WEBVTT - Jeremy Stoppelman 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:04.840 Hi everyone, I'm Emily Changing. This is Bloomberg Studio one 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:08.559 point Oh. He YELP CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is one of 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:11.840 the most recognizable faces of Silicon Valley, going all the 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:16.040 way back to the PayPal mafia. Since he left PayPal 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.240 and started Yelp in two thousand four, the site has 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.680 become the go to for raves, rants, and recommendations. Chances are, 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:24.680 if it's a business down the street from you, it's 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.760 got a Yelp page. But the coronavirus pandemic dealta devastating 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:31.880 blow as thousands of businesses across the country were forced 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.720 to shut down. Yelp laid off a thousand of its 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:38.120 own employees. Now with a vaccine in sight, but virus 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.120 uncertainty is still ahead, Yelp serves as a sort of 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.559 mirror to the help of American business. Still, it's not 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:47.800 COVID that Stoppelman is most worried about. It's the growing 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:51.120 shadow of Google. In this edition of Bloomberg Studio one 0:00:51.120 --> 0:01:04.319 point Oh, Yelp co founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman take 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:09.040 me back to March. The pandemic hits and the lights 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.480 go out, literally at thousands of small businesses across the 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.520 United States. As the person who runs the most prominent 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.240 platform for small businesses in the country, what was that 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:26.919 moment like for you? Probably the best word is terror. Uh, 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.080 you know, it was a scary moment, I think obviously 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:34.479 for America, for small businesses, and especially for Yelp, because 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:38.360 we're away to find great local businesses, and you know, 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.000 the first thing crossing my mind is, you know, are 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.240 people are gonna still buy advertising? Like our all business 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:46.160 is going to be affected or just a portion we 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.560 had gone through to you know, I was CEO in 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.080 two thousand eight when we had that major recession, and 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.520 so I knew that Yelp as a company should be resilient, 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.400 but I had never faced anything remotely like a pandemic 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.320 where every business is potentially affected by shut on. So 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.000 it was a very scary moment for for me and 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.760 for the company. Did reviews come to its standstill? Did 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.920 advertising stop? We certainly took a pretty big hit in 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.480 advertising dollars of people pause their campaigns. Uh. You know, Fortunately, 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.960 we had functionality that allowed them to set a future date, 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.320 and so we encourage people to you know, set a 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.880 resumed date for their advertising months later, perhaps as the 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:25.840 pandemic has passed had passed, or at least when the 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:30.560 panic would have subsided. Um. And you know, our focus 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:34.079 a YELP was really getting employees ready to work from home, 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.200 getting people out of offices. This is all, you know, 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.919 kind of late February, we were you know, it hit 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.959 our radars. Hey, this is coming. We need to get 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.200 you know, salespeople at home. All of our sales people 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.120 have desktop computers in an office, Like, how do we 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.160 get them equipped to try and work out of their 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.400 home and you know, keep the company running. And so 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:55.480 there was a lot of operational challenges transitioning people to 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.200 work from home and getting ready to try and adapt 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:02.080 to this extreme crisis. So fast forward to fall. Yelp 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.880 shares spike on news of the early success of the 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:10.080 Fiser vaccine and if everything works out, that could mean 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.880 the economy opens faster. That's good for small businesses, that's good. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.720 Free yelp. How optimistic are you? None of us have 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:20.400 been through a pandemic before, so we can't know everything. 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.040 But you know, I can't say that in the last quarter, 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.480 you know, things really had had come back. Economic activity 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.960 had picked up. Um, you know, we were seeing people 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.040 starting to dine at restaurants obviously, you know, with the 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.600 better weather where we have weren't quite into winter yet, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.080 people were returning to restaurants. Home and local services as 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.440 people spent more time at home really has held up 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.680 throughout the pandemic. We've really come back in a big way, 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.480 faster than even you know, we were hoping for. And 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.480 with the with the vaccine potentially arriving and starting to 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:55.720 get out there, I think, you know, we can we 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:57.880 can finally say, hey, there is light at the end 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.560 of this tunnel. You know. That's been the scariest thing 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:02.800 about the whole crisis is we had hoped that a 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:06.160 vaccine would arrive, But actually knowing that that one is 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.920 there and that it's actually effective, I think is very exciting. Uh, 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:13.440 you know, certainly for for us at y'all, hopefully for 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:15.720 lots of in the minds of small business owners, and 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.960 you know, the rest of the world is is very happy, 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:20.880 I think to hear that news. So what are you 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.360 expecting to see over the holidays, given that we're going 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:27.360 into winter cold and flu season, potential spike in COVID cases. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.359 We're already seeing hospitalization surge, and we know that people 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.800 aren't going to be traveling and out there shopping and 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.680 eating out like they normally would. I mean it's hard. 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.520 I'm not currently contemplating national shutdowns where everyone is frozen 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.440 in place like they were, you know, kind of the 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.680 March April time frame. I think people will have to 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.440 be cautious. You know, in in restaurant dining will probably 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.960 be curtailed or very limited, depending on you know, the 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.760 situation in that particular region. But I think you know, 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.920 again for for yelps business, uh, you know, a lot 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.000 of it is buoyed by the home local sector, which 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.159 is done really well. As people are home. You know, 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.600 things happen, your roof leaks, You've got to get that fixed. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.919 Your toilet clogs, well, your whole family is help. You know, 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:13.120 your your kids are possibly doing the remote schooling there. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.080 You've got to get that thing fixed. Um and uh. 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.279 And so those services, those service providers will continue to 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.159 do well and will continue to spend to acquire leads 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.240 from sites like out Now. You regularly release these economic 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.680 impact reports, and from what I can tell, by the 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.839 end of summer, you found that a hundred sixty thousand 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.520 businesses had closed on YELP. Where does that number stand now? 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.159 What are businesses telling you about how they're doing? Region 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.839 to region? We have seen, you know, businesses, lots of 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.479 businesses reopen that were temporarily closed. I think the numbers 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.359 around two twenty thousand of the temporarily closed businesses have 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:52.040 opened back up again, which is a great sign. Uh. 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:55.320 And also from a new business standpoint, especially in the 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:59.040 restaurant and food sector, we're seeing new business openings at 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.479 levels that are in line with so you know, that's 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.240 one really inspiring thing showing kind of the resilience of 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:09.120 American entrepreneurship is that businesses are really you know, new 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.239 new entrepreneurs are still being born in this environment, which 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.880 is is incredible. I think it just shows incredible tenacity 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.039 and bodes well for the economy as we start thinking 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.560 about one and beyond. Now. Early on in the pandemic, 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.240 yelped laid off a thousand people. You furloughed a bit 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.000 more than that. Where does staffing stand now. At the 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.120 start of the pandemic, obviously, you know, we saw advertising 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.760 revenue dropping very rapidly. We had to make some very 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:39.480 tough calls around our people uh, you know people that that, uh, 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:42.080 we're incredible employees for us, and it was a very 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.600 difficult moment. We had to lay off a thousand people, 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.839 as you mentioned, we also furloughed about a thousand people 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:51.719 as well, and you know, that set us into a 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.440 that that put us into a stable position to ride 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.400 out sort of the immediate impact of the pandemic and 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.560 whatever economic damage you know, would result. And four months 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.920 later we were actually in a position to be able 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.040 to bring back all of the extent offers back to 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.640 almost all of the furloughed employees, and so that was 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.240 a great feeling. Obviously, it's very tough, you know, to 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.480 let anybody go, but we had made a commitment to 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:18.840 these furloughed employees and so it's great to see so 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:21.200 many of them back working at Yalpin, and many of 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.600 which are here today. Now. The pandemic, as you alluded to, 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:28.520 has become very very political, and I'm wondering what your 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.480 take is on Joe Biden's election. Are you at all 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:34.640 concerned that his safety first approach? Could you know, mean 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.040 the economy opens more slowly? I think we you know, 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.680 we have to be guided by science. Um, you know, 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.120 we we have to take a dispassionate look. We have 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:44.120 to take politics out of it and say, what, you know, 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.160 we can't really have a great economy if everyone's cowering, 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.000 you know, from impacts of the pandemic, or hospitals are 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.240 getting overloaded with cases. So we just have to take 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.720 a sensible approach. We have to listen to the scientists 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.200 if they're telling us that, you know, wearing masks is 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.760 going to you know, diminish the am packed to the pandemic, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.960 that we should all be wearing masks. It's very straightforward. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.480 It shouldn't be a political issue. It's it's very frustrating 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:07.480 that it has been. And I think that costs us 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.080 valuable time and even more importantly, causes, you know, costs 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.320 us health and even lives. It seems like the next 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.480 stimulus package might be more scaled back. Are you concerned 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:21.200 about a divided government meaning that small businesses aren't going 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.400 to get the help they need. I think the FED 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:27.040 chair has been pretty clear that, you know, businesses need supports, 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:30.040 especially small businesses need support. And I think the initial 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.400 stimulus package was a positive and you know, we've been 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.560 all waiting and hoping for another one, and I think, 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.240 you know, we shouldn't just have socialism for big companies 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.960 where they can borrow endlessly with cheap debt from the 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.640 you know, powered by the Fed. We we should extend 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:47.120 the helping hand to all these great small business owners 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:53.320 that are just trying to get by. This is my 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.040 conversation with Yelp CEO and co founder jeremy'st Doppleman. Up 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.600 next inside his decision to turn down an offer from 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.960 Google was a call from Steve Jobs, the deciding factor. 