TikTok
from Acquired
by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Published: Mon Dec 09 2019
Show Notes
We take Acquired to the Old Town Road to cover the amazing story behind the biggest global sensation of 2019— and the highest valued private startup in the world — TikTok. How did a mid-30 year old UX architect at enterprise software giant SAP wind up creating Gen Z’s favorite social app that’s now rivaling Instagram in global MAU? Why is a 2017merger of two Chinese companies being branded a US national security threat and retroactively placed under review by CFIUS? And perhaps most importantly, why is TikTok such an important product & technology innovation that all of us should be learning from? Tune in for all the answers!
Sponsors:
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Modern Treasury: https://bit.ly/acqtransfer
Carve Outs:
- Ben: Track 34 on Ghosts IV by Nine Inch Nails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_ceFugJjQ
- David: Nintendo Switch Lite https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/ and Knives Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGqiHJTsRkQ
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/technology/tiktok-alex-zhu-interview.html
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-tiktok-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-bytedance-moves-to-ringfence-its-tiktok-app-amid-u-s-probe-sources-idUSKBN1Y10OH
- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/arts/TIK-TOK.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
- href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
- href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
- href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html
- href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html
- href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/
- https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe
- href="https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme"> https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme
- href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin"> https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin
- href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/"> https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/
- href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok
- href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5"> https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5
- https://supchina.com/2017/09/13/can-pop-music-connect-teens-china-world-musical-ly-co-founder-louis-yang-wants-find/
- https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-28-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup-bytedance-maker-of-tiktok-toutiao/
- href="https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/"> https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/
- href="https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/"> https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/
- https://supchina.com/2019/09/25/the-difference-between-tiktok-and-douyin/
- https://pandaily.com/toutiaos-buy-1b-purchase-musical-ly/
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet-livestreaming-idUSKBN17E0EV
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII
- https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3038639/alex-zhus-journey-failed-startup-tiktok-chief
- https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/zuckerberg-musically-tiktok-china-facebook
- https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/
- https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKqFafZgCk
- https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/
- https://technode.com/2018/05/10/how-douyin-became-the-most-popular-app-in-the-world/
- https://blog.ycombinator.com/the-hidden-forces-behind-toutiao-chinas-content-king/
- https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china