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Evolution, Meaning & Managing The NYSE's Social Media | Matthew Kobach | Modern Wisdom Podcast 216

Matthew Kobach is a content strategist. Matthew transformed the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) into a social media behemoth. Plus he's a very interesting guy with a fantastic moustache.

Matthew KobachguestChris Williamsonhost

Sep 3, 20201h 39mWatch on YouTube ↗

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Social media status-seeking & opening banter
Matthew frames social media as a powerful amplifier of evolved status drives—especially pride and the pursuit of approval. Chris welcomes him and they riff on pandemic facial-hair experimentation before getting into Matthew’s work.
- •Social media as an evolution-shaped status and approval machine
- •Pride and validation loops (likes, retweets) as rewards
- •Setting the tone for a mix of social media, meaning, and evolution
- •Light banter about mustaches and the pandemic
Matthew’s background: building a Twitter persona through consistency
Matthew explains how he intentionally applied professional social media principles to his own Twitter, growing rapidly over ~16 months. He emphasizes that the growth was a blend of skill, consistency, and a bit of luck.
- •Professional social media career (10+ years) applied to personal brand
- •Daily posting as a deliberate commitment
- •Growth from ~1,000 to ~65,000 followers
- •Using brand tactics without being deceptive—just better packaging
Core social media principles: focus, positioning, and being a ‘channel’
Matthew argues that most people fail on social media because they’re too broad—audiences follow ‘channels’ with clear programming. He connects this to how Chris’s podcast maintains a coherent theme and community.
- •Narrow topical focus beats posting ‘everything you like’
- •Online profiles function like TV channels (consistent programming)
- •Consistency and clarity build community
- •Audience expectations matter as much as content quality
What he tweets: direct, tactical advice + ancient wisdom reframed
Matthew describes moving away from vague platitudes (“be authentic”) toward crisp, practical guidance that people can use immediately. He also shares how philosophical and Stoic ideas can be repurposed to explain modern content dynamics.
- •Why generic social media advice fails (too repeated, too empty)
- •Matter-of-fact, specific tactics feel refreshing
- •‘Articulating what others already sense’ drives retweets
- •Using ancient wisdom as a lens for modern platforms
Why Twitter works: pithy wisdom and the power of aphorisms
They explore why short statements can land harder than long-form discussion—dense ideas can ‘hit the soul’ in a sentence. Chris and Matthew connect this to memorable lines from books like The Moral Animal.
- •Aphorisms compress large concepts into one memorable punch
- •Twitter as a medium for distilled insight
- •‘Our genes didn’t design us to be happy, they designed us to be effective’
- •Short-form and long-form serve different cognitive/emotional roles
Who writes the best aphorisms: Naval, ‘orange_book,’ and writing clarity
Matthew names Naval as the obvious standout, then highlights the importance of clear writing and structure on Twitter. They discuss how style and density of insight explain why certain accounts amass huge audiences.
- •Naval as a top modern aphorist (high density per word)
- •Recommendation: the anonymous account ‘orange_book’
- •Having ideas isn’t enough—execution and clarity matter
- •Why concise tweets can feel like “a thousand words”
Evolutionary psychology as the ‘ultimate red pill’
Matthew explains why evolutionary psychology is such a useful meta-framework for understanding human behavior in marketing, relationships, and everyday life. Chris calls it the “ultimate red pill” for seeing the code beneath social behavior.
- •Genes optimize effectiveness/reproduction, not happiness
- •Evolutionary psych as a toolkit for persuasion and communication
- •Understanding human nature helps brands build followings
- •Seeing behavior as programmed tendencies (not destiny)
Emotions as sensations: ego, identity, and learning to step back
They discuss how emotions feel immediate and ‘true’ even when they’re adaptive signals, and how hard it is to detach in the moment. Matthew shares practical ways he tries to regulate reactions—especially with help from his fiancée.
- •Emotions are embodied sensations that push behavior
- •Identity/ego makes self-analysis difficult
- •Disassociating helps in conflict (“two people miscommunicating”)
- •External accountability (partner/friends) as a regulation advantage
Going fast alone vs going far together: solitude, partners, and life stages
Chris and Matthew weigh the trade-offs between solitude and the stabilizing force of partnership. They argue life optimization depends on stage, goals, and what you’re building—plus a nod to later-in-life parenting trends.
- •Solitude can accelerate focus early; partnership can increase stability later
- •Life-stage dependency: ‘another good idea’ can oppose a good idea
- •Building foundations alone vs ‘finishing the house’ together
- •A longevity stat: more women having children over 40 than under 20 (2019)
Managing the NYSE’s social media: building it from scratch
Matthew describes leading social and digital for the New York Stock Exchange and creating its presence starting in 2014. He emphasizes trust from leadership, low expectations as an advantage, and a “human” tone that differentiated NYSE from boring finance brands.
- •Head of social/digital at NYSE; built presence from zero
- •High stakes: a mistake can become national news or affect markets
- •Low expectations made differentiation easier
- •Lo-fi CEO interviews to demystify leaders and create authentic moments
Inside the NYSE: atmosphere, IPO chaos, and capturing real moments
They contrast the Hollywood image of the trading floor with today’s more electronic, quieter reality—except during IPOs, when intensity spikes. Matthew explains how social media work required getting close to the action and building rhythm with traders.
- •Modern trading floor: more electronic oversight than shouting
- •IPO openings as the main high-intensity exception
- •‘Get the shot’: social media requires proximity and assertiveness
- •Surreal access: CEOs, celebrities, and major listing moments
WallStreetBets, retail risk-taking, and why stock tips are usually boring
Chris introduces r/wallstreetbets and the reckless, gamified culture of leveraged trades for internet points. Matthew responds with anxiety—and counters with conservative, long-horizon investing advice and skepticism about predicting market emotion.
- •WallStreetBets as high-risk identity/status + community reinforcement
- •Retail trading as entertainment with real financial consequences
- •Matthew’s advice: diversified ETFs, consistent investing, long time horizons
- •Many stocks move on sentiment; predicting emotion is near-impossible
Crisis communication on Twitter: circuit breakers, tone shifts, and no scheduling
Matthew details how NYSE social media changed during sharp COVID-era market drops. He explains legal constraints, the need for real-time trusted updates (especially during circuit breakers), and why scheduling posts can make brands look tone-deaf during breaking news.
- •NYSE avoids forward-looking statements; strict compliance boundaries
- •Real-time posting during trading halts to become a trusted source
- •Tone shift: remove ‘cute’ content when people are losing money
- •Never schedule tweets on fast-moving platforms (Kobe/BLM/COVID examples)
PhD dropout, social media predictions, and why Tinder mirrors real life
Matthew clarifies he pursued (but didn’t complete) a PhD using evolutionary psychology to predict social media behavior—then left due to platforms changing too quickly. He explains how Tinder succeeded by mimicking offline attraction and lowering friction via gamification.
- •Evolutionary psych as a framework for predicting online behavior
- •Dissertation challenges: platform/algorithm changes made hypotheses moot
- •Online dating’s rise and the ‘bar-like’ swipe dynamic
- •Don’t overcomplicate: online behavior often mirrors offline instincts
Meaning, time, and modern life mismatch: memories, simplicity, and ‘secret to life’
They move into broader life philosophy: how routines compress perceived time, why novelty creates memories, and how modern society conflicts with ancestral design. The discussion loops back to old wisdom (Stoicism, Buddhism, minimalism) as tools for living well in an environment we weren’t built for.
- •Time feels faster when days aren’t memorable; novelty expands perception
- •Designing life for experiences (travel, outdoors) vs default routines
- •Modernity as a misfit for evolved brains (work hours, cities, stimuli)
- •Simplicity/minimalism as recurring solutions across eras
- •Matthew’s ‘secret to life’: mimic ancestral patterns where possible
What’s next: following Matthew + his new startup ‘Fast’
They close with where to find Matthew online and what he’s building next. Matthew introduces Fast, a startup aiming to make online identity and checkout flows one-click simple across the internet.
- •Where to follow: MKOBACH on Twitter/Instagram
- •Motivation to join a startup and build something new
- •Fast’s mission: one-click identity/checkout to eliminate forms
- •Reducing friction increases conversion and improves online UX

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