#147—Martin Reeves: The Like Button That Changed the World

Martin Reeves is Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute and author of The Imagination Machine and his newest book, Like: The Button That Changed the World. A prolific strategist and researcher, Martin is known for uncovering practical lessons from unexpected places and helping leaders rethink innovation for the real world.

In this conversation, we trace the surprising story of the “like” button—how a few lines of JavaScript, cultural quirks, and serendipitous accidents reshaped business models, advertising, and even human behavior. Martin reveals why most groundbreaking ideas don’t emerge from lone geniuses, but from messy communities, chance encounters, and recombinations of old ideas into something new.

Whether you’re leading innovation at scale or just curious about the unintended consequences of technology, this episode will change how you think about creativity, feedback, and the ripple effects of small decisions.

In this episode we cover:

• Why the “like” button is the ultimate case study in serendipitous innovation
• How social signals scale beyond social media into CX, commerce, and B2B services
• The role of culture, language, and naming in shaping adoption and meaning
• Why second-order effects of innovation often matter more than first-order ones
• A practical lens for spotting and leveraging serendipity inside organizations

Episode Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
02:00 – Guest Introduction
03:45 – Toaster Projects and Innovation
06:13 - Origins of the Like Button
08:25 - Cultural History of the Thumbs Up Gesture
14:31 - Multiple Inventors and Facebook's Role
34:27 - Inside the Code: How Likes Work
36:11 - Future Implications of Like Technology

Additional Resources:

• Book Website: LikeBook.org
• Martin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-reeves
• Book: Like: The Button That Changed the World

Thank you to our guest, Martin Reeves, our producers, and the Outthinkers team. If you enjoyed this conversation, please follow, download, and subscribe. I’m your host, Kaihan Krippendorf — see you next time on The Outthinkers Podcast.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast

Thank you to our guests, thank you to our executive producer, Karina Reyes, our editor, Zach Ness, and the rest of the team. If you like what you heard, please follow, download, and subscribe. I'm your host, Kaihan Krippendorff. Thank you for listening.

Follow us at outthinkernetworks.com/podcast