alternative investing hub raises $6M, a 4-step formula for financial freedom, physical vs NFT, Canada is 'not sorry' & what Pink Floyd's drummer is doing with his money.

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Hi there, 👋
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Is your mouse still working?
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Last Thursday's story on Sam Parr received a massive amount of clicks, as did Flippa's article on lifestyle businesses.
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Plus, we received several great comments on the above newsletter, including an awesome response from Patrick:

Thanks, Patrick! We enjoyed your twist on Sam's quote.
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We appreciate all the comments we receive, but we particularly enjoy a little praise.
It's the stuff that feeds our will to live write the stories we hope you'll enjoy reading.
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​Here's what you'll see below:​
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• A 4-step formula for financial freedom
• Alternative investing hub raises $6M
• Big announcement from DraftKings
• Physical vs NFT - Steve Jobs' application (again)

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See the snippets to find out why Canada is not sorry, who's scrambling for Eastern European startups, and what Pink Floyd's drummer is doing with his money.
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Read on for more.
As always, thanks for being here.
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​P.S. Drop your comments via the feedback form at the bottom of this newsletter. You can also leave us a voice message.
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Alternative Investing Hub Raises

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Vincent has just closed a $6 million Series A, as reported by TechCrunch.
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In November 2020, the founder of Indiegogo - Slava Rubin - launched an alternative investments discovery platform called 'Vincent.'​
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Rubin stated that they had assembled the “most comprehensive database of alternate investments.”
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Similar to Kayak, people use Vincent to source deals and are then redirected to a partner platform’s site or app in order to carry out the deal.
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Their partners include WeFunder, Republic, Rally Rd. and Otis.
Vincent makes money by facilitating discovery on its partner platforms and earning fees.
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​Both accredited and unaccredited investors are welcome, with the latter gaining access to VC deals via equity crowdfunding.
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Vincent’s main challenge is building up a brand that resonates with users without actually managing the actual investments themselves.
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In the eight months since their launch, Rubin says that more than 100 thousand people have used the platform, and that they now have 75 partner platforms integrated with the site.
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The platform’s partner offerings span several alternative asset classes including venture capital, real estate, debt, crypto, art and collectibles.
​Vincent is free for investors to search and browse.​
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DraftKings to Debut NFTs

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​DraftKings has announced that their new NFT marketplace will debut later this summer.
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The fantasy sports betting company plans to offer curated sports and entertainment-themed digital collectibles to its audience of fans.
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DraftKings’ foothold in the space will come from an exclusive partnership with Autograph, a newly launched NFT startup co-founded by quarterback Tom Brady.
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When the platform launches, users will be able to purchase NFTs from DraftKings and resell or trade them through the platform.
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Matt Kalish, DraftKings co-founder and president stated:
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​DraftKings Marketplace will sit at the center of this technological and cultural phenomenon, providing our immense existing customer base with an easily accessible experience that rivals all legacy marketplaces.
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Watch this space.
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Physical vs NFT

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Last week, Olly Joshi launched the world's first Physical vs NFT auction.
Steve Jobs' job application from 1973 is once again up for sale.
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Joshi put the physical and digital versions up for sale simultaneously to see which does better.
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The application' has been up for auction several times before, selling in 2017 for $18,750, in 2018 for $174,757, and just this last March for a reported $222,400.
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The auction will run for seven days from the 21st July, during which people seeking the physical version can bid through Joshi's website.
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People hoping to snag the digital version can go to popular NFT marketplace Rarible.
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As of writing this, the paper version is winning the value race.
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A 4-Step Formula for Financial Freedom

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​Who wants to show up to an office or trade time for money forever?
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Since you're reading this, we're guessing the answer is, "not me."
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The concept of financial freedom is different for everyone because each of us has an idea of how we want to run our lives and businesses, and how much money is 'enough.' ​
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​Financial freedom isn't a multi-millionaire with a Ferrari parked in their garage.
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This is Tim Denning's definition of financial freedom:
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​Financial freedom is the choice to do whatever work you want, rather than work you’re forced to do. It’s where you stop trading time for money, and start trading time to do work you enjoy where the financial reward is unimportant.
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How do you achieve that?
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The traditional formula for making money is exhausting because it steals your time away from doing what you really want - whenever you want.
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As a community of investors, we're fans of owning assets that buy back our time.
Ideally, these assets provide multiple income streams and enable us to spend time however we choose.
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If you're at the side-hustle stage or just thinking about investing in assets that make money, then this (slightly unusual) map towards financial freedom will give you several ideas to avoid the 'time trap.'
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​See the story.​
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Press My Button

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​See the buttons.​
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Reinventing Email

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The platform enables businesses to create emails that do everything from collecting feedback from users to booking meetings with prospects, and from recovering abandoned shopping carts to generating new leads.
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The business was founded last year and revenues are growing at a rate of 30% month on month.
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​It's no surprise that Mailmodo has attracted the attention of two leading tech sector investors in a $2 million seed round.​
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The fund-raising is led by Surge, (run by Sequoia Capital) with Y Combinator also taking part.
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✅ Snippets to Send You on Your Way

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🔷 What type of business should you start?: These are the 5 questions you should ask yourself ahead of time, to prevent falling into a business you secretly can’t stand.
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🔷 The scramble for Eastern European startups: There’s a race on for Russian and Eastern European founders. London-based Untitled Ventures plans to join the fray with €100 million / $118 million for its second fund to invest in “ambitious deep tech startups with Eastern European founders.”
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🔷 Canada's startup market booms: Canada has already crushed prior yearly records for venture investment so far in 2021. Indeed, CB Insights data indicates that Canadian startups this year have raised more than double their 2020 totals. They are not sorry. TechCrunch has the details.​
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🔷 More proof that edtech is a hot space: Expanding its footprint in the US, Bengaluru-based edtech decacorn BYJU'S has acquired Epic, a digital reading platform for under-12 children, for $500 million. This acquisition will give BYJU'S access to more than two million teachers and 50 million users who are a part of Epic’s global user base. Read more.​
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🔷 Money: Billing itself as a SaaS platform to enable online creators to build community-led businesses, Disciple Media has raised $6 million in funding. Investors include Sir Peter Michael (CEO of Cray Computers) and Nick Mason (drummer from Pink Floyd). Full story.​
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🔷 Lend me a dollar - or not: The U.S. Treasury stands to run out of cash as soon as October if the debt limit isn't lifted in the coming weeks. Congress is facing a deadline of August 1 to either raise the current debt limit, which is the maximum amount of debt the Treasury can issue to the public and other federal agencies, or extend its in-place suspension. Eek.
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👂 The Mandela Effect:

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