a healthy, engaged community, you need a strong reason to exist (and then lean in to what differentiates you).
Focus on quality, not quantity. More members = more noise. It’s better to have a smaller, engaged community of people who genuinely want to connect than a larger group that’s inactive or spammy.
Invest in onboarding. Onboarding sets the tone - create a process that helps new members get involved, meet people, and learn your guidelines/rules. This takes time, but it’s worth it!
Get your members to buy in. If you make your members feel like they’re investing in your community, they’re a lot more likely to stick around. It doesn’t have to be a monetary investment - committing some time/effort works, too.
Find new ways to add value. Communities don’t have to be restricted to a Slack or Discord. Think about why your members are joining and what you can do to serve them - whether that’s a job board, group discounts, or IRL events.
jobs 🎓
Cradlewise - VP Marketing* (SF)
Ladder - Product Designer (SF)
Tempo - Product Ops Associate (SF)
AirGarage - Product Manager* (SF)
M13 - Investment Associate (LA)
Techstars - Associate Product Manager (Boulder, Remote)
Fifth Down Capital - Senior Analyst / Associate (Boston)
Amex Ventures - Investment Analyst (NYC)
Nova Credit - International Strategy & Expansion (NYC)
Rowan - Ecommerce and Product Associate (NYC)
Equal Ventures - Generalist Associate, Insurtech/Fintech Associate (NYC)
WebMD - Associate Product Manager (NYC)
Titan - Investor Relations Associate, Business Operations* (NYC)
*Requires 3+ years of experience.
internships 📝
Blend - PM Intern (Remote)
LinkedIn - MBA Business Transformation Intern (SF)
Uber - Summer Strategic Ops Intern (SF)
Faire - Data Science Intern (SF)
Flockjay - Biz Ops Intern (SF, Remote)
Roblox - Product Policy Intern (San Mateo)
PayPal Ventures - MBA Intern (San Jose)
Jupe - Ops Intern (Houston)
Dataiku - Partner Ops Intern (Chicago)
Commonfund - Private Capital Venture Intern (NYC)
Republic - Investment Team Intern (NYC, Remote)
puppy of the week 🐶
Meet Sir Rexford, a one-year-old Blue Belton English Setter who lives in Rockford, Michigan.
His home is an apiary, so he enjoys playing in the gardens, smelling flowers, and trying really hard not to bite bees.
Follow him on Instagram @sir.rexford.of.indigo.acres!
Hi! 👋 I’m Justine Moore, an early stage consumer & SMB investor. I’m currently Head of GTM at Canal. Thanks for reading Accelerated. I’d love your feedback - feel free to tweet me @venturetwins.