INVESTING, BUT MAKE IT SOCIAL 📱 💻
The Scope Vol. 2
Hello again, CWBS Members! We’re back with another edition of The Scope; this edition is centered around Katie Perry and her work with the cutting-edge social investing app Public, the business behind media industries such as music and entertainment, and a quick breakdown of careers in consulting. As you read through our newsletter, I hope you continue to be inspired by the endless possibilities available to you as young, empowered women in business – even if its something as unexpected as learning how you can turn your social savviness into an asset for investing. Happy reading!
- Sophia, Membership Engagement Chair of CWBS 2020-2021
STREAMING WARS: On Wednesday, May 27th, AT&T and HBO launched HBO Max, making it one of the last major players in the streaming wars. AT&T has allocated a whopping $4.5 billion to be spent on bolstering the service through 2025. HBO Max will be taking on Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, amongst others – its entry signifies the progressively saturated market for online entertainment streaming platforms. One other interesting aspect of this development to note is that directly related to AT&T’s move in acquiring Time Warner; the idea of creating a platform such as HBO Max was what inspired the acquisition. Learn more.
OUT OF WORK: Another 2.1 million unemployment claims were filed in the past week, bringing the total to 40 million since mid-March at the onset of a corona-fueled shutdown; these 40 million claims represent the equivalent of one out of every four American workers. Learn more.
MUSIC TO MY EARS: Warner Music has launched its I.P.O., and is now valued at up to $13.3 billion. The Warner Music group is home of some of the industry’s most prominent artists, including Ed Sheeran and Cardi B. This listing signifies the rebound of the music industry; in 2011, Warner was bought for only $3.3 billion; this rejuvenation has largely been spurred on by the emergence of music streaming services, such as Spotify and Apple Music. Learn more.
KATIE PERRY of PUBLIC
Want to give Public a try? Download the free app and start with $20 worth of stock on us.
“...Women are very savvy, especially women who are very curious about investing…for us it just makes sense. [Women] are a community of people who are interested and open and want to get involved, and so we really prioritize these partnerships.” - Katie Perry
Katie Perry is VP of Marketing for Public.com. Public makes the stock market social, inviting investors to share why they believe in companies and benefit from the collective wisdom of a transparent and constructive community.
Prior to Public, Katie was VP of Corporate Strategy at Comscore and spent two years as a strategic marketing and communications consultant for early-stage startups and media companies. Before that, she was Head of Brand Marketing for Suzy and was an early corporate marketing hire for 360i, an award-winning digital advertising agency.
Follow her on Public at Public.com/katiep.
If someone is just getting started with investing on an app like Public, what advice would you give them? What would be their first steps?
One thing I always think about is on a lot of social platforms, the experience of learning is seen as a negative use of time, but with Public, even on days I'm not investing, I'm not buying or selling, I'm still a long term investor, so I'm not really moving things around day to day. I'm in there every day just reading through the feed.
You can also bookmark stocks and add them to your watchlist so you can be like, “OK, I'm getting started. I'm going to kind of see what other people are saying and understand how they're approaching this. I can tag certain companies.”
We also have an explore tab that curates stocks by theme. So “themes” is essentially bundling stocks in a way that reflects how you actually experience the world, so it's not like an ETF; you can't buy a theme, but it's more about curating stocks based on topics that really make sense to people who aren't in the weeds of investing. So [the explore tab] is a great way to discover.
What are some standard investing practices or tips that you think all women should know?
When it comes to financial literacy, [there’s] this difference between “passive learning” and “active learning” – you need both of them. There’s this element of the fundamentals of “what's the terminology? How does the market work? What are your options?” That's all passive learning, and that is supreme or when you get started in understanding the language and how things work.
But then there's this other layer of active learning where you're actually doing. Previously, the “doing” was very hard to break into. You needed a lot of money to invest, or you needed a money manager, or you were going to have to pay a lot of commission fees, so a lot of people were blocked out from actively learning about investing in the past.
One thing I love about Public is it creates an opportunity for those who want it for active learning without putting a lot of skin in the game.
How does Public aim to deal with the gender gap in investing?
I'm obviously passionate about women in particular, but we're really obsessed with building a product that feels familiar and intuitive to use, no matter who you are, and allowing for features that make it easier to learn from others. So I think a big part of that is just our community is a very broad and diverse community – it's even reflected in our investors.
I've heard people have feedback that going into the app and seeing [experts] that look like them – even that’s big. In addition to that, we've also proactively partnered with a lot of women's communities. It's I think it's a good thing to do, but also, transparently it's good. It's good for our business because women are very savvy, especially women who are very curious about investing. I think they are underserved by a lot of existing financial services companies, and I think we've seen a lot of progress there.
But for us it just makes sense. [Women are] a community of people who are interested and open and want to get involved, and so we really prioritize these partnerships.
What are some of your personal favorite companies right now, public or private?
Yeah, I really like this question. OK. So a couple I really love:
Pinterest: I read a lot about their leadership (they've been really committed to slow and steady growth, which I think is really differentiated in big tech); their platform promotes a positive use of digital attention (with Pinterest, it's all about tying inspiration to action in the real world); from a business standpoint, I think they have a lot of potential.
Microsoft: We were just talking about this within the team at Public, about the consistency over time of Microsoft. It's so hard to be innovative on a consistent basis, and they’ve been so rock solid through the years. I also really respect their CEO, Satya Nadella.
Wegmans (Grocery Store): I believe they've been named one of the best companies to work at as long as they have existed, every single year. They take care of their employees so well and they've been doing it before it was cool to do it. Then on top of that, it's just an incredible in-store experience. It’s family-owned right now; CEO Colleen Wegman is the daughter of Danny White, the man who started it. So you have the female CEO, which I love to see. So that would be my favorite private company.
Who is a woman leader that you look up to and why?
OK. Yes, I have a couple:
Yamiche Alcindor (and the other female members of the White House Press Corps – Paula Reid, Weijia Jiang, and Kaitland Collins).
Sophia Amoruso, founder of Girl Boss and investor in Public
Morgan DeBaun, founder of Blavity and investor in Public
Read Katie’s full interview on The Scope Website.
Internships
Banking/Finance
Consulting
Tech
Startups
Venture Capital
A consultant is someone who has some level of expertise that a particular group of people finds valuable, and people within that group are willing to pay the consultant to access their expertise.
There are three main types of consultants: Management Consulting, Corporate Consulting, and Independent Consulting
Management Consultants help enterprise businesses improve strategy and operations or manage significant business events like mergers and acquisitions. Big firms in this field include well-known names such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain.
Corporate Consultants cover a larger spectrum of responsibilities and areas of focus. Some corporate consultants provide in-house consulting services.
Independent Consultant: An independent consultant runs their own business around their expertise rather than work as an employee at a larger firm.
Major Firms: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Definitions and information from Consulting.com.