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.600 Plus Stoppleman wis in on the antitrust lawsuit now facing Google, 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:11.280 a company he's not shy about calling a monopoly. I'm 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.720 Emily Chang, and this is Bloomberg Studio. At one point 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:29.760 out we could spend a lot of time talking about 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.040 old stories. You've been in Silicon Valley a long time. 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.960 You were part of the early PayPal team. Um, but 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:36.719 there's one old story that I really do want to 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:40.319 ask you about, which is that Google tried to buy 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.400 Yelp back in two thousand nine for over half a 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:47.000 billion dollars and you turn them down. Explain how that 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.520 played out? Well, and you know, I think that Yelp 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:55.520 was doing something really positive which was growing quickly, gathering 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.400 all this useful information about local businesses that frankly no 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:03.920 other UH site had UM and I think Google UH 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.120 saw that that maps was of growing importance to them 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.559 UM and was interested in Yelp, and we initially had 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:14.600 a partnership, but ultimately I think, you know, Google wasn't 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.080 satisfied with that partnership and wanted to get into the 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.560 business themselves. UM and so then you know, there was 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.960 a back and forth where they had some interest in Yelp, 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:27.840 but ultimately it didn't work out. I think we we 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.360 saw things differently, and you know, I think that that 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.240 was good. Uh. It allowed yelled to stay independent, to 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:38.199 grow on its own UM and UH. And frankly, I 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:40.600 think I've I've been able to develop as a CEO 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.120 quite a bit as well, So I think it's been 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:45.680 good for me personally. Now, as the story goes, Steve Jobs, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:48.839 who was obviously running Apple at the time, Google's biggest competitor, 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.520 called you to convince you to turn it down. Did 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.520 that really happen? It did. Yeah, it was a bit 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.160 of a surreal moment. I'd call it probably a career highlight, 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:03.160 still peak, a peak highlight for me when an assistant 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.480 of mine, you know, broke into a meeting and like 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:07.960 tapped me on the shoulder and literally slipped up post 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.040 it note that said Steve Jobs is on the line, 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:12.600 and so I ran out of the meeting and then 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.240 you know, picked up the phone, and of course it 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:18.000 wasn't Steve Jobs. It was Steve Jobs assistant was on 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.520 the line, And so then I was waiting for Steve Jobs, 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:22.920 who did ultimately get on the phone, and he had 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.480 some not so nice things to say about Google and 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.520 something nice things to say about Yelp and said, you know, 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:30.480 he loved Yelp, and then we should keep going. And 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:32.280 you know, if it was a money thing, then we 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.800 should be talking to Apple, not not Google. But we 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.600 should just keep doing what we're doing. And you know, 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:39.040 I thought that was good advice. So fast forward to today. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:41.640 Yelp is now a two billion dollar public company, but 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:46.079 also Google is now your biggest competitor. Did you make 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:50.560 the right call? Well? I think I did. Uh, you know, 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.920 I think Yelp continues to serve on its mission, which 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.800 is connecting people with great local businesses, and it's been 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.160 a really rewarding journey and I think lots of people 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.679 find yea still incredibly value lable. I think, you know, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.160 over a hundred million people come to Yelp every single month, 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.560 uh and steer themselves to a great local business. So 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.960 I think it's it's going well. So the Department of 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:16.880 Justice has recently sued Google over antitrust taking on Google. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.880 Competing against Google is no joke for for any business. 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.040 What was your reaction to the suit. We We've been 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.400 working on on this topic for a very long time. 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.760 So there was a good feeling, I would say in 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:33.000 the Yelp office, because we've been kind of shouting from 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.080 the rooftops for a very long time that you know, 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.040 there is a monopoly problem in this country, and in particular, 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:42.160 there's a Google problem in this country. And Google, you know, 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.160 has behaved illegally and uh you know has has leverages 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:50.440 monopoly um in ways that are destructive to innovation and 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.000 competition and that you know, it's bad for consumers, uh, 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.600 you know, bad for small business owners. And so it 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.319 was great to see some you know, some early validation 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.080 of that from the d o J. Now we've all 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.880 seen the increasing number of Google reviews and you know, 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.760 yelps main complaint that Google favors its own reviews over 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:12.839 yours isn't actually the core of the case. Are you 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.600 at all concerned that your concerns might get passed over? 