Social Currency with Sammi Cohen

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Money News Network+
  • 4.8 (152)
  • Business
  • Updated Semiweekly

On Social Currency, Sammi Cohen unpacks the stories that are shaping business, culture and the intersection of the two. From boardrooms to Instagram trends, Sammi speaks with business leaders to connect the dots between brand, consumer and influence, so you don’t just keep up—you get ahead. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow now to stay in the know. Want more? Find Sammi on Instagram @sammicohentalks.

  1. 3d ago

    Alpha School: Two-Hour Learning, the $150K Founders School and the Future of AI Education

    What if kids could finish a full day of academics in just two hours? That’s the promise behind Alpha School, the AI-powered private school claiming its students learn 2.6 times faster than their peers and graduate with an average SAT score above 1470. Today, Sammi takes you inside the Alpha School story. It began in 2014 as Emergent Academy in Austin, founded by MacKenzie Price and Brian Holtz, and today it is backed by billionaire Trilogy founder Joe Liemandt. Sammi breaks down how the model works, from adaptive learning software and $100,000-a-year “guides” to afternoons spent on public speaking, entrepreneurship and life skills. She also looks at Founders School, Alpha’s $150,000-a-year high school that promises students will build a business generating $1 million in profit by graduation or get their tuition refunded. Then, Sammi digs into the criticism: regulatory pushback in New York and Pennsylvania, concerns about screen-based instruction, extensive student monitoring, equity and access, and the lack of independent research behind Alpha’s headline numbers. So is Alpha School the future of education, or a high-priced experiment that’s still waiting on proof? Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here’s what Sammi covers today: 00:00 Alpha School’s Bold Promise 02:47 The Origin Story of Alpha School 03:32 The Pitch Behind Two-Hour Learning 04:15 How Alpha School Actually Works 04:36 Guides vs. Teachers and $100K Salaries 05:03 Inside a Typical Alpha School Day 05:51 Does It Actually Work? Alpha’s Test Score Claims 06:36 The Missing Independent Evidence 07:30 Why Parents Are Drawn to Alpha 08:16 Paying Up to $75,000 a Year 08:53 What Alpha Parents Told Sammi 09:14 Founders School and the $1 Million Business Guarantee 11:51 Inside the Founders School Day 12:22 The $150,000 Tuition and Refund Fine Print 13:08 What Founders School Reveals 13:33 The Five Big Criticisms 13:43 Regulatory Friction 14:33 The Screen-Based Learning Debate 15:16 Surveillance and Student Privacy 15:46 Equity and Access 16:35 The Question of Proof 16:55 What Alpha Is Really Selling 17:23 The Big Takeaway 17:58 The Risk of Measuring Everything 18:24 Can Education Be Optimized? 19:06 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Alpha School: Two-Hour Learning, the $150K Founders School and the Future of AI Education

