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Use the internet like you’re part of Gen Z. That means both learning TikTok dances and valuing customization and personalization over a false sense of privacy.

This week on Business Casual, we’re talking about data—how our data is gathered online, where it gets bought and sold, and why we might be entitled to some of the money it makes Big Tech. The conversation started with a teardown of former 2020 hopeful Andrew Yang’s proposed data dividend project.

On today’s episode, we’re asking some important follow-up questions: Does the next generation of tech users even care about their data, where it’s used, and whether they get paid for it?

The short answer is no—because 1) the activist generation has larger concerns than getting a dividend from Big Tech and 2) “People tend to not care about data privacy until they are personally affected.” That’s according to our guest today, Tiffany Zhong, the cofounder and CEO of Zebra IQ and the young entrepreneur once dubbed the Mary Meeker of Gen Z.

Zhong says the ways Gen Z grew up—in a mobile-first world—shapes their approach to content consumption, communication, and privacy.

Plus, they’re more concerned with things like dismantling systems of racial oppression than they are taking Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos to task.

Many in Gen Z think this way: The value of the content they get from Big Tech and social platforms is greater than the value of their data—some in Gen Z feel that they’re getting the good end of the bargain. But does that give Big Tech free reign over their data?

This is a nuanced conversation about young people and their relationships with data privacy. Check it out now.

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Big Tech has made billions of dollars using personal data. Your personal data. When was the last time you got paid for playing your part in the tech ecosystem?

Probably never. Andrew Yang, ex-2020 presidential candidate and today’s Business Casual guest, wants to change that. 

And that’s why he’s pioneering the Data Dividend Project. In his words: “The Data Dividend Project is an organization that is trying to get us paid for our data. And our data now is worth tens of billions, even hundreds of billions of dollars a year in value that we are not seeing a dime of.”

The merits of the DDP, as Yang and his fervent followers call it, appear to be many. The project would realign incentives for tech entrepreneurs, advertisers, and platform users such that everyone could walk away satisfied. And sustained, direct payments to American people sound great...but there’s always a but. 

Yang’s concept would mean that, for Facebook, Google, and its ilk, “some of the money that they're making will be made more responsibly,” per Yang. That’s politician for “top line revenue could shrink.”

And the likelihood of all the right parties buying into something like the DDP is slim.

But Yang remains steadfast in his efforts to keep American tech users from “getting cheated.”

Listen to this episode for an inside look at how a data dividend would work, how it wouldn’t, and what happens when you put $1,000 in Jeff Bezos’s bank account every month.

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If not, he’s definitely the future of marketing on the internet. With 18 million YouTube subscribers, 20 million TikTok followers, and the world’s most interesting laugh, Dobrik has become the case study for innovative influencer marketing. 

And the man who helped him get there is Ian Borthwick, aka Ian from SeatGeek. His real title is senior director of influencer marketing at SeatGeek—he made influencer marketing a hugely lucrative channel for the company by taking a risk on the sometimes very not-brand-safe Dobrik...and he’s the guest on this episode of Business Casual.

You know what influencer marketing looks like. But what does it really do that more traditional marketing channels don’t or can’t? That’s what Ian from SeatGeek expertly explains in this episode. And now’s the time to talk about it—if video-centric social commerce is the future of consumer tech, influencer marketing will be the quickest way to get to that future. 

There’s a lot going on in this episode (in a fun way). Ian FaceTimes David Dobrik, we get to the bottom of the recent trend of giving away luxury cars as marketing, and we unpack the impacts COVID-19 has had on influencers and their $8+ billion/year industry. 

Oh, and we talk a lot about TikTok. 

Don’t miss it—listen now.

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For as long as there’s been consumer tech to talk about, we’ve framed it as a winner-takes-all battle between the U.S. and China. But is that really fair?

Many argue it’s not. One of those many is Connie Chan, general partner at famed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and this week’s guest on Business Casual. Chan is an expert in the relationship between China and Silicon Valley, and she’s spilling Sand Hill secrets.

Her biggest bet is on the video-centric future of consumer tech and e-commerce. Because nothing sells goods and services or breeds engagement like watching good video. But who’s positioned to win in a social commerce economy?

In the episode, Chan answers that question and so many more, including what TikTok’s uncertain future might look like, plus…

Why super apps that can do it all (like WeChat in China) are becoming the rage

What both social commerce and super apps mean for regulation, innovation, competition, and integration

And when and how we choose convenience over perceived morals

As Chan sees it, whatever happens in consumer tech in China will make its way to the U.S. in about 3–5 years. The best way to be 3–5 years ahead of the curve? Listen to this episode.

+ Keep in mind: In our next episode, we’re talking about the possible TikTok ban and what it means for creators. Subscribe wherever you’re reading this so you don’t miss it.

Traditional banking has 100% failed small businesses.

At least, that’s what our guest for this episode of Business Casual thinks. 

That guest, Fintech Today founder Ian Kar, names names and doles out hot takes re: the fintech space in our interview—which is itself an in-depth look at how fintech startups are stepping in where big banks have missed the mark in distributing Paycheck Protection Program funding.

If you listened to our last episode with the Aspen Institute’s Joyce Klein, you know that “missed the mark” is a generous way of putting what happened. 

This time around, we’re exploring the disruptors that took the reins for traditional banking, especially in the small business economy.

Kar explains that big banks have systematically failed to market to or serve small businesses and their owners. So what makes fintech different...and more capable?

