Plus: an 8 figure website sale, the future of digital businesses, NFT loans, the "pump and dump mafia" & the fastest growing startup in Europe.
Hi there, 👋
We weren't wrong when we mentioned the demand and huge investment returns for Pokemon cards recently.
It turns out that the resurgence in interest has caused so much "unruly behavior" in stores that Target has suspended sales of these popular trading cards.
Another headline that caught our attention was the news that Binance is under investigation.
The crypto exchange is facing a probe by U.S. money-laundering and tax sleuths.
We'll keep an eye on that.
Make sure you check out our latest podcast episode.
Avi Silverberg talks to Mohit Tater from Blackbook Investments.
Mohit is also one of the operators for the Empire Flippers Capital Fund.
The show is packed full of insights on website investing and how the EF fund operates.
You'll find the investing.io podcasts on your favorite podcast host or listen to this episode here on Spotify.
Now, let's get on with all the latest news and views we gathered for you to start the week.
Don't miss the snippets at the end!
As always, thanks for being here.
P.S. Skip the 15,000 person waitlist by using the special link from our new sponsor.
The Future: Investing in Online Businesses
There is consistent change in the online business space, particularly when it comes to buying and selling websites.
Where is the industry heading?
That's the question Dom Wells addresses as he discusses Digital Businesses in 2021 and Beyond.
There is no shortage of money coming into this space, but, as an investment, it is still not as prominent as other asset classes.
Dom not only covers increased multiples and competition, but also how micro-PE companies or funds coming into the space are making it harder to buy great assets.
On the future for digital businesses, he says:
"The space is set for an acceleration and explosion of popularity."
Full story on Flippa.
Confessions of a Failed Startup Founder
Confessions.
Some startup founders are willing to share their mistakes.
Even if you have previously founded a business, there's no guarantee that you won't fall into the old traps of ignoring your burn rate, (the rate you're spending capital) messing up your equity distribution or dragging out your launch date.
Once again, Rachel Greenberg manages to hit on several of the major reasons many startups don't quite make it.
Greenberg has a business degree, a Wall Street background, and prior startup experience, and she still messed up on this venture.
As she said:
"In risking my own money, and being the majority equity holder and the only full-time team member, I took full responsibility for this failure. I confronted every flaw and shortcoming as my own and vowed never to make those same mistakes again."
You can’t simply pay all your problems away and she explains why in these 9 confessions.
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Why do 84% of ultra-high-net-worth individuals collect art?
For decades, the top 1% have used art to generate outsized investment returns with virtually no correlation to the stock market.
From 1995 to 2020, contemporary art prices outperformed the S&P by 174%.
But unless you have an extra $10 million lying around to buy an entire painting, you've been locked out of this private $1.7 trillion asset class.
Until now.
Masterworks is an exclusive community that lets its members invest in blue-chip art by artists like Basquiat, Warhol, and Picasso.
Recently, Masterworks sold their first work, a painting by Banksy, for a net 32% annualized return.
They even have a secondary market so you can get liquidity anytime.
The best part?
Investing.io subscribers can skip their 15,000 person waitlist with this link.*
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Check All the Boxes
Base Templates is a good place to go when you're looking for pitch deck or presentation templates.
In addition to those, they've just launched a startup fundraising checklist.
That might sound simple, but there's plenty of work to do if you want to check all the boxes in each section.
Here are the major headings:
- Are you ready for your startup fundraise?
- Define & check technical details
- Get yourself and your documents ready
- Run your fundraising process
- Negotiating the terms
- Finish the investment
This is an invaluable list, especially if you've never raised money before.
The checklist also includes links to other helpful resources on their site such as investor pitch training and relevant blog posts.
Get the checklist.
Empire Flippers' 8 Figure Sale
Empire Flippers had their first ever 8 figure sale late last year.
The site was an FBA business that sold in 137 days for $11,800,000.
This post is a mini case study on that sale.
It covers the intricacies of the valuation process, the time on their marketplace, and the structure of the final deal.
At the end of the article, the writer addresses the current market boom, and gives you some juicy market data to ponder.
See the details.
Domain Snacks
👉 Elliot Silver is weighing his options. The domain name aftermarket has been performing strongly so he is questioning whether it is time to buy or time to hold.
If you're wondering the same thing, then check out his thoughts on acquiring inventory or holding onto your cash.
👉 Discussions in domain forums are full of people spouting that their way is the only way.
But, domainers should take the approach that best suits them.
Who is to say that you can't be a hobby domainer or that you need to concentrate only on dot com domains because everything else sucks?
We thought this discussion on Namepros might interest you. One domainer stated that they have lost interest in domaining, and asked "what about you." The thread has over 6,000 views and a wide array of opinions.
👉 It’s no secret that NFTs and NFT related domain names are hot. On Friday at Sedo, a one year hand reg. sold for $25,000.
TLD Investors share a little background.
NFT Loans
In case you haven't seen this, there's a marketplace for non-fungible token (NFT) loans.