  2. Oct 6

    Natalie Holloway (Bala) on Bootstrapping, Shark Tank and Dupe Culture

    Bala started with $5,000, a sketch and a yoga class that wasn't hard enough. Today, the brand behind the bangles on every workout influencer's wrists is growing 50% year over year with just 12 full-time employees. This week, Sammi sits down with Bala co-founder and CEO Natalie Holloway, author of Bootstrap Empire, to unpack how she and her husband Max went from burnt-out ad agency employees at 72andSunny to building one of fitness's most recognizable brands. Natalie shares the Kickstarter number that would have made her walk away, why she walked into Shark Tank asking for $400K for 10% and walked out with $900K for 30%, and what happened when the episode aired just two weeks before the world shut down. Then, Natalie opens up about the post-COVID bust that forced Bala to lay off nearly its entire team, the spending mistakes she'd never repeat, and why she chose small business loans over venture capital to keep control of the company. Later, she breaks down the reality of dupe culture, from navigating patents across countries to confronting retailers who sell knockoffs next to Bala, and explains why the brand created Move by Bala for its upcoming Walmart launch. Plus, Natalie shares how Bala plans to become the "female Rogue," the repeat purchase challenge of selling products people keep for years, why she walked away from a New York City fitness studio the night before signing the lease, and how she and Max keep work and marriage separate. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Check out Natalie's book Bootstrap Empire Here's What Sammi Covers with Natalie: 00:00 Natalie Holloway's Social Currency 05:45 How Advertising Prepared Natalie to Build a Brand 07:05 Why You Can't Be Married to an Idea 08:05 The Origin Story of Bala Bangles 11:35 From Account Person to Product Designer 13:10 Launching Bala With $5,000 14:20 The Kickstarter Number That Would Have Made Her Quit 15:40 Climbing "Cringe Mountain" 19:55 Inside Bala's Shark Tank Deal 21:55 What Happens After a Shark Tank Deal Closes 22:20 Airing Two Weeks Before COVID 23:55 The Post-COVID Bust and Laying Off the Team 26:10 What Natalie Would Have Done Differently 29:10 Why Bala Chose Loans Over Venture Capital 32:00 Fighting Dupes and Patent Infringement 34:15 When Your Retailer Sells Your Dupe 37:10 Do Dupes Actually Make Bala Bigger? 37:55 Move by Bala and the Walmart Launch 39:00 Growing 50% a Year With 12 Employees 40:15 Building the C-Suite 41:00 Bala on TikTok Shop 42:40 What Lululemon Is Getting Wrong 44:15 Becoming the Female Rogue 46:10 Solving the Repeat Purchase Problem 48:00 Why Bala Walked Away From a NYC Studio 50:10 Lightning Round 51:20 Natalie's 30-Minute Meeting Rule 52:40 Social Currency Corner: AI in Marketing 54:50 Listener Question: Running a Business With Your Spouse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Natalie Holloway (Bala) on Bootstrapping, Shark Tank and Dupe Culture

  3. Sep 29

    Peloton: First Profit, the Spotify Deal and Why the Stock Still Fell

    For the first time in its history as a public company, Peloton turned a profit. After years of billion-dollar losses, the fitness brand posted $63 million in net income this fiscal year. Just three years ago, it was a punchline. Today, Sammi unpacks how Peloton went from pandemic darling to cautionary tale and back again. She revisits the crash that wiped out $40 billion in market value, founder John Foley's exit, and the Sex and the City reboot that turned a Peloton bike into a plot device. Then, she breaks down the turnaround strategy led by CEO Peter Stern, the former Apple executive who built his career on subscriptions, not hardware. Sammi walks through the bets that got Peloton back in the black: aggressive price increases and cost cuts, a viral ad campaign starring Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams, a global partnership with Spotify, and a new push into commercial gyms. Plus, she explains why the stock dropped more than 11% on the day Peloton announced its historic profit, and what that says about whether Peloton is really back. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's What Sammi Covers Today: 00:00 Peloton's First Profitable Year 01:50 Partner Message - Mercury 02:50 From $50 Billion to Punchline 03:45 John Foley's Exit and the 87% Wipeout 04:15 The Pandemic Bubble Cautionary Tale 04:55 Enter Peter Stern, Peloton's Apple Hire 05:45 The Four-Pillar Turnaround Plan 06:15 Price Hikes and Cost Cuts 07:30 The Heated Rivalry Ad That Went Viral 08:15 The Spotify Partnership 08:58 Peloton's Commercial Gym Bet 09:55 The $63 Million Turnaround 10:25 Partner Message -Mercury 12:45 Why the Stock Fell Anyway 13:15 A Shrinking Subscriber Base 14:40 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Peloton: First Profit, the Spotify Deal and Why the Stock Still Fell

  4. Sep 22

    Evan Spiegel (Snap) on AR Glasses, Getting Copied by Big Tech and the Social Media Age-Gating Debate

