Social Currency with Sammi Cohen

In 2006, Julia Hartz left a corner office at FX to push sawhorses and plywood into a windowless phone closet and start a company with her new fiancé. That company became Eventbrite, the platform now powering over four and a half million events a year. This week, Sammi sits down with Eventbrite co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz to unpack the story behind one of the most influential platforms in live events. Julia shares what interning on the set of Friends and working at MTV and FX taught her about conviction, the wedding “meet cute” that led her to Silicon Valley, and the golden rule (plus one very unusual emergency protocol) that helped her and husband Kevin Hartz build a business together. Julia also takes Sammi inside Eventbrite’s bootstrapped early days, from spending less than a quarter of a million dollars in its first two years to raising from Sequoia Capital. She explains why she set a nine-month deadline to take the company public, what it felt like to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange alongside a podium full of women, and how Eventbrite rebuilt itself after the pandemic wiped out its business almost overnight. Plus, Julia breaks down why Gen Z is leading the push for screen-life balance, the rise of niche events like soft clubbing, romantasy meetups and “grannycore” knitting circles, and what she was wrong about in Eventbrite’s early days. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s What Sammi Covers with Julia: Here’s What Sammi Covers with Julia:00:00 Intro 02:09 Lessons from Friends, MTV and FX 05:02 From TV to tech: the meet cute with Kevin Hartz 08:46 Starting a company with your fiancé 11:11 Rules for co-founding with your spouse 12:35 Inside the PayPal Mafia 16:47 The event ticketing landscape in 2006 20:25 Finding product-market fit 22:51 Bootstrapping to profitability and raising from Sequoia 25:56 Life in the early Eventbrite warehouse 29:24 Work-life integration and the working parent advantage 35:14 Becoming solo CEO 37:53 Lessons from taking Eventbrite public 43:28 Surviving the pandemic: “gone in 14 days” 47:42 The comeback of in-person events 48:35 How Eventbrite competes beyond the big venues 49:32 Gen Z and the live experience economy 52:21 Quirky subcultures: romantasy, soft clubbing and grannycore 57:37 Lightning round: social sprinting 58:59 Social Currency Corner: the glass cliff 1:01:17 Listener question: what Julia got wrong early on 1:03:31 Closing challenge and outro Thanks to Our Sponsors! Gusto: gusto.com/socialcurrency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Victoria Thain Gioia started pitching investors in 2020, she heard the same thing over and over: women’s health was “too niche.” Six years later, her vitamin company Perelel is approaching a $100 million run rate. This week, Victoria joins Sammi to share the story behind Perelel, which began after her second daughter was born with a cleft lip and Victoria went deep into the world of prenatal nutrition. She explains why she launched with five products when everyone told her to start with one, how a friend from business school invested without even looking at the pitch deck, and why she brought on OB/GYN Dr. Banafsheh Bayati as an equity-holding co-founder. Then, Victoria breaks down the money. She shares the business school advice that shaped her fundraising strategy, why Perelel turned down hockey stick growth to reach profitability, and how a big chunk of the roughly $40 million raised went to buying out early investors. She also opens up about the co-CEO structure she ran for years with co-founder Alex Taylor and what changed when Alex stepped away to focus on advocacy. Plus, Sammi asks the tough question: how much of what Perelel sells is proven versus plausible? Victoria explains the gap between ingredient claims and clinical dosages, why there’s essentially no pre-market regulation for prenatal supplements and how Perelel is investing in clinical trials on its own products. Finally, she weighs in on Procter & Gamble’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Thorne and shares the “good enough” mindset she relies on as a working mom of four. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s What Sammi Covers with Victoria: 00:00 Victoria Thain Gioia’s Social Currency 01:14 Partner Message - Omnisend 04:02 The Origin Story Behind Perelel 06:31 Why Women Are Left to Do the Research Alone 08:24 From Side Project to Quitting Her Job in 2020 10:37 Building the Founding Team 11:51 Pitching Investors During the Pandemic 1 3:34 The Friend Who Invested Without Seeing the Deck 14:54 Why Perelel Launched With Five Products 16:34 Advice for Raising Money in Female-Focused Categories 18:38 How a Finance Background Shaped the Business 20:57 Reaching Profitability in Year Four 21:51 Partner Message - Gusto 22:47 When the Doctor Says No 23:18 The Story Behind Triple-Support Protein 25:40 Raising $40 Million and Buying Out Early Investors 28:06 Conversations With Early Investors 29:12 The Hockey Stick Growth Perelel Turned Down 30:10 Hitting a $100 Million Run Rate 30:23 Moving On From the Co-CEO Structure 31:53 Advice for Founders Considering Co-CEOs 33:25 Proven vs. Plausible: The Science Behind Supplement Claims 37:03 When Competitors Say What Perelel Can’t 37:52 Should Supplements Be More Regulated? 41:26 Marketing Prevention Without Fear-Mongering 42:07 Partner Message - Omnisend 44:37 Why Perimenopause Is Having a Moment 47:08 From Prenatal to Whole-Life Support 48:50 The Meaning Behind the Name “Perelel” 49:04 Victoria’s Calendar System 51:06 Social Currency Corner: P&G’s $3.8 Billion Thorne Acquisition 54:09 Perelel’s Retail Plans 55:23 Listener Question: What Working Moms Have to Let Go Of Omnidend link: https://www.omnisend.com/sammi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He’s been the most requested guest in Sammi’s DMs… and he also happens to be her husband. Today, Sammi sits down with Saul Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Clifton AI and the third Cohen to ever appear on Social Currency (but the first one she’s married to). Saul shares his side of the story, from how they met on a dating app during COVID to being Sammi’s hype man when she posted her first TikTok and when she left Amazon to make content full time. They also get into their relationship dynamics, their South African wedding, the “passenger princess” travel routine and the hardest part of being married to a creator. Then, Saul breaks down Clifton, the autonomous AI analyst that investment firms can hire to handle the monotonous work typically assigned to junior staff. He explains how Clifton differs from timer-based AI agents, why most investment firms are looking for the wrong thing from AI and why he believes analysts will soon be managing agents instead of Excel spreadsheets. Plus, Sammi reveals the secret behind her same-day earnings breakdowns. Finally, Saul shares the founder advice Sammi relies on most: why the customer is all that matters, how he raised $12.5 million, why introductions from other founders beat cold outreach to VCs, the tradeoffs of angel investors and what everyone gets wrong about vibe coding. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Try Clifton with code SAMMY Here’s What Sammi Covers with Saul: 00:00 Saul Cohen’s Social Currency 01:03 Partner Message - Mercury Spend 03:40 The Third Cohen on the Show 05:01 Sammi’s First TikTok 06:00 The Decision to Go Full Time 06:18 Building Businesses Side by Side 07:40 How Sammi and Saul Met 08:30 “I Just Went on a Date With My Husband” 09:47 The White Lies From the First Date 11:12 A Wedding in South Africa 12:20 Sammi’s Early Content Experiments 14:34 The Passenger Princess Travel Routine 16:09 Finding Your Lanes at Home 17:44 The Hardest Part of Being Married to a Creator 19:12 What Phones Are Doing to Our Brains 20:43 Partner Message - Omnisend 21:58 What People Don’t Know About Sammi 24:03 What Is Clifton? 