Back to Episodes
#516June 22, 202351:59

Replay: Jack Smith on How r/WallStreetBets is Beating Wall Stree…

Ad tech business modelsThe GameStop and WallStreetBets phenomenonVungle's origin storyPseudonymous work identities

About This Episode

This replay episode features Jack Smith, co-founder of Vungle, discussing how he built and sold an ad-tech giant for hundreds of millions by identifying specific developer pain points. The hosts and guest also explore the cultural impact of r/WallStreetBets and the GameStop short squeeze, the sustainability of live audio platforms like Clubhouse, and the future of pseudonymous digital identities.

Episode Description

Episode 468: Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP), Sam Parr (@theSamParr), and Jack Smith (@_jacksmith) discuss: Balaji Srinivasan on why people will have to hide their real identities in the future How Silkroad was actually a well-run company while co-workers remained anonymous (American Kingpin) The crazy story of the founder of Silkroad ordering killings on his co-workers Taboola's billion-dollar payday Clubhouse just raised at $1B -- but are its best days behind it? How Wall Street Bets is beating Wall Street - How Grayscale is printing money with GBTC Why a VC firm (Andreessen Horowitz) is entering the media game Want to see more MFM? Subscribe to the MFM YouTube channel here. ----- Check Out Shaan's Stuff: * Try Shepherd * Shaan's Personal Assistant System * Power Writing Course * Daily Newsletter Check Out Sam's Stuff: * Hampton * Ideation Bootcamp * Copy That ------ Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more. ----- Additional episodes you might enjoy: • #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits • #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future • #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto * #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett • ​​​​#218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates • Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More • How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More

Check Out Shaan's Stuff

  • * Try Shepherd
  • * Shaan's Personal Assistant System
  • * Power Writing Course
  • * Daily Newsletter

Check Out Sam's Stuff

  • * Hampton
  • * Ideation Bootcamp
  • * Copy That
  • -----
  • Past guests on

Key Takeaways

1

To find a winning business idea, ask prospective customers about their daily challenges instead of pitching a solution, allowing real pain points to dictate the product.

2

The success of ad networks often depends on abstracting complex metrics into simple, outcome-based pricing, such as Vungle's shift from views (CPM) to installs (CPI).

3

Live social platforms face a massive 'interestingness' hurdle because they require high-quality content to be happening at the exact moment a user joins, unlike evergreen algorithmic feeds.

Business Ideas Mentioned

Taboola for Email Newsletters

Content & Media

Service-Led Venture Capital Firm

Agency

View all ideas

Featuring

JS

Jack Smith

6 episodes

Share Episode

Quick Stats

Duration51:59
Guests1
Ideas Discussed2
Topics4