In this inaugural podcast, Speedwell Research goes into details on their ~170 page, January 2023 report on Meta Platforms ($META). We cover a list of questions including 1) how resilient are social networks and why did Friendster and MySpace disapear? 2) how does ad tech work and did Apple's policies permanently impair Meta? 3) what "job" does Facebook and Instagram do? 4) is the metaverse a dealbreaker for investors? 5) and much more.

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Show Notes

(0:00) Intro

(3:09) History: Six Degrees, Friendster, MySpace, and early Facebook

(28:32) Jobs to Be Done: What consumer needs does Facebook serve and the degradation of the network

(44:57) Meta's ability to spin up new apps, failed apps, Threads, how sticky are network effects, Tencent's QQ

(59:04) Monetization formula, advertising history, and primer on the digital ad ecosystem

(1:19:25) Apple Privacy Changes, ATT, IDFA, Return on Ad Spend, auction dynamics

(1:38:48) Can Meta recover from their data loss? Inverting the question with the reverse DCF to see implied growth.

(1:43:47) WhatsApp, IRR Math

(1:47:23) Metaverse Spend, Financial Returns, Strategy

(1:53:36) Year of Efficiency

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Purchase Speedwell's full ~47,000 word Meta report here: https://speedwellresearch.com/2023/01/17/meta-platforms-deep-dive/

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More on Speedwell: https://speedwellsnippets.substack.com/p/speedwell-research-process-and-philosophy

Twitter: @Speedwell_LLC

Threads: @speedwell_research

Email us at [email protected] for any questions, comments, or feedback

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Disclaimer

Nothing in this podcast is investment advice nor should be construed as such. At the time of publishing, one or more contributors to the podcast had a postion in Meta. Furthermore, accounts one or more contributors advise on may also have a position in Meta. This may change without notice. Please see our full disclaimers here: https://speedwellresearch.com/disclaimer/