tv Bloomberg Technology Bloomberg December 22, 2020 11:00pm-12:00am EST
11:00 pm
vonnie: i'm vonnie quinn in new york. this is "bloomberg technology." coming up in the next hour, with fewer than 30 days until joe biden's presidential inauguration, he urges americans to celebrate the milestone virtually as 60,000 trump supporters refuse the election results with an online event of their own. from virus to stimulus. we will break down all the
11:01 pm
conflicting signals from washington. plus, crypto in your stocking? the digital currency is on a tear. what it means for crypto's value in the new year. and what happened to facebook's libra? we have analysis and outlook. and, jingle belly. consumer trends in the age of coronavirus have shaken up the restaurant industry. a particular appetite. we will hear from the goldbelly ceo. those stories in a moment. u.s. markets continued the drowned -- downward trend of sliding amid lingering concerns monday. over a new variant of the coronavirus with lockdowns mainly in europe. let's get to abigail doolittle in new york with more. abigail: a bit of a jittery day for stocks. the s&p 500 fluctuating earlier in the day, then heading lower. at one point, down .5%. the bigger trend to think about is the fact that we now have this index down three days in a row.
11:02 pm
the bears are gaining traction. fears around the virus. the nasdaq 100 up ever so slightly. mixed messages. but investors again just a little bit cautious over the uncertainty about this new virus strain, what can it mean relative to additional lockdowns of some sort in the u.s., and the strain on the economy. apple bucking the trend on the news they are planning on getting into the electrical vehicle market. that was the case yesterday. tesla dropping on that news. one thing that stands out, moderna trading lower. today, pfizer down 1.7%. moderna down about 9%. if these are the beginning of some seldom news, you often have these big rallies into expected events and then the selling action. will this lead into the broader markets? we don't know, but where we saw selling was the travel stocks. traders fret that folks out
11:03 pm
there in the world will not be traveling as soon had been hoped in 2021, especially with this new strain of the virus and the u.k. earlier, we were talking about peloton, one bright spot. really popping on the day. shares up over the last seven days 38%, the longest winning streak since the beginning of february. this as they bond manufacturing -- bought manufacturing capacity for $420 million. folks stuck at home wanting to work out and stay in shape. peloton wanting to meet the demand. the stock on a absolute bullish tear. vonnie: we were also talking about the anemic volume as well into the end of the year. abigail doolittle with the market action. white house aides say the president will sign a giant spending bill that combines coronavirus relief, government funding, and tax breaks for businesses. the senate gave final approval last night. with us to discuss is mike
11:04 pm
storming in washington, d.c. it has been a period of substantial dysfunction in washington. what will incoming president joe biden do to smooth over that dysfunction? mike: he is trying to reach out to republican leaders in congress and trying to come up with some next round of stimulus that will appeal to not only democrats but some republicans. trying to get things going. but, the big struggle it took to pass this package just highlights the challenge he faces. it has been obvious for months that the economy is in need of second relief. since june, something like 7.8 million americans have fallen into poverty. it has been very clear, yet it took until now to get something done. vonnie: that is a stunning number, some 7.8 million americans falling into poverty since just june.
11:05 pm
has biden tried to get another round of stimulus or relief, trying to maybe work something out through an infrastructure package or some other way? mike: he has signaled he will seek another round of stimulus quickly once he gets into office. the democrats view this as merely an interim round of stimulus to keep things from getting too bad before he takes office. we will see how he does in passing that. but, there are signs that there is stuff people can support. he wants to particularly focus on infrastructure, which is often something where you can get the other side to support pieces of that. vonnie: as we know as well, divisions will be to the fore very early in january, but before the inauguration with the georgia runoff. when the incoming president says
11:06 pm
he governs for everybody, how does he do that so quickly, divisive,thing so bringing up the divisions in the country once again in january? mike: i think we will be able to move past the january runoff once it happens. it is more likely that there will be divisive things, actions by president trump in the final weeks. that primary will resolve itself one way or the other. not primary, that runoff will resolve itself one way or the other. one of the reasons mcconnell was pushing to get a deal done is because he realized and told other republican senators that the republican candidates for senate in georgia were taking a big hit because congress had not done anything on relief packages. i think he will try to reach out with some elements of a stimulus package that will rally republican support.
11:07 pm
vonnie: what issues will republicans try to take up? will they be looking for a corporate liability shield? how will they package those demands or requests or efforts? mike: i am pretty certain they will still be looking for some sort of corporate liability shield. a business roundtable organization of ceos today asking that congress keep pressing on that. there are other things you are them potentially wanting more for small businesses as time goes by. the ppp may not be enough over time. there's also groups like the independent restaurants have said they did not get enough in this package and i would imagine they would be coming back and have some influence within the republican party. small businessmen in districts around the country. those are places where you could see some pressure on republicans for another round of stimulus.
11:08 pm
vonnie: there are nearly 80 tax breaks in this bill, and it includes things like business meal write-offs, tax breaks for brewers, wine makers, the film and movie industry, restaurants. will that be enough to satisfy some of those industries? grants and relief are one thing. tax breaks are slightly different. mike: restaurant people have already said they are unhappy. yes, they got the meals right off, but at least for the smaller non-chain restaurants, they feel like they are still hurting. they have gotten nowhere near enough relief. i would imagine the same will be true of the movie industry. these tax write-offs are helpful, particularly if it is a company with some profits. for smaller businesses and players in these industries, tax
11:09 pm
11:11 pm
11:12 pm
courts. they said that "the sec has permitted xrp to function as a currency for over eight years." libra, known now as vm, is the cryptocurrency touted by facebook that was supposed to have launched as early as january. only a version was launched at that time. amid a recent rally in bitcoin and other old coins. with us now is kurt wagner. the name change happened just weeks ago. there was a big scandal and kerfuffle with regulators and so on, with libra, and that name became toxic, so much that paypal and others left. does the name change change anything? kurt: it certainly does not
11:13 pm
change the overall plan, which is to bring these coins, now a series of coins. the name doesn't change that. thates signal this idea they are starting fresh. clearly it was a tough year. a tough 18 months for the project. we also saw facebook change the name of the internal team working on libra. everyone wants to put that idea behind them and start something new. i don't think it changes the goal of the project, but is more a symbolic change. has 27 as of now, it participants. facebook originally was looking for 100. will 27 be enough, will others come on board? kurt: i think others will eventually come on board if this ends up being a real thing.
11:14 pm
a lot bailed because they did not want to deal with the long regulatory road looming ahead of this project. i think if there are people willing to put in the hard work now and get it going and this becomes a usable coin as they hope, they will be able to attract more people live. at this point, i am not sure how many people will be willing to put in the test early on. regulators became concerned about libra. what is to say they will not get equally concerned about diem? kurt: this is just a name change, not a change of the goal. the one thing that could be different is when this project started, it was driven heavily by facebook. facebook is a company that a lot of people do not trust right now. the way it is structured, diem has its own ceo, board of directors.
11:15 pm
facebook is not really calling the shots. it is possible that simply removing facebook from the equation is the real driver here would do more for this than any kind of name change would. vonnie: waiting to be issued a license by swiss regulators. do you think facebook users will give diem a try? kurt: i think that in the u.s., people are skeptical of facebook, and anything having to do with facebook and finances. i think facebook has a different reputation in other parts of the world. in india and brazil, where we see whatsapp and instagram as these huge parts of culture and internet society, i think they would have more luck than here in the u.s. i don't think it is out of the question. i think facebook's reputation is a tough one right now. getting them to get people to buy in on a financial product is certainly going to be a
11:16 pm
challenge. vonnie: bloomberg's kurt wagner, thank you for that update. bitcoin flew past the $20,000 mark this month, in fact reaching $24,000. it hit a bottom in march below $4000. the biggest rally since 20 17. investors are wondering if this time it can be sustainable. and what the role could be into 2021. with me is blockfi ceo zach prince. first, your thoughts on diem. would you be a supporter? zac: yes, we would be a supporter. what they are doing now, when they transition from the concept originally they had with libra where it was going to be a single currency, a net new currency that derived its value by being backed with a basket of currencies, they now say it will
11:17 pm
be individual tokens for each major currency they support. dollars, euros. this is already happening. in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, we refer to these as stable coins. the idea is you put a dollar in a bank account and you create a that you can move around on blockchain payment rails. this is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting parts of the industry right now, growing to over 30 billion now in these stable coins. companies like blockfi and others support them on our platform. there are things you can do with them. they are a little bit better than the more traditional ecosystem. i think that is what diem will capture when they launch. vonnie: that growth is tremendous but we are still talking about a size you can wrap your head around. it is not so massive, equivalent to gold for instance.
