Video on Twitter? This Investor Says Yes, Please. It will be a 'powder keg, in a good way.'
By CNBC •
This story originally appeared on CNBC
When Twitter turns on video for all verified users, it will be a "powder keg that will explode," angel investor Jason Calacanis told CNBC Thursday.
That's because politicians, celebrities, journalists and writers are hyperactive on Twitter and not really present on Facebook and Google's YouTube, he explained.
"When they post a video on Twitter, where their active fan base is, it is going to go supernova," Calacanis, an early investor in Uber, said in an interview with "Squawk Alley."
He thinks the videos could command $30-$50 cost-per-impressions (CPM). Facebook, on the other hand, has a lot of video views but at a lower CPM.
"If Twitter does the right thing, which I would say is a 70/30 split in favor of the content providers, it will print money for those people."
In fact, he predicted it would make them tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per day, and possibly millions of dollars per month.
"It's possible that many artists would make more money on Twitter than what they do on their day jobs."
Calacanis also defended CEO Dick Costolo, who has faced calls to exit the company.
On top of the fact that the most important people in the world use Twitter, the company has solid growth and people love to work there, he said.
"It's very easy to screw up these complicated social networks, and it's very hard to grow them and to grow revenue in them. He's got those two things dialed in," Calacanis added.
Yahoo is done
While Calacanis has defended Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer in the past, he told CNBC Thursday "Yahoo is done."
"Yahoo is not going to make any major acquisitions, and Marissa will probably be out of that company in 18-24 months and it will be sold for parts," he said.
When it sold off Alibaba, it broke the No. 1 rule in the technology business: If there is an opportunity to grow your business, you invest, he said.
"Nobody in their right mind is going to give back that war chest, 100 percent of it, unless they're done."
The only wild card would be a "secret plan" to purchase assets, he said.
He believes Yahoo will ultimately get bought by some combination of Microsoft or Facebook, who would use it to have some content or additional unique users.
(Written by Michelle Fox)
