Social Currency with Sammi Cohen

If you’ve driven through Los Angeles, you’ve already met today’s guest. Jay Luchs is one of the most influential retail real estate brokers in LA; his “For Lease” signs are plastered across the city’s most valuable streets, from Rodeo Drive to Melrose. But behind those signs is a business built on relationships, taste, and a deep understanding of what actually makes a retail concept work. In this episode, Jay sits down with Sammi to break down how the business really works: how he wins listings in one of the most competitive markets in the country, what founders consistently misunderstand about signing their first lease, and why picking the wrong landlord can quietly kill a business. They also go deep on the future of retail in LA—from why food and coffee are now the backbone of any successful retail strip, to how brands like Erewhon can completely transform a street overnight, to why there’s actually less available space than people think.  Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram  Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter  Follow Jay Luchs on Instagram Learn more about Mercury for Personal and Business Here’s what Sammi covers with Jay: 00:00 Jay Luchs’ Social Currency 02:22 Real Estate Origin Story 06:40 Why Real Estate Is a Creative Business 09:27 How the “For Lease” Empire Works 12:05 Winning Listings in a Competitive Market 14:19 What Founders Get Wrong About Leases 15:25 How to Spot a Bad Landlord 17:00 Choosing the Right Retail Location 18:46 Why LA Has Less Retail Space Than You Think 21:15 What Makes a Retail Area Thrive 22:24 How Social Media Changed Real Estate 29:03 Inside a Decade-Long Development Project 32:00 Turning Retail Into a Destination 37:23 Building Relationships That Last 40:01 Jay’s Daily System for Clarity 41:21 Can Retail Rebuild Communities? 45:12 What Makes a Brick-and-Mortar Store Succeed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shreya Murthy built one of the rare social apps people want to open—and then immediately close. It’s all going according to plan. Her company, Partiful, has quietly become the go-to way Gen Z and millennials plan parties, birthdays, dinners—and even weddings. But what’s more interesting is how it won: by rejecting everything Big Tech historically has optimized for. In this episode, Shreya sits down with Sammi to break down why she turned down the metaverse narrative, refused to pivot to virtual events during the pandemic, and built a product designed to get people off their phones… not glued to them. They also get into what happened when Apple launched a nearly identical invite app, why Partiful draws a hard line on user privacy, and how tiny features like “boops” and “crushes” are actually the secret to product-market fit. Plus: the real monetization plan, why Gen Z hates “cringe” design, and how one party invite helped spark a viral cultural moment. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram  Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter  Follow Partiful and find your next party Here’s what Sammi covers with Shreya: 00:00 Shreya Murthy’s Social Currency 00:50 The Problem With Social Media 02:22 From Palantir to Consumer Tech 08:22 The Idea That Sparked Partiful 10:04 Turning Parties Into a Product 11:05 Launching During the Pandemic 13:56 Resisting the Metaverse Pivot 15:40 Building for IRL Connection 16:00 Why Gen Z Loves Partiful 18:27 The “Least Cringe” Product Strategy 20:20 Consumer vs Corporate Use Cases 22:05 Why Partiful Protects User Data 24:57 Monetization Without Selling Data 29:27 How Partiful Makes Money Today 31:23 The Philosophy: Get Off Your Phone 32:00 Discovering Events IRL 33:17 Brick and Mortar? 34:38 Features Like Boops and Crushes 38:00 Apple’s Copycat Moment 41:00 Growth Despite Competition 42:00 The Viral Timothée Chalamet Event 47:00 What Winning Looks Like 50:16 Social Currency Corner and Touching Grass Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Goldman built one of the most iconic beverage brands of the last two decades… only to watch it get discontinued by Coca-Cola. In this episode, Seth tells Sammi the full story: bootstrapping Honest Tea in the late ’90s when the category didn’t exist, educating consumers one sample at a time, and eventually partnering with Coca-Cola to scale what he believed could become a billion-dollar brand. Then came the gut punch: years after the acquisition, Coca-Cola made the decision to shut Honest Tea down. Instead of walking away, Seth did something few founders would do— he started over. He shares how he launched Just Ice Tea, rebuilt his supply chain using decades-old relationships, and scaled faster the second time around. Sammi and Seth also get into what it really takes to build a sustainable CPG brand, why most beverage startups fail, and the one mistake founders make before they even launch: focusing on branding before validating taste. Plus, Seth shares his long-term perspective from his work with Beyond Meat—and why he still believes the biggest consumer shifts take decades, not years. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram  Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter  Check out Just Ice Tea Here’s what Sammi covers with Seth:00:00 Seth Goldman’s Social Currency 00:50 Building Honest Tea Before The Market Existed 03:03 Creating Demand Through Sampling 05:00 Bootstrapping And Staying Scrappy 06:06 The Coca-Cola Investment Story 09:26 Inside The Coca-Cola Acquisition 10:48 Culture Clash With A Corporate Giant 11:00 The Day Honest Tea Was Discontinued 12:10 Why Seth Decided To Start Again 15:26 Why Beverage Is The Hardest Category 19:29 Launching Just Ice Tea Differently 20:53 The Mission Behind “Just Ice Tea” 23:17 What Makes The Product Different 25:00 From Eat The Change To Just Ice Tea 26:46 Betting Early On Beyond Meat 28:05 The Rise, Fall, And Rebuild Of Alt Meat 35:05 What It Takes To Build A CPG Brand 36:45 The Power Of Relationships And Karma 37:00 Would Seth Sell Again? 39:11 Seth’s Daily System For Clarity 40:03 The Future Of Food 41:18 The #1 Thing Founders Must Validate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Everyone has a podcast. So, where is the whitespace and what does it really take to break through?  Sammi sits down with Nayeema Raza, host of Smart Girl Dumb Questions and former The New York Times journalist, for a conversation on the modern media landscape, the podcast boom, and what they tell people who are thinking about starting a podcast. Sammi and Nayeema break down what it really takes to launch a podcast—and share exactly how much they’re making from theirs. Sammi and Nayeema also get into the bigger shift happening across media: why podcasting is becoming the new “TV” and why creators today need to think more like founders than talent. Plus, they unpack the rise of controversial content ecosystems like the “manosphere,” what it teaches about audience-building (even if you hate it), and where the line between journalism and creators is headed. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram  Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter Follow Nayeema and listen to Smart Girl Dumb Questions Here’s What Sammi Covers with Nayeema: 00:00 Have We “Made It” In Podcasting? 03:45 Social Vs. Podcast Growth 06:52 Why Everyone Has A Podcast 07:09 The Intimacy And Power Of Podcasting 08:00 The Rise Of The Manosphere 12:41 What Controversial Creators Get Right 17:12 “Is It A Scam?” Rapid-Fire 21:20 The Real Work Behind Podcasting 26:09 Is Podcasting Saturated? 28:38 Why Most Podcasts Fail 31:53 Is Podcasting Overhyped? 33:00 How Much Money Podcasts Actually Make 35:00 Building A Studio And Betting On Yourself 36:08 The Hidden ROI Of Podcasting 41:00 Journalism Vs. Creators 47:00 The Scariest Part Of Starting A Podcast 54:00 How To Break Through Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a little different. Instead of a deep dive, Sammi turns the mic around and answers your questions—from career risks and leaving corporate to building a business, growing an audience, and figuring out what to keep private in a “build in public” world. She shares the unconventional bet that changed her career (starting on TikTok when people thought it was a “teen dancing app”), why she believes the best way to escape the corporate rat race is to test ideas on the side, and the fears that held her back longer than she wishes. Sammi also breaks down how to actually grow on social media (without burning out), what people don’t tell you about running a podcast, and the surprising lesson she learned after interviewing the founder of Juicero—and why every business story has more than one side. Follow Sammi Cohen on Instagram  Subscribe to the Social Currency newsletter  Here’s what Sammi covers today: 00:00 A Different Kind of Episode 01:29 How to Escape Corporate 04:39 The Fear that Kept Sammi in Corporate Too Long 05:29 How to Grow on Instagram 07:23 What Nobody Tells You About Podcasting 09:23 A Found Story That Changed Sammi’s Perspective 10:49 What to Keep Private When Building In Public 12:00 The Question Sammi Can’t Answer Yet 12:36 Sammi’s Plan B 13:11 Is USC Worth It? 14:07 Dream Podcast Guests Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices