Social Currency with Sammi Cohen

What does building a billion-dollar company actually feel like? According to Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, it's far less glamorous than most founder stories make it seem. Jamie joins Sammi to unpack the journey from almost running out of money to building Ring into one of the biggest consumer tech acquisitions in history. He explains why entrepreneurship can be deeply traumatic, how close Ring came to bankruptcy before appearing on Shark Tank, and why the rejection that made headlines wasn't nearly as important as what happened afterward. They also discuss why Jamie spent nearly all of Ring's remaining cash buying Ring.com, the lawsuit that nearly destroyed Amazon's acquisition, why he eventually walked away from running Ring despite loving the company, and what brought him back years later. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Check out Jamie’s book Ding Dong 00:00 Jamie Siminoff’s Social Currency 02:03 Partner Message: Mercury for Business Banking 03:22 Why Entrepreneurship Is More Traumatic Than People Admit 05:20 Why Jamie Came Back to Ring 07:30 Life After Selling Ring to Amazon 08:50 Knowing When It's Time to Walk Away 09:30 Why Retirement Didn't Last 11:10 The Story Jamie Almost Didn't Tell 13:15 Why You Shouldn't Start a Company for Money 14:30 The Mission Behind Ring 16:00 Can You Actually Measure Safer Neighborhoods? 18:00 Partner Message: Rula 19:14 Partner Message: Mercury for Personal Banking 20:28 The Customer Stories That Make It All Worth It 22:00 How Ring Became a Household Name 24:15 How Close Ring Came to Bankruptcy 26:05 The Shark Tank Effect 27:13 Why Rejection Wasn't Ring's Biggest Break 29:07 The Survivorship Bias of Entrepreneurship 30:19 Why AI Will Reward Builders 31:46 The $1 Million Bet on Ring.com 35:30 Why "DoorBot" Had to Die 36:44 Rebuilding Ring From Scratch 37:07 Partner Message: Bilt 38:08 The Lawsuit That Almost Killed the Amazon Deal 40:40 From the Highest High to the Lowest Low 42:30 The Settlement That Saved Ring 43:24 Building a Hypergrowth Company While Running Out of Money 44:27 Calling Amazon Back 46:53 Being a Solo Founder 50:39 Superbowl Ad 01:00:00 Social Currency Corner Thanks to Our Sponsors! Mercury: mercury.com Rula: rula.com/socialcurrency Bilt: joinbilt.com/socialcurrency Shopify: shopify.com/socialcurrency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty years after uploading his first YouTube video, Gary Vaynerchuk is still obsessed with where attention is going next. Today, he joins Sammi to talk about his predictions and why it’s not too late to get started on social media. Gary explains why he believes social media has become “interest media,” how AI and authenticity are not mutually exclusive, and why quantity remains one of the biggest competitive advantages in content. They also discuss the rise of live shopping, why Gary is betting big on IRL experiences, and the long-term vision behind VeeFriends—his modern intellectual property empire centered around optimism, accountability, and character development. Along the way, Gary shares his approach to mental health, whether he wants his kids to take over his business, and the one thing he still hasn’t done yet. Plus, they revisit one of Sammi’s favorite pieces of Gary’s content… and it’s a real tearjerker. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Follow Gary Vaynerchuk and VeeFriends Here’s What Sammi Covers with Gary: 00:00 Gary Vaynerchuk’s Social Currency 02:14 Partner Message: Mercury for Business 03:37 Uploading His First YouTube Video 20 Years Ago 05:34 Why Gary Only Talks About What He Knows 07:22 Why Social Media Became “Interest Media” 09:35 The Platform Predictions That Made Gary Famous 12:13 Why Content Merit Matters More Than Followers 14:20 Partner Message: Rula 15:36 Partner Message: Bilt 16:36 AI, Authenticity, and the Creator Dilemma 17:57 Why Quantity Is a Competitive Advantage 19:00 The Power of “And” Instead of “Or” 20:25 Why Gary Is Betting Big on IRL Experiences 21:14 The Rise of Analog in a Digital World 22:24 What Gary Will Never Outsource to AI 24:20 Why Great Businesses Ignore Personal Preference 25:12 Will Humans Eventually Marry AI? 26:23 The Upside of AI That People Ignore 27:33 The Video That Best Captures Gary’s Philosophy 28:53 Why Gary Cares So Much About Underdogs 30:10 The Difference Between Positivity and Delusion32:20 Gary’s Approach to Mental Health 33:23 Partner Message: Mercury for Personal 34:37 Partner Message: Shopify 35:57 What Gary Wants for His Kids 37:50 Why VeeFriends Is His Most Important Project 39:34 Building an IP Empire Through Character-Based Storytelling 42:13 Why Live Shopping Is Finally Taking Off 44:10 Gary’s Advice for Sammi’s New Live Show 46:06 Why Creators Need More Content on More Platforms 46:29 Gary’s First Viral Video 47:33 Who Gets the Good News—and Who Gets the Bad News 48:08 Whether Gary Will Ever Take a Real Break 49:28 The 15/85 System That Runs His Career Thanks to Our Sponsors! Mercury: mercury.com Rula: rula.com/socialcurrency Bilt: joinbilt.com/socialcurrency Shopify: shopify.com/socialcurrency Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laura Meyer has spent nearly a decade helping brands navigate Amazon, TikTok Shop, retail media, and now the next major shift in commerce: AI-driven shopping. Today, Sammi is partnering with Laura’s strategic commerce agency Envision Horizons to help brands get— and keep— attention in the changing world of online shopping. Laura explains why consumers are facing what she calls an “invisible tax on attention,” where prices rise because brands have to spend more on advertising just to stay visible in increasingly crowded digital platforms. She breaks down how rising customer acquisition costs are reshaping pricing, product quality, and platform strategy, and why even legacy brands are being forced to rethink where they spend every marketing dollar. Then the conversation turns to what may be the biggest shift ahead: consumers using AI before they buy. Laura shares new survey data showing that half of consumers switch brands after seeing recommendations from ChatGPT, why legacy brands are suddenly more vulnerable than they realize, and how platforms like Amazon, TikTok, and Shopify could each be affected differently as AI becomes the new shopping gatekeeper. She also explains why TikTok Shop remains a winners-and-losers platform, why she’s bearish on live shopping despite industry hype, and why logistics may still determine who wins the next era of commerce. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Download the free report Laura references in this episode — "The New Blind Spot: Why AI Is Sending Your Customers to Competitors" — including the full consumer survey results and AI Readiness Checklist Want to know how your brand shows up when consumers ask ChatGPT? Book a free AI Readiness Audit Follow Laura Meyer on LinkedIn and learn more about Envision HorizonsHere’s what Sammi covers with Laura: 00:00 Laura Meyer’s Social Currency 02:31 Laura’s Background and Launching Envision Horizons 09:07 The Changing Online Landscape 11:28 Retail Media Explained 12:36 How AI is Changing Brand Discovery 16:00 What Happens when AI Ads Arrive 23:50 TikTok Shop vs Amazon Economics 29:44 Why Amazon Still Wins Fulfillment 35:00 New AI Consumer Survey Findings 40:23 Why UX May Matter Less in Agentic Commerce 46:37 What Brands Should Ask Agencies 52:00 Laura’s POV on Live Shopping Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before TikTok Shop, before influencers sold products through livestreams, QVC had already perfected the live shopping formula: charismatic hosts, product storytelling, and frictionless buying through a screen. Today, Sammi unpacks how the company that built the category became trapped protecting the wrong business. QVC saw digital change coming, but instead of building for where consumer attention was moving, it spent billions doubling down on legacy retail through acquisitions like Zulily and HSN just as cable television was collapsing. Now, with $6.6 billion in debt, restructuring talks underway, and TikTok becoming one of its last major growth bets, QVC has become a case study in what happens when a company masters a format but loses control of the platform that made it powerful. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s what Sammi covers today: 00:00 How QVC Became a Cash Flow Machine 03:15 The First Big Wrong Turn 03:33 Why Zulily Failed04:33 The HSN Bet 05:17 Doubling Down on a Shrinking Market 06:37 Rebrands, Layoffs, and Decline 08:06 Why QVC Turned to TikTok 09:18 The Debt Problem 10:19 The Capital Allocation Lesson 11:05 The Big Lesson From the Billion-Dollar Crisis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices