In late November, a longtime Los Angeles technology entrepreneur rang the Nasdaq Opening Bell to commemorate going public.
Thumzup Media Corp., a Sawtelle-based gig work and marketing platform, went public on the Nasdaq in late October under the ticker symbol “TZUP”. The company offered up 1,425,000 shares of common stock, each priced at $5, per filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
It’s a big move for a small company that hasn’t reached profitability yet. It was armed with $1.65 million in angel funding and incurred a net loss in 2023 and 2022 before going public. Thumzup was founded in 2020 by Robert Steele, a longtime Los Angeles technology entrepreneur who happens to spend his time as a hobbyist musician, playing guitar and keyboard.
“In Los Angeles, a lot of people come here seeking their dreams to really make it,” Steele said. “There’s a million people aspiring to be actors and musicians. So what do they do in the meantime? They wait tables. They drive for Uber. Maybe they do a little graphic design on Upwork or Fiverr. And so I thought there must be some way to connect those people to this enormous digital marketing and advertising industry.”
The company bills itself as Uber for marketing – people can sign up for its platform, patron restaurants or businesses on the site, and get paid by the platform for making a recommendation on social media. Right now, there are around 550 businesses on the platform, the majority of which are in the L.A. area. In Venice, where the highest concentration of businesses are, users are encouraged to take a walking tour – grab a burrito, snap a photo, get paid. Get your nails done, snap a photo, get paid.
“On a given day like today, you’re going to interact with probably a dozen brands from the shoes you wear to what you have for lunch,” Steele said. “So imagine if a significant portion of those brands were willing to pay a little bit of money to tell your friends how much you like them.”
Indeed, an endorsement from a familiar face is a powerful form of advertising, and not just between friends and family. Brands are ditching big names on YouTube and Instagram in favor of micro influencers – social media personalities with a smaller, more intimate audience – because working with them tends to show a higher return on investment.
“Even though we give a little bit of money, people take their social media really seriously and they’re not going to post about our advertisers if they actually don’t believe in it,” Steele said. “They’re not going to embarrass themselves.”
Despite its (relatively short) launch into the public markets, Thumzup has been making moves – the company announced shortly before its IPO launch that it would offer cryptocurrency payments alongside Venmo and PayPal for creators. It introduced video endorsements as an offering, integrating with Instagram Reels and, soon, TikTok. Thumzup is also cementing its spot in Miami, where the company plans on growing its roster of businesses.
