The Golden Era of LinkedIn is here!

In this newsletter, we’ll discuss the Q4 2024 earnings of some leading MediaTech companies, unstoppable LinkedIn, Creators getting front-row seats at DC, the growth of live streaming, and casual horseback shopping in a store. Yes, you read that right! Let's dive in!

Spotlight Story

These past few days, we have seen earnings reports from Snap, Spotify, Meta, and Google.

Snap -? reported a strong Q4 growth. Daily Active Users (DAU) reached 453M (+39 million YOY), Revenue from app-based purchase optimizations grew by 70% (YOY in Q4) and Creators post activity grew by 40% (YOY in Q4). The total 2024 revenue booked was $5.36 billion. In another news, Snap promoted Ajit Mohan as their Chief Business Officer (details below)

Spotify's first year of profitability resulted in Spotify stocks up by 10%. The company recorded growth across all key indicators, including Revenue, gross margin, operating income, and free cash flow, and had the highest fourth quarter ever for monthly user growth. Total monthly active users (MAU) grew 35 million over Q3, resting at 675 million. Paid subscribers also grew 11 million from Q3, landing at 263 million—a record high. Gross margins recorded at 32.2%, another all-time high.?

At the time of my writing, the stock price was at an all-time sky-high $621.88, a growth of 178% from the past year!! Looks like their bet on product enhancements, video podcasts, and audiobooks is paying off.?

CEO, Daniel Ek says (and I paraphrase), While 2024 was the year of efficiency; 2025 will be the year of accelerated execution.

Meta - not to be left behind, Meta had a strong quarter growth as well. Sales in the fourth quarter jumped 21% year over year while net income grew 49% to $20.8 billion from $14 billion a year earlier. The company is continuing its aggressive CAPEX investment in AI, with $60 - $65 billion committed in 2025. Reality Labs generated $1.1 billion in sales and reported an operating loss of $5 billion. Despite the upcoming layoffs, Meta’s headcount reached 74,000 a growth of 10% YOY

Google - hasn't had the most stellar quarter, with YouTube ads saving the day. The company reported a revenue of $96.5 billion. While most of the key metrics were in line with investor expectations, Cloud revenue of $12 billion grew more slowly than it has in recent quarters, and the 12% growth of total revenue was also the slowest rate since 2023. However, YouTube ad revenue outpaced analysts’ expectations, climbing 14% to $10.473 billion, a new record.?

With TikTok's fate still hanging in suspense, the Q1 results could well mark the beginning of the end of this bull run if Microsoft ends up acquiring TikTok's US business. Here’s my take?

Trending Topic

LinkedIn is on a bull run too! As a part of Microsoft’s overall revenue, LinkedIn’s revenue has grown by 9% YOY, a strong MAU of 1 billion users, and has recorded $2 billion in premium subscriptions in the last 12 months.?

LinkedIn is officially entering its golden period, with video viewership up by 36% YOY, Uploads up +34% YoY in Q4, and +36% YoY in Q1. Here is a must-read note from Brendan Gahan. And if you’d like to dig even deeper check out this article. BTW, Reese Witherspoon joined LinkedIn last week. Doesn’t this tell you something about LinkedIn’s growing influence yet??

As we all know, Meta has had a change of heart recently (in many ways), and most recently it signed a legal settlement that will see a payout of roughly $25m to US President Donald Trump, to settle a lawsuit over the suspension of his accounts after the 6 January 2021 Capitol riots.?

Meta has identified 2025 as the year to determine the success or failure of its metaverse initiative. This comes in light of some key leadership changes within its Reality Labs division. As a part of the reorg, the unit previously led by Reality Labs' COO, Dan Reed (an exceptional leader and my manager during Meta days), will now be overseen by Meta's COO, Javier Olivan

Research Reports

Stream Hatchet, recently shared the 2024 Yearly Live Streaming Trends Report. Some key findings of the report are

• Live Streaming increased with a 12% growth in 2024 and 32.5B hours watched
• Live Streaming is increasingly becoming a source of news
• Twitch is the dominant platform (61% market share), with 16M subs purchased monthly on the platform
• Gaming genres rule live streaming viewership, with first-person shooter ranking highest, with Action-Adventure and MOBA following
• Here is the downloaded report (clink link above, if this doesn't work)

Around the World

• This piece stunned me. TikTok’s global revenue has reached $63.3 billion, nearly double of YouTube’s $33.3 billion. The platform now has 1.9 billion MAUs, including 145 million in the US. Interestingly, YouTube has the top monthly usage across the US, UK, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan, while TikTok is at number 6, 9, 7,3,4, and 5 respectively across these geographies
• The White House invited creators to apply for credentials to attend open press briefings to content creators, influencers, and podcasters - and received 7400+ requests within a day!!?

Nearly 40% of young adults under the age of 30 rely on influencers to stay updated on current events and politics, according to the Pew Research Center.?

• If you thought you had seen it all, watch Saudi female equestrian and influencer Shahd Al Shammari, casually horse-back shopping in a garment store!?
• YouTube has rolled out its "Communities" feature to more creators, letting them connect with viewers on mobile devices. Now, Creators and viewers can post and interact, unlike regular comment sections.?
• Meta AI has now launched in the Middle East and North Africa region. The feature is gradually rolling out across the region, with full accessibility already available in key markets including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Iraq.
• OpenAI will develop artificial intelligence products for South Korea with chat app operator Kakao, unveiling a second major alliance with a high-profile Asian partner this week. The first one was with Softbank Japan. Sam Altman is headed to India next
• India is the second largest market, with users tripling over the past year for OpenAI, says Sam Altman during his visit to India
• Snap has promoted Ajit Mohan as its new Chief Business Officer. Ajit who was earlier President, APAC will now oversee Snap’s global advertising operations, focusing on strengthening revenue-generation strategies and enhancing market reach. Ajit is hands down one of the most strategic and cool-headed leaders that I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working with! Snap is in very good hands! :)?

My Corner

This has been my busiest week in weeks! And I’m loving it! Productive meetings, friends meet, radio station podcast recording, book manuscript reviewing, networking, brainstorming new opportunities, traveling, podcast recording (again!), and column writing for a publication! Perhaps, this is me, excusing myself for the delay in publishing this newsletter by a day.?

The highlight of my week was hosting the distinguished Akhilesh Tuteja at RedFM 93.5 for a podcast on a Creator Economy special edition of the Author Spotlight series hosted by Preeti Chaturvedi

Dad Joke of the Week

Did you hear about the broken guitar for sale? It comes with no strings attached ??

I hope you like this free newsletter. I’m still learning and this newsletter is still evolving. Would love your candid feedback. Anything you’d like to see more of, less of or least of! ??

I have held leadership roles in big tech sales & partnerships across Asia Pacific-Japan, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. I’m a seasoned entrepreneur (EdTech) and a military veteran. I am a business author on the evolving Content and Creator Economy and a LinkedIn Top Voice on Team Management and Creator Economy.

Join our community for a midweek insight into the pulse of the global Creator Economy, delivered straight to your inbox. Email me at [email protected] or swing by www.MetaCogX.me (under construction).

Stay curious, keep exploring!