    Nearly a billion people open Snapchat every month, and almost half a billion use it every single day. Fifteen years after Evan Spiegel and his co-founders launched the app, formerly known as Peekaboo, out of a Stanford dorm room, Snap is betting its next decade on something you wear on your face. This week, Sammi sits down with Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel to talk through the evolution of the company, how he thinks about being one of the most copied products in social media, and Specs, the $2,195 AR glasses more than a decade in the making. He explains why he sees the copying as a compliment to great design, why hardware is a much harder bet for competitors to follow than software, and what convinced him a decade ago that computing needed to move off screens and into the world. Evan also breaks down the viral meme that introduced Specs to a mainstream audience, how the company thinks about privacy on a device built to record, and why Spotlight, Snap's video feed, has become one of its fastest growing products by rewarding authenticity over AI generated content. He shares his prediction for what Snap looks like in 2036 and his take on the ongoing debate over minimum ages for kids on social media. Toward the end, Evan gets personal, talking about parenting four kids in a world full of screens, what his wife Miranda Kerr has taught him about skincare, and the story behind his family's donation to an organization that relieves medical debt. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's What Sammi Covers with Evan: 00:00 Evan Spiegel's Social Currency 03:42 How Snapchat Started as "Peekaboo" 05:57 The Insight That Turned It Into a Messaging App 08:47 Being Social Media's Most Copied Product 11:06 What Evan Still Signs Off On at Snap 12:32 The Decade-Long Bet on AR Glasses 16:05 The Timeline for Mass Adoption of Specs 17:05 Evan's Live Reaction to Sammi Trying Specs 20:47 Why Specs Are Priced Like a Computer 22:29 The Viral Meme That Introduced Specs to the World 23:58 How Specs Are Designed Around Privacy 27:35 Why Spotlight Is One of Snap's Fastest-Growing Products 33:00 Evan's Prediction for Snap in 2036 37:42 Evan's Take on the Social Media Age-Gating Debate 41:22 Parenting Four Kids in a World Full of Screens 41:29 What Miranda Kerr Taught Him About Skincare 43:31 The Story Behind the Undo Medical Debt Donation 46:03 Lightning Round 49:37 Listener Question: Staying Motivated Building Hardware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Evan Spiegel (Snap) on AR Glasses, Getting Copied by Big Tech and the Social Media Age-Gating Debate

  5. Sep 15

    Jim McKelvey (Square) on Beating Amazon, The Innovation Stack and Fixing FDA Drug Trials

    How does a scrappy startup beat Amazon when Amazon copies your product, undercuts your price and slaps its own name on it? According to Square co-founder Jim McKelvey, you don't. Except, once in a while, someone does. This week Sammi revisits one of her favorite conversations ever recorded for Social Currency: her sit-down with Jim McKelvey, the artist-turned-entrepreneur who co-founded Square (now Block) with Jack Dorsey. Jim opens with the story of how he once stripped down in a trade association's office just to get a meeting, and explains why getting someone's attention is always the real first step in any pitch. He breaks down why he intentionally designed Square's original card reader to work poorly, and how that "flaw" turned millions of small business owners into free advertisers for the brand. Then, Jim tells the almost unbelievable story of how Square survived Amazon's attempt to copy and kill its business with Amazon Register, why he studied history to understand how rare that survival really was, and how a conversation with Southwest's Herb Kelleher led him to write his book, The Innovation Stack. Jim also opens up about his years as an independent director of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, what he learned living through zero interest rates, the pandemic and the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and how the role reshaped his politics. Plus, he explains why his media venture Invisibly failed to save journalism despite cracking the monetization problem, and details his newest venture, Fast Trials, an attempt to slash the cost of FDA drug trials so more life-saving drugs can make it to market. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Read Jim McKelvey's blog and check out his book, The Innovation Stack Here's What Sammi Covers with Jim: 00:00 Jim McKelvey's Social Currency 02:03 Why Sammi Is Revisiting This Episode 05:09 The Striptease That Landed a Six-Figure Deal 08:00 Why Getting Attention Comes Before Any Pitch 11:01 Why the Square Reader Was Designed to Not Work Well 14:23 Respecting Your Audience's Attention 17:56 Why Jim Doesn't Use Social Media 19:00 The Power of the Pause 20:22 The Real Origin Story of Square 24:32 How Square Survived Amazon's Attempt to Kill It 28:04 The Commandment From Herb Kelleher That Became a Book 32:11 Why the Rules of Innovation Are Different 36:27 The Hardest Part of Doing Something New 37:28 Serving as an Independent Director of the Federal Reserve 40:22 What the Fed Taught Jim About Political Neutrality 42:19 The Allergic Response to Ideas That Don't Fit 43:22 Why Invisibly Failed to Save Journalism 47:04 The Monetization Model That Actually Worked 49:26 Jim's New Venture: Fast Trials 54:31 Advice for Building in Regulated Industries 58:08 Jim's Don't-Do List 59:48 Social Currency Corner: Tipping Culture 01:02:20 A Listener Question on the Future of Fintech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  6. Sep 9