11:18 pm
how much more do you think it can grow, and what kind of time -- does it become exponential at some point? zac: it absolutely becomes exponential. that is why i think facebook and the diem consortium gets the regulatory attention it does. when you have something like that coming to market, you can get tremendous scale quickly. how you view these things depends on your position in the global market. theuntry like the u.s. with dollar, the world reserve currency, probably using these relatively favorably, at least from a fiscal policy perspective, because you are making dollars more accessible around the globe. other countries who are not doing as well currently, in terms of this global currency adoption and competition that takes place, they probably view it less favorably. you will see those countries be the first to create their own digital currency. vonnie: you talk about some of the reasons people give for
11:19 pm
bitcoin's rally. there is the idea that everything rallied since march. it was really low point in the year for all asset classes. is this rally in bitcoin in particular more stable this time? does it continue? zac: it is more stable. bitcoin is less volatile for the last six months that all of the major faang stocks. i believe it will absolutely continue. you have macro economic factors including fiscal stimulus as a response to the global pandemic. unprecedented levels of money printing. everything in this covid environment that is digital is preferred to its analog counterpart. bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies really capture both of those trends. it is a unique investment that is both a hedge against inflation, as a store of value,
11:20 pm
and something that has a venture capital type profile, and of the return distribution, and can 10, 20 x,lly, five x, even 100 x from -- compared it to where it is today. if you think of it as an asset class, it is the best performing asset class. the narrative and conversation in the types of firms that are participating in terms of the caliber and quantity has increased tremendously. it is not the crypto 20, it is -- 2017, it is now the crypto of 2020. it is on platforms like fidelity, you have derivatives on the cme. you have some of the smartest investors in the world like paul tudor jones, stanley druckenmiller, and others buying some. and you have fintech platforms integrating with it. vonnie: and central banks talking about it. thank you for joining us, zac prince, blockfi ceo. coming up, softbank joins the spac craze.
11:21 pm
details next. this is bloomberg. ♪ every year, we set out to do one thing: help the world believe in holiday magic. and this year was harder than ever. and yet, somehow, you all found a way to pull it off. it's not about the toys or the ornaments but about coming together. santa, santa, you're on mute! just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing. you may already know that goodrx can help you save up to 80% on your prescriptions. unfortunately, many americans can't get to a doctor right now. the good news is that for many health issues you can see a doctor online. it's easy. just go to goodrx.com and with a few clicks you'll be treated by a licensed medical professional
11:22 pm
11:23 pm
vonnie: softbank has filed for a $525 million blank check share sale. to buy a company it was not previously invested in. the spac will be overseen by softbank investment advisers which also runs the $100 billion vision fund. for mark, i'm joined by crystal, who is covering the story. it is a fascinating story, another adventure by softbank. of course, the vision fund leaders are the leaders of this spac. the head of the vision fund is the chairman and ceo. i am curious, will investors trust these people so soon after something like the wework
11:24 pm
scandal? >> they had their share of challenges in the public markets. wework ipo did not quite work out in 2019. they tried to exit, pressure on bytedance, other investments. they had their share of challenges. they also had exodus. open door, which traded yesterday, it merged with a spac, backed by a dealmaker. it seems like softbank really is getting into this game. vonnie: we are just losing -- crystal: technology targets. so, yeah, it seems like they are trying to tap into what they already are doing with the vision fund.
11:25 pm
vonnie: softbank says it will address sectors and has given a wide range. mobile communication technologies, robotics. it says it will not invest in anything in which softbank has a stake. it has sort of left the door open. it is possible that softbank itself will see some exits from this. crystal: according to a person familiar, they don't want to invest in a company they already affiliated with. like every institution, there is language saying they are allowed to invest in what they are already affiliated with. that expands the universe of companies they can look at, they can acquire, they can merge with. they are good at tech. they are looking for tech. so, hopefully the people running the vision fund can help the investors giving for a new target. vonnie: in terms of a target, will softbank have a lot of
11:26 pm
competition? there are more than 200 this year that have launched that are looking for a target. if you are a company that wanted to go public, and now you are going direct, would you be inclined to want to be taken seriously by softbank? crystal: it is a crowded market. like you said, there are so many different spac's outstanding. goldman sachs and citigroup have predicted that in the past few -- in the coming two years, spac measures will be $250 billion to $300 billion worth. with 200 outstanding, they have to compete against the sponsors and also the ipo direct listing options. softbank has a forward purchase agreement that gives them a little bit more certain deeper they have committed like $250 million to $300 million.
11:27 pm
11:30 pm
vonnie: welcome back to "bloomberg technology." i'm vonnie quin in new york in for emily chang. tech companies and other startups will soon be permitted to raise money on the new york stock exchange without paying big underwriting fees to wall street banks. the move threatened to upend how i.p.o.'s have been conducted for decades in the united states. joining us now to discuss is ted smith, cofounder and partner of union square advisors. this really makes it even easier for startups to raise cash. what is your broad reaction to this move? >> thanks for having me on. really appreciate it. it's definitely a change in the
11:31 pm
i.p.o. market. direct listings have been available for some time. although very few companies have availed themselves to that option due to the fact that they couldn't raise capital going that way. it was merely a mechanism by which they could see their shares begin to trade in the public markets. the change today that the s.e.c. authorized for the new york stock exchange, which allows companies to also raise capital in a direct listing, does bypass the traditional i.p.o. process and will mean a big change for how underwriters are able to help companies who seek to go public. vonnie: of course we did see one go that way in september. that was one recent example of a direct listing. but what does it do for investors? is it possible to evaluate a company well enough before it goes public in order to be an investor in it? does this take away any investor protections? >> no, although some have argued that. that investor protections would be weakened. the s.e.c. didn't find merit in those arguments. ultimately this is going to rest
11:32 pm
on the ability of companies and the need for companies to promote full disclosure to make sure that investors understand their business. the risks and potential fitfalls of those business as part of the overall direct listing process and we will find our way through to that where investors will remain confident in the investments they make and these companies that get public through a direct listing. and it's not going to be the approach that every company takes at the end of the day. there will still be regular way i.p.o.'s and -- [indiscernible] -- vonnie: yes. i'm just jumping in. >> there will be multiple ways for these companies to go public. vonnie: we missed a tiny portion of your sentence there. let me move on and ask you about the company itself. does this make the incentive system different? so if you can go direct now, is there, you know, sort of the attraction of going maybe too soon? are companies going to be sort of lured into going public, maybe perhaps more sooner than they should?
11:33 pm
>> i think we'll find some companies who will test that boundary. but the reality of it is that we think that in the current market environment and what the way the i.p.o. markets have evolved over the last several years, it really is a place for larger companies to play, to become public entities. gone for the most part of the day is when companies would come public with valuations significantly south of half a billion dollars or even a billion dollars. so we don't think particularly early stage companies are likely to try to become public under this earlier than they might have otherwise with the regular way i.p.o. vonnie: how does it change the way a company is priced and valued? >> well, in many ways what it's going to allow a company to do, and the investors to do, is very quickly get -- [indiscernible] -- private investors leaving a lot of money on the table.
11:34 pm
so one of the things that many folks, one has led the charge among others in vill con valley, is this notion that the one-day. i p.o. pop requires these companies to ultimately leave a bunch of money on the table when their trading prices skyrocket on the first day or first few days after trading. so this mechanism allows them to avoid that for the most part. and have the trading level, the appropriate trading level for the company be established much earlier in the process than those companies don't cede that -- see that uptick in the valuation exclusively to the new investors. vonnie: it's certainly news that silicon valley venture capitalists are welcoming very much today. i want to ask you more broadly about the outlook for next year and for deals, but also companies going public. and particularly this explosion, it's what we're all talking about now. these 200-plus backs. most largely the bill ackman's back. he said he was looking for a mature unicorn. how many more mature unicorns are out there in at least your field?
11:35 pm
>> we think there's enough to fill the back dance card at least at that end of the market. we track 350 to 100-plus companies that could be targeted or thought of as unicorns. so as we look into the large-scale spacks and those that are targeting companies that are at that end of the market, we think there's going to be plenty of interest. but we also think this is also -- [indiscernible] -- sort of the traditional spacks. those that are 250 to 500 million in value or up to $1 billion in terms of the capital that they've raised. we think it's going to be very active in tech in the unicorn and the early stage unicorn phase. for 2021. vonnie: speaking of that. if you had a company that was maybe around that kind of a valuation, would you be pushing them towards the south banks back if south bank showed an interest?
11:36 pm
if the spac sponsors showed an interest? or is that something you'd shy away from? would you rather go direct now? >> i think what we've goer to advise -- we're going to advise our clients is look at all the exit options. we think companies are going to continue to evaluate it and we'll continue to pursue that, as one potential path. there is the direct listing option. and whether it was softbank or one of the many other out there, we think that should be taken into account as one alternative. certainly the direct listing that we've been talking about here. and then at the end of the day, the data show that the vast majority of at least venture back companies who ultimately achieve an exit get their exit through a traditional m & a process. the sale to a strategic buyer or financial sponsor, the way they're ultimately going to get their first taste of liquidity. we think that that outcome and m&a outcome is still going to be far more prevalent than any of the types of approaches to an i.p.o. that might be undertaken by these companies.
11:37 pm
vonnie: is there an urgency around silicon valley and in general to get some exits under the belt while valuations are still the way they are? given that we really don't know how the pandemic is going to play out in 2021, but the economy is -- what the economy is going to look like and if the market is going to hold up? >> certainly there's a desire to pursue the market opportunity that exists out there, considering that valuations are high. i don't think it's an urgency in the sense that people are rushing for the doors to try to get companies public before they're ready. but there certainly is a desire to take advantage of the current market environment where there are significant valuation multiples that in many cases, at all-time or secular highs. we continue to see various parties in a venture community evaluate those exit options which again include m&a as well as public market options. vonnie: can't wait to catch up with you again very soon. ted smith, co-founder and partner at union scare advisors
11:38 pm
11:40 pm
11:41 pm
because we've thought about an apple vehicle for quite some time now. it looks like it's still a number of years away. but apple seems to be taking the bull by the horns, as it were these days. >> that's right. the apple car has been in development in different incarnations since as early as 2014. what we're seeing now is indications from reuters that they intend to get the car in production as early as 2024. personally i feel like that date is a little ambitious. and it's a little earlier than i would expect such a car document -- car to come out. but clearly all this talk has brought out elon musk and others and of course investors as well talking this up. vonnie: right. it's definitely caused ripples today through the market. plenty of chatter on twitter about potential partners and so on. it seems like app might need a partner. is that how things look to you? would it need to partner with an
11:42 pm
o.e.m. or maybe even tesla? reporter: there's different types of partners when it comes down to a car project. there could be an instance where apple fully designs the cars, and partners with the manufacturer actually build the car. then there's the idea of partnering with an existing car maker, that's where tesla would come into play or toyota or a b.m.w. or volkswagen, etc. with it basically come out with a version of their car with an apple twist. an applesoftware driving system. there's different directions apple can take this project and then there's the other approach where they can simply make their self-driving system and apply it to an existing car maker. there's four or five or even more directions apple can take this project and the expect route that they take is not entirely clear at this point. but apple has traditionally went the route where they design and develop everything. they sell it through their own
11:43 pm
brand and partner with a manufacturing partner to produce it. vonnie: it certainly piqued elon musk's interest. he responded to somebody in a chatter about batteries and then his second tweet was that during the darkest days of the model three program, i reached out to tim cook to discuss the possibility of apple acquiring tesla for 1/10 of our current value. he refused to take the meeting." so on the one hand, it says just that. that there was an effort on the part of elon musk to have tim cook get interested in tesla. but it's not any clearer from this tweet whether elon musk would be open to a partnership or even acquisition of some kind now, right? this is all in the past. reporter: yeah, i mean, today apple definitely can't afford tesla. not sure who can afford it, right? with over $603 billion i think at this point market cap. but back then at $60 billion, imagine apple using 1/5 or 1/6 of its cash reserves on what
11:44 pm
tesla has become today. i mean, i think if apple was to go back in time and know what tesla would turn out to today, they definitely would have taken that meeting. so it might have been a little shortsighted on the part of apple back then. the same time, they were dealing with what musk was calling, "production hell." so there were some issues that apple clearly would not want to take on at that point. and during that period in late 2016, 2017, that's at a time when apple was really weighing what it wanted to do in the car space. so perhaps it was a little too early to picque apple's interest and the timing wasn't right. vonnie: apple tends to do things pretty well. maybe not the very first iteration of things, but it tends to do them well when it does them. design well and so on. is there a possibility here, a strong possibility, that apple could eventually give tesla a run for its money in the electric vehicle space which is going to burgeon any time now? reporter: absolutely. they've tried two or three times already to get a real tesla competitor off the ground, it
11:45 pm
just didn't work out. what i've seen, they don't have the talent or the resources at this point in terms of people and technology to actually get out a real tesla competitor. it's going to take some time. that's what i feel like this 2024, 2025 timeline is a little bit too early. vonnie: yes. exactly. years are going fast. except for this one. mark, thank you very much. that is bloomberg's mark gurman on the apple beat. rescue financing for troubled companies amid the coronavirus pandemic remains a front and center concern this year. mark lazaro discussed that and the anticipation of the vaccine-driven recovery taking hold next year. have a listen. >> you're seeing that there are problems in a number of places, but there's also growth. so for us, really what we're finding is opportunity where we can invest in situations where people need capital and we're providing that capital, but we're doing it at a pretty steep price.
11:46 pm
>> when you clear a balance sheet out, you are now clearing within the reality of a fed at the zero-boun. has the fed distorted your part of the hedge fund world? >> it actually has. what has ended up happening is it made it easier for companies to borrow money. so anybody who can borrow is doing so. when it is done, it is the reverse. can't borrow, you have to deal with folks like me and if you're doing that, we're able to charge 12%, 15%. it's kind of odd, a zero rate environment, yet we're still charging 12% to 15%. >> i love that you say otherwise you have to deal with me. you don't want to deal with me. mark, i do wonder when are you looking at the stress investing going forward, how much of this is simply who knows bankruptcy law best. i ask this of you knowing you did clerk for a bankruptcy judge in the southern district of new york. so, is that really what this game has become? >> i think you've got to
11:47 pm
understand bankruptcy law because what ends up happening now is you're going to have a number of restructurings. but i would tell you the most important part today is really understanding the balance sheet of a company. that if we're going to lend, are we super secure? are we senior? where are we in the capital structure? because things can change on a dime. and you want to make sure that you're covered. so i would tell you the capital structure is a little bit more important, but you better have that legal background. >> embedded in this is the assumption perhaps or my presumption that recoveries are not going to be as robust this time around given how much debt has been incurred. and given some of the erosion, some of the loans we have seen. how much lower will recoveries be and how much fiercer will be the battle be over who gets with -- who gets what? >> i think recoveries will definitely be lower and fights are going to be absolutely insane because everybody's going
11:48 pm
to be fighting over a smaller pie. so, that's why this focus is really where are you in the capital structure. but you're going to have lower recoveries. it's hard for you not to. mainly because of what you said. which is that people have taken on more debt. and there's less equity value there. >> i want to talk about market drawdown, sharp ratios and the ability to make two and 20. but that's going to have to pass. i have a hoard of people that want to know if you can bring the glory of elsa and her, oscar robertson, and the milwaukee bucks back? what is the plan forward after signing this gentleman for a ga jillian million dollars? what is their plan into 2021 at the end of the bubble? >> the plan is simple. it's to try to win a championship. the execution of that plan is going to be kind of hard. look, we're going to do everything we can and i think we've got probably our big
11:49 pm
