'We're Trying': Biden Gets Grilled on Snapchat's 'Good Luck America'

Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

'We're Trying': Biden Gets Grilled on Snapchat's 'Good Luck America'
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Here's the deal: the first segment of a three-part Joe Biden interview aired Wednesday on Snapchat's "Good Luck America." Parts two and three will follow on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Interviewer Peter Hamby did not mince words in asking Biden about his being perceived as "old, out of touch, and kind of lame."


The avuncular presidential candidate, who has alternately been christened Dementia Joe, Creepy Joe and Sleepy Joe, retorted, "I don't have any problem comparing my energy level to Donald Trump, who I'm really resisting giving a nickname to." The 77-year-old later redoubled his display of vigor, proclaiming, "I can hardly wait to get out of being on my back porch here."

The democrat has had his plans upended by the coronavirus, like so many Americans. Biden has been forced to rely on his online presence since he's no longer able to hit the physical campaign trail. It's not exactly an ideal battleground for the former vice president: Biden's social media followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter total just 7% those of President Trump. (Snap does not publish such data.)

Presidential social media followers as of May 13, 2020 in millions.assets.rebelmouse.io

Biden addressed the discrepancy on his Wednesday segment.

"We're getting started late in the comparative sense," he said. "I'm sure we can do better on the internet. I'm positive of that...we're trying."

Snap claims that over half of the U.S. Gen Z population watches news content on its Discover platform. Across its entire app, the company says it reaches 90% of all 13-24 year-olds in the U.S., and 75% of all 13-34 year-olds. Biden spent much of Wednesday's segment expressing sympathy toward those young people whom he surely hopes will help him win in November.

"Young people want the truth and they want authenticity," he observed. "And younger Americans have had a really tough run of it. Millennials came of age defined by 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis. Generation Z has grown up at a time of school shooting, crushing student debt."

Peter Hamby Interviews Vice President Joe Biden | Good Luck America | Snap Originalswww.youtube.com

Political pundits have questioned of late whether Biden's message will resonate with younger voters.

The conveyance of that message by Snap is part of the L.A.-based company's wider content strategy, which includes numerous efforts to provide credible news to its relatively impressionable audience.

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According to a company spokesperson, Good Luck America was "born from the desire to help our Snapchat community understand a confusing time in American politics." Launched in 2016, it was Snap's first original series. Since then, interview guests have included Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and John McCain.

Earlier this year Snap rolled out multiple resources on its Discover platform "to ensure our community has consistent and reliable resources for the latest updates on COVID-19." As of April, over 40% of Gen Z in the U.S. had engaged with some kind of COVID-19 related content, such as the videos on Snap's dedicated "Coronavirus: Updates" channel, according to the company.

To help keep content free of deceptive or deliberately false information, Snap's Discover platform does not include an open feed for unvetted publishers, the company says. Instead it curates such content in partnership with "trusted news organizations," the World Health Organization and Britain's National Health Service.

Biden's appearance follows Anthony Fauci's last month. Snap declined to release viewing figures for either interview.

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Sam Blake covers media and entertainment for dot.LA. Find him on Twitter @hisamblake and email him at samblake@dot.LA

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

***

LeaseLock, a lease insurance and financial technology provider for the rental housing industry named Janine Steiner Jovanovic as chief executive officer. Prior to this role, Steiner Jovanovic served as the former EVP of Asset Optimization at RealPage.

Esports platform PlayVS hired EverFi co-founder and seasoned business leader Jon Chapman as the company’s chief executive officer.

Biotechnology company Visgenx appointed William Pedranti, J.D. as chief executive officer. Before joining, Mr. Pedranti was a partner with PENG Life Science Ventures.

Pressed Juicery, the leading cold-pressed juice and functional wellness brand welcomed Justin Nedelman as chief executive officer. His prior roles include chief real estate officer of FAT Brands Inc. and co-founder of Eureka! Restaurant Group.

Michael G. Vicari joined liquid biopsy company Nucleix as chief commercial officer. Vicari served as senior vice president of Sales at GRAIL, Inc.

Full-service performance marketing agency Allied Global Marketing promoted Erin Corbett to executive vice president of global partnership and marketing. Prior to joining Allied, Corbett's experience included senior marketing roles at Disney, Warner Bros. Studios, Harrah's Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studios.

Nuvve, a vehicle-to-grid technology company tapped student transportation and automotive sales and marketing executive David Bercik to lead the K-12 student transportation division.

This Week in ‘Raises’: Curri Scoops Up $42M, Mosaic Scores $26M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local logistics platform raised fresh funding to put toward product development, infrastructure and sales and marketing initiatives, while a San Diego-based fintech company closed its Series C funding round to expand its investment in AI which will empower high-growth SMB and mid-market finance leaders.

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Venture Capital

Curri, a Ventura-based logistics platform, raised a $42 million Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

San Diego-based financial platform Mosaic raised a $26 million Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures.

AHARA, a Los Angeles-based startup focused on providing personalized nutrition suggestions, raised a $10.25 million seed funding round led by Greycroft.

Per an SEC filing, San Diego-based developer of peptide therapeutics designed to assist in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and disorders selectIon raised $5 million in funding.

Miscellaneous

Los Angeles-based Sensydia, a company working on non-invasive cardiac diagnostics, said this morning that it has received $3 million in a NIH grant.

Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear
Samson Amore

Last year, global venture capital investment in esports dropped by more than 40%. Investors have been rapidly selling off teams and franchises, and the industry has witnessed a consistent decline in ad spend. This has prompted many critics to coin the term “esports winter,” referring to a fall-off in the industry, an indication that VCs believe their investments didn’t achieve success as expected.

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