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:19.880 I mean, it's hard to say where the case goes 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:22.400 right now, because the state A G s will be uh, 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.120 you know, sort of bringing their own cases and presumably 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.280 it gets consolidated. So it's hard to know the exact 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.720 scope of the case. I think, you know, the the 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.880 early signs that you know from our perspective are positive. 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.040 And you know, again there's bipartisan support for really scrutinizing 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.000 Google and taking a look at their behavior over the 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.920 last decade. You look at like television over the last 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:46.240 forty fifty years, and it's a highly regulated industry. You know, 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.679 you look at radio, highly regulated. Even even going back 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.760 to movies, there were antitrust cases that made a big 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.840 difference in the distribution of of of films. And so 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.280 why is it that technology should be completely immune to that, 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.920 especially these new you know, sort of the Google generation 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:07.360 of technology companies. Why shouldn't you know, Congress exercise its power. 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.720 Why shouldn't the DJ investigate? Why shouldn't the FTC investigate 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.880 you told sixty minutes back in. If I were starting 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.360 out today, I would have no shot of building Yelp. 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:21.360 That opportunity has been closed off by Google and their approach. 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.200 If you provide great content in one of these categories 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.680 that's lucrative to Google and seen as potentially threatening, they 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.000 will snuff you out, They will make you disappear, they 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.440 will bury you. Has Google continued to try to bury 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:39.240 Yelp since that time? It's an easy thing to test 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.479 for yourself. You could just you know, do essentially any 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.760 search with local intent and then see how far down 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.480 the page you have to go to get to any 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.040 kind of organic result, especially in you know, a category 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:56.120 that's particularly lucrative from an advertise, from a SMB advertising standpoint, 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.440 I mean they've they've really tried to maximize the revenue, 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.880 and do think so have have put the consumer in 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.240 the back seat, And I think that's a real problem. 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.960 But then also it's stifles innovation because if if it's 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.280 basically there's no organic content anymore, there isn't really that 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.000 incentive for creators to try and create new and interesting 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:17.800 websites collect information from users. I think, you know, it's 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:19.760 quite sad, and I think if you talk to the 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.600 venture capital community you'll hear that as well. There just 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:26.320 isn't as much interest in ideas that are powered by 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.360 search engine optimization, where you know, you create really wonderful 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.240 content and then Google or other search engines drive you 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.480 traffic like it's just Google now, and if it's a 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:36.800 lucrative vertical, they're going to try and suck up all 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:41.160 the revenue. Now. President elect Biden hasn't detailed his thoughts 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.360 on antitrust yet, but we know that the Obama administration 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.359 was fairly close to to Silicon Valley and Google in particular. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.280 How would you like Biden to weigh in on antitrust? 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.600 You know, what do you want lawmakers to do? Should 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.920 should Google be broken up? Yeah? I think all we 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.840 can ask for is independent thought. Um, And so you're 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.560 you're absolutely right that. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has a 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:08.520 very bad record when it comes to antitrust enforcement and 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.520 especially Google scrutiny. I think Google's lobbyist was the number 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:16.280 one lobbyist in the White House by visits, and so 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.480 that that's been widely reported. Uh. And even as the 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:24.040 FTC was purportedly investigating there was seemingly you know, back 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.480 channel communication with Google, which you know is very sad 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.720 uh to to learn of, And so I would hope 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:33.040 and I think there's some indication that Biden is going 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.360 to take a more independent view of this, and I 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.840 think we'll have to see, you know, who's involved in 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.040 the administration, who's in the cabinet, you know, who are 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.840 the people around Biden. Uh. You know, My personal thought 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.040 is like, somehow we have to get Elizabeth Warren in there, 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:51.240 because she's been particularly strong on you know, hammering home 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.040 the point that monopolies are not good for the economy, 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:58.280 they're not good for innovation, they're not good for consumers, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:00.680 and so we need someone like at with a really 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:06.080 strong message and a strong independent streak as well. Now, 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.399 all of that said, some businesses have complained that Yelp 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:16.040 reviews skew more negative. How do you respond to, you know, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.719 this complaint from businesses who you know might prefer Google 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.080 because they see that they have more positive reviews there. 