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Meta CMO Alex Schultz: Competing Against TikTok & Snap; Why Reels Failed at First | E985

Alex Schultz is the Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Analytics for Meta (formerly Facebook), leading Marketing, Analytics, and Internationalization. Previously, Mark Zuckerberg stood up and said, “Facebook would not be a BN user company without Alex”. At Meta, Alex has pioneered the integration of product and direct response marketing at Meta and helped launch many of the company’s most impactful products and initiatives. Alex is gay and is the executive sponsor of Facebook’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:35 Who is Alex Shultz? 3:48 Lessons from eBay 5:15 Scaling FB to 1 Billion Users 10:44 Competing Against TikTok and Snap 21:25 Mistakes Made with FB Messenger 22:14 The Move from Direct to Self-Serve Ads 25:35 The Importance of At-bats 26:18 How to Create a Culture of Experimentation 27:14 What do I do with employees who are OK but not great? 31:42 Why Facebook changed its name to Meta 38:08 Metrics vs Goals 45:20 Being a Gay Man in Tech 52:09 Biggest Lessons from Parents 53:42 Quick-fire Round ------------------------------------------------------ In Today’s Episode with Alex Schultz We Discuss: 1. From Paper Planes to CMO of Facebook: How Alex started his career in the world of paper planes and how that led to his getting a role at an early eBay? What are 1-2 of his biggest lessons from eBay? How did the role at Facebook come about in 2008? Why did he decide to join the early Facebook? What does Alex know now that he wishes he had known when he started his time at Facebook? 2. The Secret to Scaling to 1 Billion Users: Mark Zuckerberg has said that “Facebook would not be a billion-user company without Alex”. So what does Alex believe are the 1-2 biggest needle movers in FB scaling to 1 billion users? Why does Alex believe that the best leaders are patiently right? How can management be direct and effective but also show they care and be kind? What have been some of Alex’s biggest lessons on people management across different phases of the company? 3. Crucible Moments in Facebook History: Facebook Messenger Split: What was the decision-making process behind splitting Messenger from the core Facebook App? What did they do right and well in the split? What mistakes were made? Rebrand to Meta: Why did Facebook decide it was right to rebrand to Meta? Has the rebrand gone well? How does Alex define success with the rebrand? Reels vs TikTok vs SNAP: Does Alex believe we are moving away from the social graph and moving to content discovery only? How does Alex feel Reels is doing in the race against TikTok? What have they done well? Why does Alex believe SNAP hasn’t innovated in the way people think and copied Kakao in cases? What is the key to turning Reels into a monetization machine for Facebook? 4. Alex Schultz: The Person and Leader: How was the coming out process for Alex in the tech community? How did his parents respond to the news? What does Alex mean when he says, “everyone has to mourn their own version of your future self”? Why when he moved to the states was Alex advised to go back in the closet? Does Alex feel we have a long way to go in equalizing the playing field both for homosexuality and trans-gender participation? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Alex Schultz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexschultz Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vc_reels Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com ---------------------------------------------------------- #AlexSchultz #Meta #HarryStebbings #20vc

Alex SchultzguestHarry Stebbingshost
Mar 6, 202357mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Meta CMO Alex Schultz on Reels, retention, and redefining Facebook’s future

  1. Alex Schultz, CMO of Meta, traces his journey from monetizing a teenage paper-airplane website to driving growth at eBay and then Facebook/Meta, where he helped scale the platform to billions of users.
  2. He explains how rigorous, data-inspired growth models, an obsession with retention, and rapid iteration shaped major product decisions like Reels and the controversial Facebook Messenger split.
  3. Schultz details the evolution from direct sales to self-serve ads, how Meta thinks about metrics, goals, experimentation, and cultural practices that encourage learning over blame.
  4. He also speaks candidly about Meta’s rebrand, the Metaverse narrative, his experience coming out as a gay man in tech, and his philosophy on leadership, feedback, and being “long‑term kind.”

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Retention beats acquisition as the core growth driver.

Growth accounting at Facebook showed that churn and user resurrection massively outweighed new registrations, shifting focus from pure acquisition to retaining and reactivating users as the real growth engine.

Identify and optimize the ‘activation action’ that predicts retention.

Across products (friending on Facebook, following on Instagram, bidding/buying on eBay), a single key user action strongly correlates with long-term retention; you find it through simple correlation plus common sense, then design flows to get users to that action quickly.

Speed plus iteration creates an edge, even if you’re not first.

Meta’s first Reels iteration failed, but shipping early, learning fast, and iterating allowed them to catch up and then compete on innovation against TikTok and others; it’s “launch, catch up, then out‑innovate.”

Measure success with carefully chosen metrics—and know their flaws.

Every metric is an imperfect proxy for a goal (from registered users to MAUs), so leaders must understand Goodhart’s Law, use counter‑metrics to prevent gaming, and layer common sense on top of dashboards.

Cultivate a culture where experimentation is safe and learning is enforced.

Meta uses strong analytics teams, post‑mortems without blame, and “patiently right” data leaders who communicate clearly, track whether decisions follow the data, and build credibility over time—even including polite ‘I told you so’ moments.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Retention is king.

— Alex Schultz

You don't celebrate shipping, you celebrate succeeding.

— Alex Schultz

Common sense is the least common of all senses.

— Alex Schultz (quoting his boss Javi)

The saddest thing is when a team fails having hit all its goals on the way down.

— Sheryl Sandberg (as recalled by Alex Schultz)

The kindest thing you can do is be direct and honest with somebody.

— Alex Schultz

Early career: SEO hacks, affiliate marketing, and joining eBayScaling Facebook: growth accounting, retention as the primary lever, and activation metricsReels, TikTok competition, and the importance of speed and iterationMessenger’s split from the Facebook app and experimentation at scaleAds evolution: from direct sales to self-serve and small business empowermentMeta’s rebrand, brand architecture, and the broader Metaverse visionLeadership, metrics vs goals, feedback culture, and Schultz’s LGBTQ+ journey in tech

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