🛒 Snap hits 500m users

PLUS: Goodbye, Internet Explorer.. May 24, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( Fisker is getting high and mighty with its next project: The EV car company will make Pope Francis the first ever all-electric popemobile. The Big Idea [Snap ghost]( Snap’s big push into ecommerce It wasn’t too long ago that Snap’s social platform Snapchat almost imploded. After going public at a valuation of $24B in March 2017, the “camera first” company cratered, with its value falling to [$6B]( in late December 2018. The decline was catalyzed by one of corporate history’s most shameless rip-offs: Zucky McCopycat had taken Snapchat’s popular Stories feature and grafted it onto Instagram. But after years of incredible execution, Snap is now worth $86B... ... and it’s building an ecommerce platform for the future Per [CNBC](, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel announced a slate of new shopping tools at the 2021 Snap Partner Summit: - Virtually try on clothes: Users can shop brands’ catalogs and -- with advanced augmented reality (AR) -- superimpose clothes onto their body and jewelry on their wrists - Copy an outfit: “Screenshop” is a feature that allows users to scan a photo and receive clothing recommendations based on the image - Shop in the app: Businesses can launch public profiles and list products that users can buy with a click Why the shopping push? One big reason: Apple recently updated its privacy policies, which largely prevents user tracking across iPhone apps. The change makes it difficult for advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their ads. By facilitating sales within its app, Snap can clearly connect a purchase decision to an ad. Ecommerce is also a good way for Snap to diversify, with advertising making up *checks notes* [99%]( of revenue. Snap just passed 500m monthly users Spiegel is feeling it so much that Snap is even giving Spectacles -- its maligned smart glasses [project]( -- another go. While the previous iteration was basically just a camera on sunglasses, Snap is now working on fully AR glasses. (In fact, it just acquired AR glass firm WaveOptics for [$500m](.) It’s not yet available for sale. A select group of AR creators are testing it, which probably makes sense since the battery life is… [30 minutes](. Whether this project succeeds, Snap has come a long way from its “imploding” days. A user virtually “tries on” a watch (Source: Snap / CNBC) [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Snap%E2%80%99s+big+push+into+ecommerce%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05242021-snap%3Futm_campaign%3DSnap%2Becommerce%26utm_content%3D05242021-snap%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now get extra snippets on your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. Netflix is hiring a dedicated exec to help the company expand into [video games](. This isn’t very surprising: The global game industry is worth ~[$180B](, nearly 2x the global film industry. Apple CEO [Tim Cook]( took the stand in the company’s antitrust trial vs. Epic Games (maker of Fortnite). Cook’s answer to why Apple wielded so much control over its iOS and App Store: user privacy and safety. Airfare and hotel prices are on the rise. There is one silver lining, though: With business travel mostly offline, there is a [cap]( on how high prices will go. Join the 31,598 others who are now enjoying extra, personalized snippets. Click the button👇 to choose your favorite topics and see your list grow in tomorrow’s email. [Personalize Your Snippets]( By the numbers [electric F-150 truck]( The electric F-150 in all its glory (Source: Getty Images / Jeff Kowalsky) Digits: Electric pickups, a $260m ‘floating’ park, and a DVD SPAC In this new section, we’ll break down the week’s headlines by-the-numbers. - It appears there are fewer germaphobes now than a year ago. For the week ending May 8, Hand sanitizer sales were down 80% YoY to [$9.2m](. In July 2020, weekly sales hit a $52m high. - Ford got a bolt of energy with the release of its all electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck (that’s capable of powering a house for [3+ days](). Customers made 44.5k+ preorders in the truck’s first 48 hours on the market, [according]( to Ford’s CEO. - Lengthy work weeks killed 745k+ people in 2016, according to a new Health Organization[study](. The study found people working 55+ hour weeks face a 35% higher risk of stroke and 17% higher risk of heart disease than those working 35- to 40-hour weeks. - Redbox, the company that makes those high-tech DVD vending machines you see in supermarkets, is [going public]( via SPAC at a $693m valuation. Redbox has 39m+ US loyalty members and operates 40k kiosks. It’s now planning to release 36+ original films annually. - A new 2.4-acre [“floating” park]( opened on New York City’s Hudson River. The $260m project uses 130+ tulip-shaped concrete columns to sit atop the water and incorporates 370 species of trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Digits%3A+Electric+pickups%2C+a+%24260m+%E2%80%98floating%E2%80%99+park%2C+and+a+DVD+SPAC%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05242021-headlines-by-numbers%3Futm_campaign%3DSnap%2Becommerce%26utm_content%3D05242021-headlines-by-numbers%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource How Netflix crushes with the YouTube Community Tab With 1k+ subscribers, you can access YouTube’s Community tab to post text updates, video thumbnails, polls, images, GIFs, and the like. Think of it as an image-focused social feed on your YouTube channel. Yet another way to grow your brand, garner engagement, and draw eyes toward other proprietary content. In 2020, Netflix started using the [Community tab]( to leverage its now nearly 20m subscribers... And they’re executing picture-perfectly Netflix already sees way more engagement on the YouTube Community tab (15k-40k likes on most posts) than it does on Twitter (~10x less). They push fresh releases, tease behind-the-scenes, craft solid memes, and start conversations, all wrapped up in a too-likeable brand voice. This HubSpot video breaks down Netflix’s formula for real YouTube Community tab success. [Here are Netflix’s 4 steps →]( Browser Wars [Internet Explorer screenshot]( But how will we explore the internet now? (Source: Getty Images / Fairfax Media) Microsoft is saying goodbye to Internet Explorer, hello to Edge It’s time for Internet Explorer -- the browser that once dominated the web -- to say farewell. Microsoft [will retire]( its flagship browser [with few exceptions]( on June 15, 2022. Internet Explorer (IE) debuted in 1995... At its height in 2003, it held 95% of the browser market share. That means nearly everyone was using it to send spooky chain letters from Hotmail accounts and browse “X-Files” fan sites on Angelfire. As security and speed issues bubbled up and competing browsers emerged -- like Firefox in 2002 and Google Chrome in 2008 -- IE quickly fell out of favor. The Chrome takeover In 2010, the BBC [reported]( that IE held just 59.9% of the market share compared to Firefox’s 24.5% and Google Chrome’s 6.7%. And here’s what browser market share looks like today, according to [StatCounter](’s most recent worldwide numbers: - Chrome: 65% - Safari: 19% - Firefox: 4% - Microsoft Edge: 3% - IE: <1% (womp womp womp) Microsoft is replacing IE with its Edge browser The Big Tech behemoth says Edge -- which dropped in 2015 using Google’s Chromium source code -- is “faster, more secure and more modern.” Some features: - Sleeping tabs: which make the dozens of tabs you have open use less CPU - Collections: which let you gather pages, text, and pictures - Vertical tabs: which are easier to read and look cleaner Hey, remember Netscape Navigator? We don’t either. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Microsoft+is+saying+goodbye+to+Internet+Explorer%2C+hello+to+Edge%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05242021-Internet-Explorer%3Futm_campaign%3DSnap%2Becommerce%26utm_content%3D05242021-Internet-Explorer%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Meme of the day [Barney meme] Too true! (Source: [Reddit]() SHARE THE HUSTLE [Hustle Cons Greatest Hits ebook]( Over the years, we’ve learned… secrets. The business secrets, tips, and tricks that have helped founders go from zero to millions -- and even billions -- of dollars. Want to see ‘em? Just refer 3 more friends to The Hustle and we’ll send you our curated set of interviews with founders from brands like Zola, AWAY, Vungle, Bonobos, and more. 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