A focus on relationships and a willingness to lend small

Deeply rooted and mutually beneficial partnerships with community banks

An appreciation for the “tech” half of fintech

But it’s not all roses and loan forgiveness in the fintech space. There are plenty of risks, both regulatory and otherwise. You bet we’ll cover them all.

Listen now.

Many economists have suggested that the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, failed Americans on at least one major front: prioritizing lending to business owners in underserved markets. The Small Business Administration’s inspector general admitted as much back in May.

The question now is why. Why did just 12% of Black and Latinx business owners who applied for PPP loans report getting what they asked for? Why does the Center for Responsible Lending estimate upwards of 90% of businesses owned by people of color have been or will be shut out of the PPP?

The answer is complicated, systemic, and deeply rooted in a norm of occupational segregation that’s plagued American capitalism for centuries. But if there’s anyone who can speak to the PPP’s intersection with economic and racial justice, it’s Joyce Klein, director of the Business Ownership Initiative at the Aspen Institute.

Today on Business Casual, Klein explains the hurdles to accessing capital and achieving economic mobility for minority groups, from racial to gender. If you want to understand…

How traditional banks are failing small businesses in the U.S.

Why future stimulus spending from Congress needs different design

When we might face a systemic failure of small businesses…

Listen to this episode now.

On the last episode of Business Casual, media exec and general baller-at-large Joanna Coles explained the implications of ad dollars moving from local newsrooms to social media and Big Tech platforms. The general consensus? We’ve got a serious scale problem. And an even bigger misinformation problem.

So what does all of that mean for the future of media? In this episode, we’re figuring it out with Delia Cai, growth and trends editor at Buzzfeed and author of the Deez Links newsletter (which is described as “a dailyish link to cool shit happening in & around the media industry”).

As someone who both 1) grew up extremely online and 2) has a front row seat to the constant evolution of media, Delia offers honest insight about…

What we lose when we lose local newsrooms

How much money it would take for smaller media outlets to compete with Big Tech

Why social media has tangled our collective psychologies beyond recognition

Listen to the episode now.

This summer, a group of nearly 100 brands from Patagonia to Coca-Cola are boycotting highly targeted ad machines on social media platforms like Facebook. 

It’s an effort to put their money where their PR statements are—by withholding ad spend on Facebook, these brands are attempting to force Mark Zuckerberg’s hand to do something about his platform’s highly contentious fact-checking and hate speech standards. 

The question remains...will it work? If you ask CNN, “It would likely take tens of thousands of them, acting over a significant period of time, to put a big dent in Facebook's bottom line.”

But what if, instead of focusing on dollar value efficacy, we consider that the medium might be the message here? Sure, those 100+ brands might not dent Zuck’s retirement account. But they’ve brought important attention to the fact that we’re slaves to the big tech ad targeting machine.

That’s why this week on Business Casual, we’re navigating the intricate movement of ad dollars from local news outlets to social media and big tech platforms...plus taking stock of how, exactly, the everyday media consumer is suffering.

And we’re doing it with someone who’s seen it all in the media world—Joanna Coles. She’s been an executive, a producer, an editor...basically everything from heading up Cosmo to sitting on Snap’s board. 

In this episode, Joanna explains the importance of local journalism, why it evaporates when big tech wins ad dollars, and how conglomerization widens the access gap to good, fact-checked journalism. 

And arguably most importantly? Joanna helps us understand what there is to be done to fix today’s misinformation problem—a problem of incredible scale.

Listen now.

Anything is possible if you just believe...and create multi-channel diversified revenue streams while avoiding the many trappings of venture capital. Right? Right. Just ask Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief, Morning Brew’s cofounders.

That’s what we’re doing on this episode of Business Casual—taking an introspective look at the last quarter in business through the eyes of a small but growing startup.

In the episode, Alex and Austin walk us through the ins and outs of surviving (maybe even thriving…?) as a bootstrapped company in the midst of a recession. You’ll get the inside scoop on how Morning Brew’s strategizes on the daily, plus…

You’ll hear Alex and Austin’s biggest predictions for the startup community next quarter and beyond. Take a sip every time you hear the words “subscription” or “community.”

You’ll understand the pillars of innovation that a recession like this one builds.

And you’ll get two founders’ perspectives on whether we’re closer to the end or the beginning of this recession.

And since no conversation about Morning Brew is complete without a mug... we're giving away five of them. Follow @bizcasualpod on Twitter, email a screenshot with proof you follow to [email protected] and you'll be entered in the giveaway. Ends 7/1.

Listen now if you’re curious about what comes next.

Have you also aged three decades since April 1, 2020?

The last three months have brought us some of the craziest business news imaginable. The second quarter was a cornucopia of unpredictability—from COVID-19 doing its worst to the economy to widespread protests serving a reckoning for America’s conversations about race.

So how do you make it all make sense? You make a podcast about it. Today on Business Casual, we’re taking a look back at the biggest themes of the second quarter, from innovation and accountability and leadership to...failure.

And we’re doing it by bringing some of the best guests this show has ever seen back up to bat, from Arianna Huffington and Mark Cuban to Ian Bremmer and Ray Dalio.

Because as we head into the third quarter of this year, you have to ask yourself: Would you ever, ever have seen these headlines coming just six months ago? I sure wouldn’t have. 

Let us help make sense of today’s headlines. Listen now.