Agree that the TikTok deal smells super fishy, but after digging into it more I actually think it’s a win for both sides.
How much of TikTok’s value is in the algorithm? 50%+?
Reading between the lines, giving up ownership of the algorithm was clearly a nonstarter for Bytedance, so they had to swallow a big haircut on valuation.
The US gets control over the data & the content that gets served to US users. Bytedance takes a $10-$20B bath on the stake they sold, but they’ll make that back in a few years from the profit share.
Maybe? Possibly? I think my meta point here is that the reason it smells fishy is because there have been no details about it shared. There was no open bids, no proper valuation process. That could've been fine if they held firm on the security and influence angle, but they capitulated on that with the algo and MGX.
Lots of fascinating insights as always Evan. I think the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities is perhaps the best start to a novel ever written. And the whole long but intense thing applies to our current times - let's hope the journey is smoother than the French Revolution.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Agree that the TikTok deal smells super fishy, but after digging into it more I actually think it’s a win for both sides.
How much of TikTok’s value is in the algorithm? 50%+?
Reading between the lines, giving up ownership of the algorithm was clearly a nonstarter for Bytedance, so they had to swallow a big haircut on valuation.
The US gets control over the data & the content that gets served to US users. Bytedance takes a $10-$20B bath on the stake they sold, but they’ll make that back in a few years from the profit share.
Maybe? Possibly? I think my meta point here is that the reason it smells fishy is because there have been no details about it shared. There was no open bids, no proper valuation process. That could've been fine if they held firm on the security and influence angle, but they capitulated on that with the algo and MGX.
Lots of fascinating insights as always Evan. I think the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities is perhaps the best start to a novel ever written. And the whole long but intense thing applies to our current times - let's hope the journey is smoother than the French Revolution.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
evan you should make sure Ted Goia is aware of your music recommendations.....you guys both have new and orginal musicians at top of your thoughts