25:04 How Clifton Works 26:33 How Clifton Differs From Other AI Agents 29:21 Why Clifton Has a “World View” 29:51 Why Saul Started Clifton 31:02 Analysts Managing Agents, Not Spreadsheets 32:13 Partner Message - Mercury 33:42 Will AI Take Everyone’s Jobs? 35:10 What Investment Firms Get Wrong About AI 36:03 The Secret Behind Sammi’s Earnings Breakdowns 38:01 Saul’s Advice for First-Time Founders 39:27 How Saul Raised $12.5 Million 40:37 Why Founder Intros Beat Cold Outreach 42:07 Angel Investors vs. VCs 43:36 Managing a Crowded Cap Table 44:16 Saul’s System 45:19 What Everyone Gets Wrong About Vibe Coding Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Holland Nader spent five years managing money for ultra-high-net-worth clients at Deutsche Bank. Then she quit to film a reality show with her three sisters… and pitched a fintech company on camera. Today, Mary joins Sammi to talk about life as “the finance sister.” She shares why she dropped her middle name and hid her Instagram from her Wall Street colleagues, how pitching Mary & Pip on Love Thy Nader turned viewers into a community, and how she uses fame as a business asset without sacrificing the credibility a finance brand needs. Then, Mary breaks down the business. She explains how she raised her first round through friends, family and cold outreach, the investor who told her she was raising far too little, and why she’s holding off on venture capital for now. She also walks through how Mary & Pip works, from the three accounts everyone needs to get started to a financial health score designed to replace the shame of a credit score, and what she learned studying the graveyard of fintech companies that came before her. Plus, Sammi asks what happens when business and family overlap, including the awkward moments of asking her sisters to pay her back and explaining SAFEs at the dinner table. Finally, Mary shares the most common money mistake she saw among wealthy clients, the financial product she considers the biggest scam and whether Gen Z’s “little treat” spending is really the problem. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s What Sammi Covers with Mary:00:00 Mary Holland Nader’s Social Currency 01:15 Partner Message - Mercury and Gusto 03:25 Introducing Mary Holland Nader 05:28 From Wall Street to Love Thy Nader 06:40 Pitching Mary & Pip on Reality TV 09:05 Why Mary Launched the Growing Interest Podcast 10:40 Why Mary Hid Her Instagram From Her Colleagues 13:05 Becoming “The Finance Sister” 16:55 Using Fame as a Business Asset 20:05 Partner Message - Mercury and Gusto 24:10 The Lord of the Rings Story Behind the Name 26:30 How Mary Raised Her First Round 30:05 Why She’s Avoiding VC for Now 32:00 Balancing Credibility and Entertainment 36:10 What Mary & Pip Actually Does 39:50 Replacing the Credit Score With a Financial Health Score 42:00 Lessons From the Fintech Graveyard 46:05 Going Into Business With Your Sisters 52:45 Vulnerability vs. Credibility 54:40 Lightning Round 57:45 Mary’s AI System for Staying Organized 59:10 Social Currency Corner: Is the Treat Economy a Problem? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 What if kids could finish a full day of academics in just two hours? That’s the promise behind Alpha School, the AI-powered private school claiming its students learn 2.6 times faster than their peers and graduate with an average SAT score above 1470. Today, Sammi takes you inside the Alpha School story. It began in 2014 as Emergent Academy in Austin, founded by MacKenzie Price and Brian Holtz, and today it is backed by billionaire Trilogy founder Joe Liemandt. Sammi breaks down how the model works, from adaptive learning software and $100,000-a-year “guides” to afternoons spent on public speaking, entrepreneurship and life skills. She also looks at Founders School, Alpha’s $150,000-a-year high school that promises students will build a business generating $1 million in profit by graduation or get their tuition refunded. Then, Sammi digs into the criticism: regulatory pushback in New York and Pennsylvania, concerns about screen-based instruction, extensive student monitoring, equity and access, and the lack of independent research behind Alpha’s headline numbers. So is Alpha School the future of education, or a high-priced experiment that’s still waiting on proof? Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s what Sammi covers today: 00:00 Alpha School’s Bold Promise 02:47 The Origin Story of Alpha School 03:32 The Pitch Behind Two-Hour Learning 04:15 How Alpha School Actually Works 04:36 Guides vs. Teachers and $100K Salaries 05:03 Inside a Typical Alpha School Day 05:51 Does It Actually Work? Alpha’s Test Score Claims 06:36 The Missing Independent Evidence 07:30 Why Parents Are Drawn to Alpha 08:16 Paying Up to $75,000 a Year 08:53 What Alpha Parents Told Sammi 09:14 Founders School and the $1 Million Business Guarantee 11:51 Inside the Founders School Day 12:22 The $150,000 Tuition and Refund Fine Print 13:08 What Founders School Reveals 13:33 The Five Big Criticisms 13:43 Regulatory Friction 14:33 The Screen-Based Learning Debate 15:16 Surveillance and Student Privacy 15:46 Equity and Access 16:35 The Question of Proof 16:55 What Alpha Is Really Selling 17:23 The Big Takeaway 17:58 The Risk of Measuring Everything 18:24 Can Education Be Optimized? 19:06 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bala started with $5,000, a sketch and a yoga class that wasn't hard enough. Today, the brand behind the bangles on every workout influencer's wrists is growing 50% year over year with just 12 full-time employees. This week, Sammi sits down with Bala co-founder and CEO Natalie Holloway, author of Bootstrap Empire, to unpack how she and her husband Max went from burnt-out ad agency employees at 72andSunny to building one of fitness's most recognizable brands. Natalie shares the Kickstarter number that would have made her walk away, why she walked into Shark Tank asking for $400K for 10% and walked out with $900K for 30%, and what happened when the episode aired just two weeks before the world shut down. Then, Natalie opens up about the post-COVID bust that forced Bala to lay off nearly its entire team, the spending mistakes she'd never repeat, and why she chose small business loans over venture capital to keep control of the company. Later, she breaks down the reality of dupe culture, from navigating patents across countries to confronting retailers who sell knockoffs next to Bala, and explains why the brand created Move by Bala for its upcoming Walmart launch. Plus, Natalie shares how Bala plans to become the "female Rogue," the repeat purchase challenge of selling products people keep for years, why she walked away from a New York City fitness studio the night before signing the lease, and how she and Max keep work and marriage separate. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Check out Natalie's book Bootstrap Empire Here's What Sammi Covers with Natalie: 00:00 Natalie Holloway's Social Currency 05:45 How Advertising Prepared Natalie to Build a Brand 07:05 Why You Can't Be Married to an Idea 08:05 The Origin Story of Bala Bangles 11:35 From Account Person to Product Designer 13:10 Launching Bala With $5,000 14:20 The Kickstarter Number That Would Have Made Her Quit 15:40 Climbing "Cringe Mountain" 19:55 Inside Bala's Shark Tank Deal 21:55 What Happens After a Shark Tank Deal Closes 22:20 Airing Two Weeks Before COVID 23:55 The Post-COVID Bust and Laying Off the Team 26:10 What Natalie Would Have Done Differently 29:10 Why Bala Chose Loans Over Venture Capital 32:00 Fighting Dupes and Patent Infringement 34:15 When Your Retailer Sells Your Dupe 37:10 Do Dupes Actually Make Bala Bigger? 37:55 Move by Bala and the Walmart Launch 39:00 Growing 50% a Year With 12 Employees 40:15 Building the C-Suite 41:00 Bala on TikTok Shop 42:40 What Lululemon Is Getting Wrong 44:15 Becoming the Female Rogue 46:10 Solving the Repeat Purchase Problem 48:00 Why Bala Walked Away From a NYC Studio 50:10 Lightning Round 51:20 Natalie's 30-Minute Meeting Rule 52:40 Social Currency Corner: AI in Marketing 54:50 Listener Question: Running a Business With Your Spouse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time in its history as a public company, Peloton turned a profit. After years of billion-dollar losses, the fitness brand posted $63 million in net income this fiscal year. Just three years ago, it was a punchline. Today, Sammi unpacks how Peloton went from pandemic darling to cautionary tale and back again. She revisits the crash that wiped out $40 billion in market value, founder John Foley's exit, and the Sex and the City reboot that turned a Peloton bike into a plot device. Then, she breaks down the turnaround strategy led by CEO Peter Stern, the former Apple executive who built his career on subscriptions, not hardware. Sammi walks through the bets that got Peloton back in the black: aggressive price increases and cost cuts, a viral ad campaign starring Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams, a global partnership with Spotify, and a new push into commercial gyms. Plus, she explains why the stock dropped more than 11% on the day Peloton announced its historic profit, and what that says about whether Peloton is really back. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's What Sammi Covers Today: 00:00 Peloton's First Profitable Year 01:50 Partner Message - Mercury 02:50 From $50 Billion to Punchline 03:45 John Foley's Exit and the 87% Wipeout 04:15 The Pandemic Bubble Cautionary Tale 04:55 Enter Peter Stern, Peloton's Apple Hire 05:45 The Four-Pillar Turnaround Plan 06:15 Price Hikes and Cost Cuts 07:30 The Heated Rivalry Ad That Went Viral 08:15 The Spotify Partnership 08:58 Peloton's Commercial Gym Bet 09:55 The $63 Million Turnaround 10:25 Partner Message -Mercury 12:45 Why the Stock Fell Anyway 13:15 A Shrinking Subscriber Base 14:40 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly a billion people open Snapchat every month, and almost half a billion use it every single day. Fifteen years after Evan Spiegel and his co-founders launched the app, formerly known as Peekaboo, out of a Stanford dorm room, Snap is betting its next decade on something you wear on your face. This week, Sammi sits down with Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel to talk through the evolution of the company, how he thinks about being one of the most copied products in social media, and Specs, the $2,195 AR glasses more than a decade in the making. He explains why he sees the copying as a compliment to great design, why hardware is a much harder bet for competitors to follow than software, and what convinced him a decade ago that computing needed to move off screens and into the world. Evan also breaks down the viral meme that introduced Specs to a mainstream audience, how the company thinks about privacy on a device built to record, and why Spotlight, Snap's video feed, has become one of its fastest growing products by rewarding authenticity over AI generated content. He shares his prediction for what Snap looks like in 2036 and his take on the ongoing debate over minimum ages for kids on social media. Toward the end, Evan gets personal, talking about parenting four kids in a world full of screens, what his wife Miranda Kerr has taught him about skincare, and the story behind his family's donation to an organization that relieves medical debt. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's What Sammi Covers with Evan: 00:00 Evan Spiegel's Social Currency 03:42 How Snapchat Started as "Peekaboo" 05:57 The Insight That Turned It Into a Messaging App 08:47 Being Social Media's Most Copied Product 11:06 What Evan Still Signs Off On at Snap 12:32 The Decade-Long Bet on AR Glasses 16:05 The Timeline for Mass Adoption of Specs 17:05 Evan's Live Reaction to Sammi Trying Specs 20:47 Why Specs Are Priced Like a Computer 22:29 The Viral Meme That Introduced Specs to the World 23:58 How Specs Are Designed Around Privacy 27:35 Why Spotlight Is One of Snap's Fastest-Growing Products 33:00 Evan's Prediction for Snap in 2036 37:42 Evan's Take on the Social Media Age-Gating Debate 41:22 Parenting Four Kids in a World Full of Screens 41:29 What Miranda Kerr Taught Him About Skincare 43:31 The Story Behind the Undo Medical Debt Donation 46:03 Lightning Round 49:37 Listener Question: Staying Motivated Building Hardware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a scrappy startup beat Amazon when Amazon copies your product, undercuts your price and slaps its own name on it? According to Square co-founder Jim McKelvey, you don't. Except, once in a while, someone does. This week Sammi revisits one of her favorite conversations ever recorded for Social Currency: her sit-down with Jim McKelvey, the artist-turned-entrepreneur who co-founded Square (now Block) with Jack Dorsey. Jim opens with the story of how he once stripped down in a trade association's office just to get a meeting, and explains why getting someone's attention is always the real first step in any pitch. He breaks down why he intentionally designed Square's original card reader to work poorly, and how that "flaw" turned millions of small business owners into free advertisers for