referral contest, $18K to $20M
Sam recounts Jet.com founder Mark Lore recording the podcast standing up with his iPhone on a tripod, saying he hadn't touched a computer in years. Sam predicts that the laptop will eventually be replaced by small handheld devices.
“And Mark Lore said, I haven't touched a computer in years. And of course that is something that you pretty much, you kind of have to be pretty wealthy in order to do that.”
Intro recap of Lore's track record: he sold Diapers.com to Amazon for around $600M, then built Jet.com and sold it to Walmart for $3.5 billion.
“He sold diapers.com to Amazon for like, I don't know, $600 million. He created Jet.com and sold it to Walmart for $3.5 billion.”
Shaan recounts a Jet.com referral contest where the top customer-acquirer won 100,000 shares. An outsider spent $18,000 on clever paid marketing, won, and his shares were worth $20M at the Walmart sale — likely out-earning everyone at the company except Lore.
“He spent— the guy invested $18,000 into the paid marketing, won the contest, and his 100,000 shares became worth $20 million when it sold. And so this guy turned $18 grand into $20 million as a fan of the company, outside the company, probably made more than anyone else in the company besides Mark, which is amazing to me.”