    Van Leeuwen vs. Rebel: The $24 Million Ice Cream Copycat Lawsuit

    A federal judge just ordered an ice cream company to hand over nearly $24 million because their pint looked a little too much like someone else's. Today, Sammi breaks down the case of Van Leeuwen versus Rebel Creamery, a lawsuit that is about way more than ice cream. She explains how Van Leeuwen's pastel packaging, designed by the firm Pentagram in 2016, became one of the most valuable assets in the company's business and helped drive a nearly 50% jump in sales velocity. Then she unpacks how keto ice cream brand Rebel launched with strikingly similar packaging, despite a buyer warning them beforehand that it looked like a ripoff. Sammi digs into the legal concept of trade dress, which protects the overall look and feel of a product rather than any single design element, and explains why the court sided with Van Leeuwen. She also covers the idea of "reverse confusion," why Rebel's missing design paperwork sank their case, and how the judge's finding of bad faith unlocked a massive damages award under the Lanham Act. Finally, Sammi shares why this case matters for every founder and brand builder today: in an age where AI can replicate any aesthetic instantly, the real competitive advantage isn't the look itself, it's being able to prove you own it. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's what Sammi covers today: 00:00 The $24 Million Ice Cream Lawsuit 00:59 Partner Message: Mercury 02:16 Van Leeuwen's Origin Story 02:44 The Pentagram Packaging Redesign 03:34 How the Design Became the Brand 03:50 Enter Rebel Creamery 04:17 The Wegmans Warning 05:00 Van Leeuwen Files Suit 05:25 What Is Trade Dress? 06:06 Proving Consumer Confusion 06:46 The Concept of Reverse Confusion 07:10 The Paper Trail That Won the Case 07:46 Rebel's Missing Evidence 08:25 The Judge's Bad Faith Ruling 08:34 The Good Faith Remote User Defense 09:10 How Rebel's Profits Became the Damages 09:50 The $23.8 Million Verdict and Redesign Order 10:16 Partner Message: Mercury 11:26 Why Provable Ownership Matters in the AI Era 11:47 The Founder's Takeaway 12:30 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Van Leeuwen vs. Rebel: The $24 Million Ice Cream Copycat Lawsuit

  7. Sep 9

    Dan Clancy (Twitch) on Live Streaming Community, Creator Monetization and the Future of AI

    Dan Clancy's resume includes NASA, Google and Nextdoor, an unlikely path to becoming CEO of one of the biggest live streaming platforms in the world. This week, Sammi sits down with Dan to unpack what actually makes Twitch different from every other social platform: a community that survives even when the algorithm doesn't. Dan explains why he still streams himself as "DJ Clancy" (despite never once DJing), what that experience taught him about belonging that he couldn't have learned any other way, and why Twitch's average watch time of 73 minutes says more about human connection than any growth metric. He breaks down how creator monetization actually works, why gift subscriptions often outperform tipping, and the advice he gives anyone intimidated by starting their first stream. Then, Dan gets into why platforms like YouTube have tried and failed to poach Twitch's top streamers, what's still defensible about Twitch a decade after everyone copied the format, and how he thinks about AI as a creative tool rather than a threat to authentic connection. Plus, he opens up about the songwriting career he only discovered in his fifties, the identity boxes we build for ourselves, and the life advice he shared with Sammi that she says she'll be thinking about for a long time. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Follow Twitch: twitch.tv Check out TwitchCon: twitchcon.com Here's What Sammi Covers with Dan: 00:00 Dan Clancy's Social Currency 02:29 From Theater Major to Tech Executive 04:35 What Theater Taught Dan About Leadership 08:30 Streaming as "DJ Clancy" 10:10 What Live Streaming Taught Dan About Community 12:05 The Pitch to a First-Time Twitch Viewer 15:00 Comparing Twitch to Bingeable TV and "Cheers" 15:40 The Power of Horizontal Connections 18:04 Twitch's Core Demographics 19:30 How Twitch Differs From TikTok and YouTube 23:10 How Creator Monetization Actually Works 26:10 Advice for Streamers Just Starting Out 28:00 Short-Form vs. Long-Form Content Strategy 28:51 Why Collaboration Drives Growth on Twitch 29:46 Why Gaming Is a Co-Creation Activity 30:50 Balancing Online Community With Real-World Connection 33:10 What Still Makes Twitch Defensible 36:00 Could Twitch and Amazon Build Social Commerce? 38:25 How AI Fits Into Live Streaming 42:50 Why Every Tech Revolution Comes Back to Connection 46:00 Dan's Songwriting Journey and Breaking Out of Old Boxes 49:08 Dan's System for Embracing Failure 52:26 Cori Marchisotto, e.l.f. and Brands on Twitch 56:44 Listener Question: Supporting Twitch's Volunteer Moderators Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Dan Clancy (Twitch) on Live Streaming Community, Creator Monetization and the Future of AI