the brand. Then, Jim tells the almost unbelievable story of how Square survived Amazon's attempt to copy and kill its business with Amazon Register, why he studied history to understand how rare that survival really was, and how a conversation with Southwest's Herb Kelleher led him to write his book, The Innovation Stack. Jim also opens up about his years as an independent director of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, what he learned living through zero interest rates, the pandemic and the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and how the role reshaped his politics. Plus, he explains why his media venture Invisibly failed to save journalism despite cracking the monetization problem, and details his newest venture, Fast Trials, an attempt to slash the cost of FDA drug trials so more life-saving drugs can make it to market. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Read Jim McKelvey's blog and check out his book, The Innovation Stack Here's What Sammi Covers with Jim: 00:00 Jim McKelvey's Social Currency 02:03 Why Sammi Is Revisiting This Episode 05:09 The Striptease That Landed a Six-Figure Deal 08:00 Why Getting Attention Comes Before Any Pitch 11:01 Why the Square Reader Was Designed to Not Work Well 14:23 Respecting Your Audience's Attention 17:56 Why Jim Doesn't Use Social Media 19:00 The Power of the Pause 20:22 The Real Origin Story of Square 24:32 How Square Survived Amazon's Attempt to Kill It 28:04 The Commandment From Herb Kelleher That Became a Book 32:11 Why the Rules of Innovation Are Different 36:27 The Hardest Part of Doing Something New 37:28 Serving as an Independent Director of the Federal Reserve 40:22 What the Fed Taught Jim About Political Neutrality 42:19 The Allergic Response to Ideas That Don't Fit 43:22 Why Invisibly Failed to Save Journalism 47:04 The Monetization Model That Actually Worked 49:26 Jim's New Venture: Fast Trials 54:31 Advice for Building in Regulated Industries 58:08 Jim's Don't-Do List 59:48 Social Currency Corner: Tipping Culture 01:02:20 A Listener Question on the Future of Fintech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal judge just ordered an ice cream company to hand over nearly $24 million because their pint looked a little too much like someone else's. Today, Sammi breaks down the case of Van Leeuwen versus Rebel Creamery, a lawsuit that is about way more than ice cream. She explains how Van Leeuwen's pastel packaging, designed by the firm Pentagram in 2016, became one of the most valuable assets in the company's business and helped drive a nearly 50% jump in sales velocity. Then she unpacks how keto ice cream brand Rebel launched with strikingly similar packaging, despite a buyer warning them beforehand that it looked like a ripoff. Sammi digs into the legal concept of trade dress, which protects the overall look and feel of a product rather than any single design element, and explains why the court sided with Van Leeuwen. She also covers the idea of "reverse confusion," why Rebel's missing design paperwork sank their case, and how the judge's finding of bad faith unlocked a massive damages award under the Lanham Act. Finally, Sammi shares why this case matters for every founder and brand builder today: in an age where AI can replicate any aesthetic instantly, the real competitive advantage isn't the look itself, it's being able to prove you own it. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's what Sammi covers today: 00:00 The $24 Million Ice Cream Lawsuit 00:59 Partner Message: Mercury 02:16 Van Leeuwen's Origin Story 02:44 The Pentagram Packaging Redesign 03:34 How the Design Became the Brand 03:50 Enter Rebel Creamery 04:17 The Wegmans Warning 05:00 Van Leeuwen Files Suit 05:25 What Is Trade Dress? 06:06 Proving Consumer Confusion 06:46 The Concept of Reverse Confusion 07:10 The Paper Trail That Won the Case 07:46 Rebel's Missing Evidence 08:25 The Judge's Bad Faith Ruling 08:34 The Good Faith Remote User Defense 09:10 How Rebel's Profits Became the Damages 09:50 The $23.8 Million Verdict and Redesign Order 10:16 Partner Message: Mercury 11:26 Why Provable Ownership Matters in the AI Era 11:47 The Founder's Takeaway 12:30 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices