Hi there, 👋
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What we've dubbed 'The Massive Monday Mess Up' did not dampen your enthusiasm for opening this newsletter.
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A big "thank you" to everyone who sent us advice, encouragement, and kind words.
(S/O to 'jtaylor' for this comment: "Favorite part of my day")
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Here's what we've got for you this Thursday:

• How valuable is your FBA business?
• Video: 10 investing trends with huge potential
• Why the gaming space attracts funding
• Premium domain names

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The snippets section is full of surprises today. Take a look at who bought $50M in gold bars this month.
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As always, thanks for being here,
Juliet.
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​P.S. If you enjoy our newsletter, please share it. Not subscribed? Join a bunch of curious entrepreneurs and investors to stay on top of what's new in the startup and investing world.
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Game On

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The uptick in funding for gaming startups shows no sign of abating.
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In last Monday's newsletter we mentioned the Games Fund, who had raised $17 million to invest in game developers, gaming technologies, and services.
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That raise represents a tiny fraction of the nearly $5.9 billion in funding that's poured into companies in the gaming space so far this year.
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As well as going the IPO or direct listing route, gaming companies are increasingly choosing the merger or acquisition avenue.
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According to Jed Strong, CEO of gaming-focused payments platform Tiv, the pace of acquisitions will likely continue, if not increase.
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Strong says:
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"I just think you’re going to see these platforms particularly on the enterprise side start to integrate a variety of ancillary products, services, and offerings. Any kind of software from rendering engines, payments systems, to everything in between."
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The gaming community is growing.
​Consumers within this space are attractive to businesses that serve their needs.
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What have you got for them?
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Ranking Startups

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Here's a new way to get a clear view of what's happening in the indie startup scene.
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​MakerLead ranks the top open startups on Indiehackers and displays their Stripe-verified monthly revenue.
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​All the startups are shown on a simple dashboard, with the ability to filter them by revenue, name, description, and more.​
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One of the tools we featured in May is now doing over $430k in monthly revenue!
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​The list is growing and appears to get regular updates.
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10 Investing Trends

Brian Feroldi aims to teach people how to master their personal finances and invest better.
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In the video below, Feroldi analyzed 10 investing trends that he believes have huge potential.
Among them are Esports, augmented reality, and digital payments.
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Feroldi and Brian Stoffel also discuss why big trends do not always lead to big returns, and the factors that investors need to watch in order to judge whether or not their thesis is on track.
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The video is sectioned so you can quickly jump to the topics of most interest to you.

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Premium Domains on BrandBucket

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​BrandBucket sells creative and premium business names.
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Currently, there are 3003 premium domain names listed on their site, the most expensive of which is VYZ.com at $960,000.
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Back in 2019, Raymond Hackney looked at the highest-priced names on BrandBucket. Not one of those names is still listed for sale today.
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Hackney says:
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"Some not familiar with BrandBucket will ask why would you pay 30% to BrandBucket for a name that will get a ton of offers?"
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His post covers the answer, along with a few other thoughts on BrandBucket.
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How Valuable Is Your FBA Business?

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There's a reason we're seeing a plethora of stories about Amazon FBA businesses.
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It's because Amazon aggregators are climbing over one another to acquire private-label sellers or brands that manufacture their own products.
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There are now around 69 Amazon aggregators based in at least 12 countries, and they’ve raised more than $7 billion collectively since April 2020, according to Marketplace Pulse.
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This latest post from FE International not only provides an analysis of the FBA market and trends, but also goes in-depth on how to value your Amazon business and the ways to increase its value.
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Highlights include:

• How to value an Amazon FBA business
• What makes an FBA business more valuable?
• Exit Planning for your FBA business
• How to make your business more attractive to potential buyers
• The four most common financing methods

There's the obligatory plug for their services at the end, but this post is packed full of sound advice if you want to sell your FBA business for the optimum price.
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​Additional reading: You'll find a comprehensive overview of the top Amazon aggregators in this article.​
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Sponsored by Smash Digital
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🦄 SEOs with Skin in the Game

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​Smash Digital - a growth agency, filled to the brim with unicorn images and SEO memes. A team of SEOs with actual skin in the game, ranking their own portfolio of profitable businesses, and offering the exact same services to clients.
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An agency with so much link juice you’ll need a mop and bucket to clean it all up.
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​Check. Them. Out.
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Never Miss a Drop

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Love NFTs but can't keep up with all the activity?
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As far as we know, NiftyDrops is the only tool that tracks NFT drops across all blockchains and creator markets.
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You can track launches in local time and set alerts so you never miss an NFT release.
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All the drops are listed in chronological order, with separate sections for upcoming launches and those NFTS already launched.
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Random Tweet

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One to watch...

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✅ Snippets to Send You on Your Way

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🔷 Captured countries: China wants to extend its influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Some on the EU's eastern wing are calling for resistance to what is being labeled China's "corrosive capital," but others don't see a threat.
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🔷 Bitcoin family: The Dutch family who safeguards most of their crypto fortune in secret vaults across four different continents. The story contains useful information on "hot vs cold storage."
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🔷 Security first: Last year, less than $100 million was invested in the cryptosecurity sector. Now, investors have started to eye security and compliance features as the crypto market has taken off. See the numbers and the outlook.​
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🔷 Bitpanda triples valuation in 4 months: Vienna-based cryptocurrency trading platform Bitpanda raised $263 million in a Series C funding round that set a valuation of $4.1 billion. Bitpanda says it currently has around 3 million customers, along with a staff of more than 500.
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🔷 No bank account: Ten percent of U.S. adults are unbanked and roughly one-quarter are underbanked. The results of this survey highlight how many banks and credit unions have fallen short in serving the needs of their customers.
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🔷 "Mr White Hat": Poly Network, the cryptocurrency platform targeted in a massive heist, is now inviting the hacker behind it to become an advisor to the firm. They're also promising a $500,000 reward for the restoration of user funds. All but $33 million of the more than $600 million worth of crypto has now been returned.
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🔷 A growing cash pile: Palantir bought $50 million in gold bars in August, the company disclosed in its latest earnings statement.
No crypto purchases - yet.

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🤸‍♂️ Atlas does Parkour:

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