three, which is i think second to none, at least in the east. so i think we'll have a pretty good shot. i think everybody's pretty excited. i think the hard part was really resigning giannis and the fact that we were able to do that is actually great for milwaukee, it's great for small market teams. but more important, it's great for our team. vonnie: marc lasry there. this is bloomberg. ♪
11:51 pm
11:52 pm
one mail-order meal at a time. joining us now to discuss is the founder and c.e.o. of gold belly. it's an absolute pleasure to speak with you, joe. you've had obviously tremendous growth through the pandemic. you were at 350 merchants at the beginning. you're at 700 now, doubling in that space? >> yeah, that's right. more than 700 merchants, double their customer count as well. and obviously we're playing an instrumental part in really helping many restaurants survive. and really just bringing happiness to people across the country. they are getting food in a box from places that they love. chefs that they love. and so it's been a crazy time. vonnie: the website is amazing. it feels like you've brought together all of these merchant'' key dish, right? the dish people leave their restaurant talking about or that pie from north carolina, x bakery that people talk about all over the country, you can now get that. that's something that wasn't
11:53 pm
there before. what is the relationship, revenue-wise, between the merchants, yourselves, and the customer? >> yeah so, we work with every merchant, i mean, part of our magic is we've created this ecosystem that did not exist in the world. and we call it foody commerce. and really it's a platform that's empowering consumers to now have these foods that they love from anywhere in the country. and on the restaurant side, we've unlocked the supplier base that makes the best food. but there's tons of pain points for them in shipping and managing ecommerce and marketing online. so brick by brick we've established every relationship, curated every package and we work with every food maker to actually create not only just what the products are, but the pricing structure, the amount of servings in each package. really on a case by case basis. vonnie: do merchants pay you or give you a margin off the top of the order?
11:54 pm
do they pay you just to be on the site? how does all of that work? >> we get a percentage of each order. we don't take anything from the restaurant, the restaurant and with us we establish the actual pricing and then we figure out the shipping costs and all of the ancillary costs and figure out what the consumer will pay. vonnie: yes. >> it's kind of a backwards model, but everything is case by case with every merchant. vonnie: so then, obviously you want to expand, you're already expanding massively. your last funding round was $20 million, $15 million of which came from hospitality investments. series b, that's the one that we know of, how are you looking to go about raising more capital now? what's next for goldbelly? >> for us, we are just so focused on the craziness that last nine months has brought and the holidays are our busiest time.
11:55 pm
so we're head-down, trying to execute, trying to make people as happy as possible. trying to create a bigger ancillary incremental asynchronous revenue scream -- stream for restaurants and all of that will work itself out in the new year, i'm sure. vonnie: yes, i'm sure. because at some point you'll want to get on that. tell us about the day crissy teagen that. -- talked about getting a goldbelly delivery. did you notice an uptick in orders? >> we did. crissy is a great fan of the platform and at that time we had actually never communicated or met. she was a frequent customer. and she's ordered everything, including her son's birthday cake, which we facilitated from the cake boss. vonnie: i'm looking at it right here now. marcus samuelson, magnolia bakery, all the new york joints.
11:56 pm
from all over the country. joe, what do you like to order from goldbelly? >> you're asking the wrong guy. because these are like all of my children. so every day is a different thing. but as you may know, my original passion was from college in nashville, tennessee. so i fell in love with southern food and soul food. everything from hot chicken to buttermilk biscuits to dry rub barbeque. so that has a special place in my heart. but i will say, if i wasn't a new yorker, bagels, lox, cream cheese, pastrami on rye would be one of my favorite comfort foods. vonnie: we are getting hungry now. so we better leave it there. i do want to point out that your initiatives next year will include goldbelly live, which will be a cook-along series and also chef meal kits which already are available to a certain extent. gold belly's ceo,
11:57 pm
12:00 am
>> the following is a paid program. the opinions and views expressed do not reflect those of bloomberg lp, its affiliates, or its employees. >> the following is a paid presentation brought to you by rare collectibles tv. announcer: the morgan silver dollar is without a doubt the most iconic coin in the united states numismatic history. designed by united states mint assistant engraver george t morgan, this silver dollar series was minted from 1878 to 1904.
56 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
Bloomberg TV Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on