Hey there,

I’m Stefan, the guy who bought MakerList last week.

I’d like to welcome you to Alternative Assets: A newsletter about alternatives to traditional investment & business ideas.

A bit about me

My name is Stefan von Imhof, and I’m the Head of Product at Flippa - the world’s largest marketplace for buying & selling online businesses. I also run Flippa’s Due Diligence Program, and have also bought & sold 10 websites & micro-businesses myself. I live and breathe this world.

Why did I buy MakerList?

I had been a reader of MakerList for some time, but noticed that Richard had stopped posting a few months ago. I thought his content was great, and so I reached out to him to see if I could help keep it going!

I felt that subscribers would be interested in the sort of content I was putting out there, and Richard agreed. There was a lot of syngery here. We negotiated a bit, and decided on an arrangement that worked for both of us.

Also, the orange color he used was already pretty close to my logo. So it was a no-brainer 😄

What are Alternative Assets?

There's a million blogs about venture capital, stocks, real estate. This is about the wide world of options that don't get talked about as much — with a focus on digital assets, websites and micro-businesses.

There’s a world of opportunity out there. Here are some examples:

• 💻 Digital properties. From websites and domains, to SaaS & mobile apps. Early days of a tremendously exciting space led by Flippa. The cornerstone of digital acquisition entrepreneurship.

• 📦 Ecommerce, Dropshipping and FBA businesses. Thrasio is doing some really interesting stuff here.

• 💸 Equity crowdfunding. What Birchal and Equitise are doing..

• 🤝 P2P lending alternatives. Plenti lets you invest in Australian “green energy loans.”

• 🖼️ Art & collectibles. Masterworks is leading the way here.

• 🖌️ Artists. Yep, you can even invest in artists themselves, through Cent.

• 🏎️ Classic cars. Rally Rd lets you trade shares in classic cars.

• 📚 Amazon KDP. Kindle Direct Publishing is about as passive as you can get. Lots of eyeballs on this space lately.

• 📣 Social accounts. Social accounts have standalone value, and are starting to catch the eye of savvy investors.

• 🏇 Racehorses. A fun side hobby with potentially big payouts.

• 🍷 Wine. With Vinovest, you’ll get access to a portfolio of fine wines.

• 🚜 Farmland. A big market. Invest by buying land, REITs, or new platforms like FarmTogether.

• 👕 Print on demand. Arguably the easiest dropshipping you can do.

• 🏫 ISAs. Income Share Agreements may be par for the course in Australia, but there are some investing opportunities in America.

• 🎬 Movie sets & music studios. An alternative use for extra space in your home or land.

• 💎 Rare earth minerals. Not just the domain of mining companies, surprisingly.

• 🚘 Parking lots. They’re boring and ugly. But they produce consistent returns.

• 🏬 Billboards. Same as above. This world is full of interesting opportunities that nobody ever thinks about.

• 📜 Patents. Many patents go unused. There’s a market in buying, selling, and (ugh) extorting these.

• 🌃 Towns. Yes, technically entire towns are for sale, if that’s your thing.

• 🍫 Vending machines. Surprisingly easy to own and operate.

• 🏡 Real Estate. I’ll cover alternative real estate investments, such as what Rhove, Roofstock, and Nico are doing, along with some REITs, and of course ADUs.

• 🌴 Islands. The market is fascinating - if not unattainable for most. Still, buying a private island is not as difficult as you might think.

• 🎹 Stock photography, music & sound libraries. There are investible markets for stock images & sound, and other ways to invest in music rights.

• 🗞️ Newsletters. Yup, they're assets too. Some interesting bundling and newsletter acquisition opportunities here.

What is NOT covered?

There’s a few themes I don’t cover:

• ❎ Stocks & bonds. Nothing against stocks, they’re just the obvious choice, and everyone is already talking about them. This newsletter is for the non-obvious stuff.

• ❎ Bitcoin. I think everyone should own bitcoin, but bitcoin is already covered in a million other places. And frankly, the blockchain just doesn’t interest me that much anymore.

• ❎ Venture capital. I’m not a VC and never will be. I mean, technically a lot of what I cover could be considered “ventures”, and they require some “capital.” But you know what I mean. If you want traditional VC content you’ve come to the wrong place, Jack.

• ❎ Gold. Ahh yes, the original alternative asset. And easily the most boring. Good thing there are dozens of others now. 😄

How often do you update?

Once per week.

That’s it for now.

I’ve got some great stuff coming your way. I hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely,
- Stefan

Disclaimer

The author is not a finance, legal or tax professional. He is a self taught investor, sharing information lessons learned. Expect articles to contain some inaccuracies. Always consult a professional before choosing a course of action.