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.800 We try to be you know, the most independent, create 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:28.119 a level playing field for businesses, and you know that 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.359 frustrates businesses that, frankly on other platforms, are used to 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.400 getting what they want, which is, you know, being able 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.480 to ask their friends to write reviews for them being 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:38.600 five stars, and in fact the data supports that. So 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:43.560 the FTC, an economist there, recently put out a paper 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:47.160 that talked about the review distribution on the various platforms 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:50.280 and Yelp actually has the most balanced review system, which 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.520 is very validating. That feels great to me because that's 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.280 what we're trying to achieve, is just a mirror of 0:17:55.320 --> 0:18:04.119 the real world. You're listening to my conversation with the 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.639 CEO and co founder of Yelp, Jeremy Stoppelman. Coming up, 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.000 Stoppelman was a key player in the famed PayPal mafia. 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.119 His lessons for up and coming entrepreneurs and vision for 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.560 the future of Yelp, post pandemic and in a new normal. 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.120 I'm Emily Chang. This is Bloomberg Studio one point. Oh, 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:40.000 stay with us. I do want to take a quick 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.000 step back and talk about how you got here, because 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:44.560 you know, it really is so fascinating. You're an engineer. 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:46.920 You worked at x dot com back in the day, 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.160 the online bank that was started by Elon Musk, which 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.320 merged with PayPal. What are some of the biggest lessons 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.720 you've taken from that time in your life and those 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.919 people whom I imagine are still in your life today. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:01.879 One of the big takeaways from PayPal was just how 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.199 much you could do even if you had no experience. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:09.080 And so I I joined x dot com, which you 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:13.000 know eventually merged with with PayPal when I was twenty two, 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:17.440 I think, um, and very quickly I became an engineering 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.399 manager maybe a year and a half later, two years later, 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:24.160 and it ultimately rose and into the executive ranks there 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.960 on the engineering side. And think about it was kind 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:30.320 of preposterous that those folks would give me so much 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.399 responsibility so early in my career. But the fact that 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:36.240 we we somehow pulled it off and created a successful 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:40.320 consumer brand UH and payment site UH that ended up 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.159 being really critical to eBay and then ultimately now as 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.600 a payment service that so many of us use, I 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.719 think validates that, Like, it's not all about experience, A 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.360 lot of it is great determination, creativity, innovation, all all 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:55.000 of those good things. UM. And so I've tried to 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.240 bring that with me to Yelp frankly, and we tried 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:00.720 to make sure that people have fantastic careers we have 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.800 a lot of growth from within when it comes to promotions, 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.000 and we have a lot of home grown you know 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:09.280 now senior employees. So it's really validating to see people 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:12.560 step up and and take on more responsibility over time. 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.399 Where do you fall on the importance of culture, because 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:19.320 it seems like, you know, there's a group of CEOs 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:21.560 and Silicon Valley who who seem to think it's important 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.840 in others who seem to think it's all about growth. Well, 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:28.280 I think you want both. Uh it's you know, I 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.280 think it's hard to be a company and not have 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:36.359 robust growth. Uh. It just fundamentally is difficult, especially in 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:38.560 the technology industry where things change so fast. So if 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:40.800 you're not growing, then you're probably not keeping up and 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.640 then you know, eventually you fall over. But I think 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.720 we also see that culture is important, especially in recruiting 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:50.359 the top talent that you need to succeed here in 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.160 Silicon Valley is is you need to have a great culture. Um, 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:55.960 you need to be on top of things what's going 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:59.080 on in your organization, because if you don't, somebody else 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:00.919 will will be good at that, and then people will 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:02.880 flock to that company. That that is also high growth. 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.160 There's always you know, other shiny new objects out there. 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:07.159 It's you know, you want to deliver. I think on 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.240 both dimensions as a CEO. There's been some reporting and 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.800 Business Insider that Yelp has an aggressive sales culture. What's 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.879 been your response to that. I mean, we're one of 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.160 one of the most highly scrutinized sales teams I think 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:23.760 in the history of of local sales teams. I mean 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:26.879 for many, many years. Uh, you know, business owners, for instance, 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:30.679 would accuse us of extortion because they claim that you 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.359 could take down Yelp reviews if you paid us. That 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:37.199 was never true, and so any individual anecdotal accusation I 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:39.560 think you have to take with a grain of salt. 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.440 We do have thousands of salespeople, and so is every 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:45.919 conversation going to be perfect? Absolutely not. But you know, 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.480 we have systems in place to ensure that that the 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:53.280 conversations are the ones that we expect, are empathetic, are thoughtful, 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:57.160 and the vast, vast majority of those conversations are great. Now, 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:00.359