Sam Blumenthal

Another piece of CryptoKitties’ success was the story. CryptoKitties were adorable, shareable, and fun — and the idea of buying a $1,000 digital cat was so absurd that it made a great news story. Additionally, the smart contract’s overeager users “broke Ethereum”, which made for a story in and of itself. Since Ethereum can only process a limited... See more

The Chinese couple, based in New York City, was asked to showcase via Taobao Live a $43 million townhouse on the Upper East Side. They had more than 110,000 people tune in to their first livestreaming event, where they strolled the multilevel building and pointed to key features and tested amenities. Afterward, they received 43 inquires from... See more

The desire for good advice drives Chinese consumers to turn to experts. In China, “even farmers have become influencers,” Weinswig said. “People will buy their groceries from a farmer on a livestream.”

The intimacy and immediacy of watching videos on a phone screen (how about 70% of YouTube viewers watch) helps creators connect with their audiences, opening opportunities for making money beyond just a cut of ad revenue. Sergey Vashketov films his two sons, Vlad and Niki, who make wildly popular videos for kids. The boys dress up in costumes, play... See more

The daily check-in is a feature, prominently featured in the centre of the home page. It encourages daily usage by rewarding users with redeemable points each time he or she checks into Pinduoduo. The user experience is laid out in the image below. First, the user clicks the yellow icon to administer a check-in. Each time the user checks-in they... See more