Snapchat CEO Says App Is Only for Rich People

Megalith

Megalith

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Huh? I thought Snapchat’s primary target was teenagers, who are usually, you know, poor. A lawsuit filed by an ex-employee has revealed that the Snapchat CEO thinks his app is reserved for the rich, which is additionally weird because it reminds me of a kid’s app every time I see it. This is all part of the bigger drama surrounding Snap, which is being accused of inflating its worth and metrics.

At a meeting to discuss Snapchat’s user growth in 2015, Anthony Pompliano says he expressed concern that the app was not taking off overseas. Pompliano, who had just been hired away from Facebook, contends that he presented methods to address the issue, but that Evan Spiegel, the company’s CEO, abruptly cut him off. “This app is only for rich people,” Spiegel said, according to Pompliano. “I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.” The allegations are contained in Pompliano’s lawsuit, filed in redacted form in L.A. Superior Court in January. On Monday, Snap Inc. — the parent company of Snapchat — dropped its efforts to keep the unredacted complaint under seal and released it in a public filing.
 
The guy's a real class act. Snap partnered with a previous employer of mine and their CEO was listed as the primary contact, something Snap obviously overlooked. When my rep did a routine callback for verification, the dude popped his lid and chewed out my guy. Uninstalled the app after I heard about it.
 
SNAP loses 500m last year and gets valuated at 40b, that's ebay, sony league ffs. best part, comcast bought half a bil of snap and now it looks ready to fall below 20. We'll see if ppt rescues this fkn unicorn trd.
 
I personally thought it was a hookup app when I first found it. I mean setting a few second time limit for a snap? seriously.
 
Megalith said:
Huh? I thought Snapchat’s primary target was teenagers, who are usually, you know, poor. A lawsuit filed by an ex-employee has revealed that the Snapchat CEO thinks his app is reserved for the rich, which is additionally weird because it reminds me of a kid’s app every time I see it. This is all part of the bigger drama surrounding Snap, which is being accused of inflating its worth and metrics.

At a meeting to discuss Snapchat’s user growth in 2015, Anthony Pompliano says he expressed concern that the app was not taking off overseas. Pompliano, who had just been hired away from Facebook, contends that he presented methods to address the issue, but that Evan Spiegel, the company’s CEO, abruptly cut him off. “This app is only for rich people,” Spiegel said, according to Pompliano. “I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.” The allegations are contained in Pompliano’s lawsuit, filed in redacted form in L.A. Superior Court in January. On Monday, Snap Inc. — the parent company of Snapchat — dropped its efforts to keep the unredacted complaint under seal and released it in a public filing.
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I think by rich, he means rich countries, and the U.S. fits the bill. Those 14 year olds have parents that buy stuff and they're going to grow up get jobs and so on. Don't get me wrong, I don't get Snapchat and I'm not sure if it's going to break through or not. After all, I know parents that let their kids use Snapchat, but not FB...but at some point, those kids are probably going to end up on FB....at least that's what I think will happen. And the truth is that FB and Instagram are slowly coopting most of what made snapchat unique.

All that said, this was a dumb move by the CEO (if he really said this stuff). India may not be wealthy, but a subset of their population is doing very well and that will likely expand over time....never mind that there are a lot of wealthy Indian tech workers in this country.
 
First thing I think when I see Snapchat is "sexting app".

Why else would you want your images to self destruct?
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
First thing I think when I see Snapchat is "sexting app".

Why else would you want your images to self destruct?
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This was my thought, too. But the app is actually pretty fun to use. for non-privacy related stuff. It's just a ton of goofy overlays, weird filters, skins, voice stuff. I'm a grown ass man and me and my lady Snap a few times a week and I usually get a laugh out of it.

It's definitely not great for getting likes and +1's from Internet tough guys but whatever.
 
ZeqOBpf6 said:
This was my thought, too. But the app is actually pretty fun to use. for non-privacy related stuff. It's just a ton of goofy overlays, weird filters, skins, voice stuff. I'm a grown ass man and me and my lady Snap a few times a week and I usually get a laugh out of it.

It's definitely not great for getting likes and +1's from Internet tough guys but whatever.
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It's actually kind of impressive in it's face tracking capability, especially with eye/mouth movement and head tilting.

I'm like you. I've never actually sent a picture with it, but I do get a kick out watching my kids mess with it. Has it always had the facial stuff????
 
The only thing Spiegel cares about is cashing out. He knows he cant beat facebook so he pumping up the valuation. By the way, dont buy in, all the stock is rigged, no one has voting rights but Speigel. Thats NOT how a public company is supposed to work.
 
The Cobra said:
As a person with 20 years in the IT industry, I have never used "Snapchat" and really don't know what it is used for other than it is used by mostly every kid in the country.
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Same here -- my take on Snapchat is that it's a program that was invented to share dickpics and nudes by common stupid kids. "only for the rich" my ass.
 
Cocky CEO of tech company, ignores advice, data, reason, sounds like most of the successful ones likes Jobs, Musk, Kalanick. He should do well.

The best part is that all anyone can talk about is the comment about rich people that has made this news, not the fact that another company is likely defrauding investors with garbage data, and that comment probably wasn't even meant by Spiegal, it was just his gut psychological reaction that didn't contain much of any thought at all to try and dismiss a guy that was exposing his fraudulent data.
 
rudy said:
Cocky CEO of tech company, ignores advice, data, reason, sounds like most of the successful ones likes Jobs, Musk, Kalanick. He should do well.

The best part is that all anyone can talk about is the comment about rich people that has made this news, not the fact that another company is likely defrauding investors with garbage data, and that comment probably wasn't even meant by Spiegal, it was just his gut psychological reaction that didn't contain much of any thought at all to try and dismiss a guy that was exposing his fraudulent data.
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I cant wait until the Snapchat IPO. Its going to be a ridiculous shit show.
 
Spire3660 said:
Hmm not sure how i missed it. The valuation is fucking insane. How can Snap be worth more than Target?
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I don't understand any of this shit being worth trillions of dollars blah blah. I seriously hate millennial "tech"...my wife calls me a grumpy old man, but goddammit I like my trousers the way they are! That's why I buy 10 pair when they go on the sales!

I know like two people that use this app. My wife, and her friend. It IS actually pretty funny, my kid likes the dog one where he drinks from a bowl or something.
 
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