  8. Aug 25

    Chili's Comeback, Decoded

    Chili's now goes through 65 million pounds of mozzarella a year, up from just 12 million four years ago. The reason traces back to a single TikTok video of a cheese pull that quietly turned a decade-old menu item into one of the biggest comeback stories in restaurant history. Today, Sammi breaks down exactly how Chili's pulled off what one analyst called the best turnaround in restaurant history. She digs into the operational fixes nobody saw coming, from a shrimp-counting ritual that wasted hours of labor every day to a salt shaker redesign that cut seasoning time by more than 80 percent. She also traces how CEO Kevin Hochman, who came from Procter & Gamble and Yum Brands, rebuilt the kitchen experience from the inside out while his marketing team leaned into the viral moment instead of manufacturing one. Then, Sammi unpacks the marketing engine behind the comeback, including the Triple Dipper's rise from a forgotten combo platter to 16 percent of total sales, the launch of Nashville Hot Mozzarella, and nostalgia plays like the Boyz II Men jingle and the Margarita of the Month program. Finally, she reveals the number buried in Chili's most recent earnings report that complicates the celebratory headlines, and what it means for the road ahead, including the struggles at sister brand Maggiano's Little Italy. Go check out the incredible Fast Company article on Chili's comeback: https://www.fastcompany.com/91549042/chilis-comeback-restaurant-retro-redesign Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Here's What Sammi Covers Today: 00:00 Chili's Mozzarella Explosion 01:30 Sammi's Intro to the Story 01:40 How Far Chili's Had Fallen 02:20 Kevin Hochman Takes Over 02:50 "Marketing Brings Them In, Ops Brings Them Back" 03:13 The Listening Tour That Started It All 03:29 The Shrimp-Counting Fix 03:54 The Ordering Glitch Costing 15 Plates a Night 04:15 The iPad and Wi-Fi Overhaul 04:33 The Salt Shaker Fix 04:53 Cutting the Menu and Adding Staff 05:13 Reformulating the Food 05:41 The Viral Cheese Pull Video 06:17 The Triple Dipper's Sales Surge 06:57 The Launch of Nashville Hot Mozzarella 07:30 Nostalgia Marketing: Boyz II Men and Margarita of the Month 08:05 The Three for Me Deal and "Value Theater" 08:24 The Numbers Behind the Comeback 09:11 Rolling Out the Retro Redesign 09:19 The Number That Complicates the Story 09:36 Why Traffic Is Actually Down 10:00 Maggiano's Little Italy Struggles 10:24 What's Next for Chili's 11:27 How to Show Social Currency Some Love Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Chili's Comeback, Decoded
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On Social Currency, Sammi Cohen unpacks the stories that are shaping business, culture and the intersection of the two. From boardrooms to Instagram trends, Sammi speaks with business leaders to connect the dots between brand, consumer and influence, so you don’t just keep up—you get ahead. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday. Follow now to stay in the know. Want more? Find Sammi on Instagram @sammicohentalks.

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