It's called NFTfi.
You put any ERC-721 token up as collateral and other users can offer you a loan.
If you accept a loan, the ETH gets paid out from the lender's account to you, and your NFT gets locked in the NFTfi smart contract.
Once you repay the loan, the asset is transferred back to you. Naturally, if you don’t repay the total repayment amount before the due date, the asset is transferred to the lender.
On Friday, they recorded the largest NFT-backed loan:
You will find statistics for their top NFT’s, users and loans on this page.
Goading the "Pump and Dump Mafia"
Scott Galloway polarizes investors and Venture Capitalists.
In fact, he regularly antagonizes the latter on Twitter.
Galloway has limited regard for how his comments, predictions and sense of humor are perceived, as long as he creates dialogue.
Here is a prime example of his contrarian approach:
“When someone comes at me hard on Twitter, I know that I’ve said one of their portfolio companies is overvalued,” Galloway says. “It’s all sort of a pump-and-dump mafia.”
Let's be clear.
As an entrepreneur, Galloway has raised VC funds for his newest company, Section 4.
He's part of the VC scene, having taken one company public and selling another for $155 million.
In his own startup investments, Galloway says he’s looking to make “citizen trades”: investments that he believes are net-positive for the internet and society.
This Forbes article offers a quick look at the VC vitriol, and Galloway's thoughts on WeWork, Clubhouse and the news media.
Taste Freedom
Our self-control is weakened by the numerous distractions we encounter online.
You tell yourself, "I'll just check my Twitter feed" and, 30 minutes later, you're still there.
When you want to improve your focus, there's only one solution.
That is, to control what you view by restricting access to those websites and apps that slow you down.
This is where Freedom comes in.
Freedom is an easy-to-use tool that keeps you focused on your immediate tasks and allows you to complete your work without digital interference.
It's possible to configure your own distraction blocker or simply block selected web pages from their pre-populated list of commonly visited sites.
If your focus is really suffering, then a click of a button blocks the entire internet. That may be a step too far for you, but it won't hurt for long!
Whether you want to build better habits, harness your productive time, or regain balance in your relationship with tech, then get a taste of Freedom.
Priced from $2.42 per month for a one year commitment.
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The Fastest Growing Startup in Europe
Franz Schrepf shut down his company.
He was broke and burnt out.
What happened next would change his life.
Last year, he joined a fledgling startup called Hopin.
If you're not familiar with Hopin, they are an online events platform that is used for summits, training, social gatherings, expos and more.
Hopin is the definition of hockey-stick growth.
They have attained a $5.6bn valuation and grown to 500 team members in less than two years.
Schrepf looks at the lessons he learned from working within a startup that's rapidly emerging as the fastest-growing SaaS company in the world.
What he learned may be applied to any startup. We particularly enjoyed his emphasis on building and selling and how "customer love should always be your priority."
And, if that doesn't light your fire, then see why you should give away your legos.
Read One Year at Hopin.
✅ Snippets to Send You on Your Way
🔷 Could this be true? An Australian computer scientist who alleges he created bitcoin has launched a London High Court lawsuit against 16 software developers in an effort to secure bitcoin worth around 4 billion pounds ($5.7 billion) he says he owns. Wright, alleged in 2016 that he wrote the bitcoin white paper - which first outlined the technology behind the digital asset - under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. [Reuters]
🔷 Elon Musk is a liability: Musk's withdrawal on Bitcoin investors is proving to be a major nuisance as the coin strives to go mainstream. If Musk was actually bothered about the planet, then he would not have ignored the obvious contradiction of a clean carmaker investing in Bitcoin in the first place. [Deutsche Welle]
🔷 Faster than Ethereum: Solana isn’t widely known yet outside of the crypto community. But insiders think the blockchain platform is interesting for a wide variety of reasons. All it really wants is, well, to completely disrupt Wall Street and the rest of the global markets. [TechCrunch]
🔷 Presentation tips from a winner: Daniela Blanco won 100K in a pitch competition as a student entrepreneur. These 3 pitch tips are invaluable for entrepreneurs and business professionals who need to express their ideas clearly and convincingly. [Forbes]
🔷 Startup Battlefield: After reading the above snippet, are you ready for a challenge? If you are a game-changing, innovative startup - from anywhere around the world - here's your chance to get massive exposure to investors, media and other influential unicorn-makers. There is $100,000 in equity-free prize money up for grabs. See the details and the link to apply.
🔷 Hard money: The term "hard money loan" refers to a type of loan that is backed by a “hard” asset, such as real estate. If you’re a real estate investor or house flipper and you need financing for a deal, a hard money loan might be a good option for you to explore. [Forbes]
🔷 "Sustainable crypto": The price of Cardano’s ada, the world’s fourth most valuable token, surged as crypto traders and analysts plowed into the token that promises it’s a much less carbon-intensive alternative. Read more about Cardano and what to watch for in this post.
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