📢 Entrepreneurs now aggregators, 3.7 million on waitlist, FBA report, NFT security nightmare, 5 tech trends
Hi there 👋,
Let's start the day with a couple of miscellaneous—yet massive—numbers.
1. Coinbase announced their plans to launch an NFT marketplace in October, 2021. Since that time, 3.7M+ users have signed up on the waitlist. That's nearly 3X the amount of wallets that have ever interacted with NFTs.
2. Meanwhile, a Turkish prosecutor asked for jail sentences as long as 40,564 years for 21 officials of the Istanbul-based Thodex cryptocurrency exchange. The company ceased trading about a year ago and its CEO disappeared. (Bernie Madoff only got 150 years).
In this issue:
📈 Market Moves
📰 News & Views
🤝🏿 Deal Summary
🧰 Cool tools
Don’t miss: Entrepreneurs enter the aggregator game, Unicorn crowdfunds, NFTs are a privacy & security nightmare, FBA State of the Industry report, and 5 European tech trends.
As always, thanks for being here.
Juliet Lyall
📈 Market Moves
👍 Bitcoin | $43,789.50 | +1.43%
👍 Ethereum | $3,257.04 | +2.79%
👎 Shopify | $656.58 | -6.59%
👎 Coinbase | $166.84 | -5.83%
👎 Meta | $223.30 | -3.68%
📰 News & Views
Recent stories that resonated with us.
Aggregated by Entrepreneurs
The seemingly never-ending trend of Amazon aggregators acting as investment firms has taken a new turn.
A group of Amazon entrepreneurs from Sweden has flipped the script.
The team at Go North aren't from traditional M&A backgrounds, and believe that they can uniquely connect with FBA entrepreneurs because of it.
As FBA entrepreneurs, we got quite a negative impression of the aggregators. We heard stories about intentionally complicated legal work, and even buyers operating brands at a loss to avoid payouts. It was a system that had to change. So, we decided to change it—and start an aggregator by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.
Johan Hallenby, founder & CEO.
Hallenby added that Go North is not only acquiring Amazon brands, but also providing ‘resources’ to entrepreneurs. By selling their Amazon FBA brand to Go North, they get the funding to move on to their next venture.
In just a few months, Go North has built a portfolio of 11 brands and aims to acquire a new brand every week.
Go North raised a €7.5 million seed round to fuel their mission.
🩳 The Shorts
🔹 The main ‘pro’ of business valuation calculators is that they’re quick and easy to use. All you have to do is answer a few basic questions, and they spit out a number. Unfortunately, that number is often inaccurate. Quietlight looks at The Limitations of Business Valuation Calculators, and the factors that go in to a business valuation.
🔹 2021 broke records for the scale of investment flooding into Europe, and the pace of innovation on the continent remains strong. Sapphire Ventures identify 5 trends they believe will define the European technology scene as the rest of the year unfolds. 5 European Tech Trends Still to Come in 2022.
🔹 Fast slows to a stop: One-click checkout startup Fast is shutting down entirely and will discontinue its products and brand. It’s a stunning collapse for a fintech company that had raised $120 million in funding from backers including payments giant Stripe, Index Ventures, and Lee Fixel’s ‘Addition’. In a separate report, an unnamed employee said "We waited too long and we ran out of money" - when referring to their failed efforts to secure additional investment quickly enough.
🔹 The blockchain isn’t as “anonymous” as you might think. A key component to keeping crypto activity anonymous is to avoid tying transactions to any identifying information. Which means NFTs, by their nature, can fundamentally undermine this goal. Wired explains why NFTs Are a Privacy and Security Nightmare.
🔹 Unicorn crowdfunds: It’s not every day that a company valued at over €4.4 billion offers clients a chance to hold an ownership stake. Qonto, a Paris-based all-in-one finance solution for SMEs and freelancers, has partnered with Crowdcube to launch a community equity raise.
🔹 Tiny Capital just got tinier: CEO Andrew Wilkinson announced that the company’s slightly off-brand domain name has changed as a result of purchasing the tiny.com domain. Wilkinson briefly commented on the purchase process. (We bet they parted with a large chunk of change).
🔹 ICYMI: Empire Flippers released their Amazon FBA State of the Industry Report 2022 in which they distil all the stats, data, and trends they observed in 2021. Plus, they offer their thoughts on the opportunities and risks associated with FBA assets. Empire Flippers also produced a separate visual report to represent all that data in colorful detail.
🤝🏿 Deal Summary
🔒 = Accredited Investors Only
None of these deals is a recommendation from investing.io. This content is for information purposes only. All returns listed are estimations from the respective platforms, and not advice from investing.io. Do your own research.
➽ LURIN: Wedgewood Heights (Fort Worth, TX). Invest alongside a commercial real estate sponsor in a Multi-Family Property with a Value Add profile and an anticipated equity multiple of 1.74x. 🔒 Realcrowd.
Minimum: $50,000
Potential Return: 20.91%
➽ Rehab Loan in Massillon #1: Single Family home with 3 bedrooms, 1 full bath, and 1 half bath in Massillon, OH. ARV per FTF internal valuation is $105,000. 🔒 FundThatFlip.
Minimum: 5,000
Potential Return: 8.25%
Term: 8 Months
➽ Master Foods Lab: Venture raise. Master Food Lab is a contract manufacturer providing brands with clean label functional snacks. They specialize in gluten-free, low sugar, high protein, keto, and vegan snack categories. Monthly revenue has grown close to 200% since launch. Startengine.
Minimum: $150.00
Offering Type: Equity
👩🏽🌾 Top Yields on Stablecoins
USDC/MAI - Beefy (Fantom) 113% APY
USDC - Vires (Waves) 107% APY
USDT - Vires (Waves) 107% APY
💲 DeFi Yields
Hundred.Finance (Fantom Chain) *note: We list the fully-boosted yields here MIM: 10.58%, DAI: 25.85%, FRAX: 11.46%, USDC: 15.29 %
Hundred.Finance (Arbitrum Chain) *note: We list the fully-boosted yields here MIM: 28.26%, DAI: 14.97%, FRAX: 10.17%, USDT: 10.36 %
Blizz via YieldYak (Avax Chain) USDTe: 21.5 %
Pangolin via YieldYak (Avax Chain) UST/USDC: 20.4 %
Pangolin via YieldYak (Avax Chain) axlUST-USDC: 19.5 %
Listen: Bootstrapping to 8 Figures
What does it take to build a successful bootstrapped business?
Michael Martocci is the right person to ask. The Founder and CEO of SwagUp grew his bootstrapped brand to more than 8-figures in revenue in just 3 years.
On this episode of Where It Happens, Michael shares how to overcome the zero-to-one hurdles, finance secrets, and why he believes bootstrapping is the right way to build your startup before seeking venture capital.
🧰 Cool Tools
»» Hypercontext provides you with 360+ OKR and goal templates to inspire you and your team. Choose from a library of role-specific goal examples for HR, engineering, finance, sales, operations, and more. Try the free option or get a flat price of $5/month for teams of up to 5 people.
»» Do you find Airtable daunting? Airtable Tools is an information product that helps you to master Airtable, become a power user, and skyrocket your productivity. The package contains step-by-step tutorials, tips, tricks, and more. You’ll find a $19 earlybird offer here.
»» Got tokens that are earning zip? Staking Rewards lets you type in which token you own and find out how much yield you could earn staking it. Calculate your earnings with this cool tool.
🁡 Domino effect: FREE ROLL
Brought to You by Smash Digital
🦄 SEOs with Skin in the Game
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.
An agency with so much link juice you’ll need a mop and bucket to clean it all up.
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