Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Snapchat CEO: The Tech Bubble Is Real and Yes, It Will Burst (VIDEO)

“I think that people are making riskier investments and ... there will be a correction,” he said.

Asa Mathat for Re/code
Jason Del Rey
Jason Del Rey has been a business journalist for 15 years and has covered Amazon, Walmart, and the e-commerce industry for the last decade. He was a senior correspondent at Vox.

Snapchat has a monster valuation and relatively small revenue.

But Evan Spiegel isn’t afraid to say that we are currently living through a tech bubble, even if he and his Los Angeles-based company are taking advantage of it. The CEO of the popular messaging service said on Tuesday that it’s a matter of when, not if, the tech bubble will burst.

“I think that people are making riskier investments and … there will be a correction,” he said on the first night of the Code Conference in an interview with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.

“[I]t’s definitely something we factor into our plans,” he added.

Spiegel said the investment bubble is being fueled by an “easy money policy” and low interest rates, which may not last a whole lot longer according to recent economic indicators. Those low interest rates are funneling investments toward stock markets, hedge funds and, yes, startups.

Earlier in the interview, Spiegel discussed how he’s intending to make the product easier to use to attract a bigger audience, which, in turn, could help build the business to live up to its valuation hype.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh