I’ll talk about robots in a bit, but a quick rundown of a busy week:
- A packed weekend with family travel and 15 hours of book writing (final touches on my alternative MBA book)
- A conference on Tuesday about futuristic trends (I’ll reveal some)
- A series of all-nighters for the book
- Sales calls/meetings/demos/briefs
- Actual day-to-day work
- At the airport as I’m writing this waiting for my flight to New York
The last month has been busy: and as someone who continuously covers the macro situation, we see that positive movement with our clients, existing ones starting to grow again and prospects calling for new business.
My advisory clients are in a better shape now with a more positive outlook for 2024.
Of course, this isn’t universal – even in bull markets there are segments and categories that underperform or haven’t recovered yet. SEO is still terrible, e-commerce is still lagging behind, the stock market ended its top streak.
But I also see more and more job openings (as we posted new open roles for marketing team members on site at DevriX).
And here’s where it gets interesting: despite all the open jobs on the market, very few find their perfect match.
Employers are burned and no longer want to compromise.
Excessive hiring in 2020-2022 took victims – companies slowed down, efficiency dried out during the lockdown periods, and layoffs were bound to happen. As a result, most productivity reports showcase better results, fewer hoops between team members, increased velocity and efficiency, and frankly, getting more done with less.
So the business learned to optimize resources internally and stop using growing headcount as a KPI. Many rotten apples were hired in the process and with the switch to remote work, tens of thousands of public stories showcased moonlighting, taking excessive time off during business hours, and a number of stories that clearly demonstrated the inability for corporations to manage talent or control workload whatsoever.
So – employers have cut the bleeding and found a way to break even, go back to the basics, and think about profitability once again. And with some extra strain on their current staff, the look for additional manpower to jump in and help out.
And what does the employment market look like right now?
Entire teams and individuals who lost their jobs in the past year.
And while many skilled and motivated workers were unfortunately caught in the process, this cohort includes all the recent hires with no qualifications or skills, all the job-hoppers, moonlighters, slackers who are the first to go in the event of a wipeout.
After conducting a dozen interviews to test the current market dynamics, most hiring managers and executive teams go back to the drawing board and think back: do we need to hire more or should we double down on automation and AI?
This was an internal conundrum for my “futures thinking” talk on Tuesday, discussing my 10 predictions on how will sales and marketing will evolve in the next 10 to 20 years. I’ll be sharing additional notes next month after I’m back from my travels, but there are exciting innovations in AI, robotics, Internet of Things, available automations and operational efficiencies in SaaS, 3D printing, even holograms.
This high-tech direction is promising, unlocking new opportunities with the speed of light. Even capable and motivated human beings are having a hard time adapting and catching up with the latest in the AI-verse.
The job market is in flux. Recent graduates and juniors find it impossible to get a new job in this economy. The gap between effective skills and salary expectations has widened up. The costs of living have gone up, but the effective output delivered that should compensate is going down.
Expect a significant market shift in the employment space alone.
Stagnating companies will keep trimming the fat and drop low performers.
Some slackers will pick up the pace out of fear.
Juniors and less experienced talent will compete for jobs and drop their asking price on the go.
Alternative forms of work – like half-time or full-time freelance easy to plug in and out will appear.
The 2016-2022 period has been the golden age for workers. With every extreme stretch, pushback is now in motion, looking for a balanced outcome.
What’s coming next? Hit reply and give me your predictions.
And stay tuned for my MBA book – announcement coming in the next couple of weeks.
Yours,
Mario
My Take
Deal Makers Podcast EP4 – In this episode of the Digital Deal Makers podcast, we talk about insights, strategies & tips gained from 14 years of experience in buying & selling digital assets.
My MBA Book – I’ve been sitting on this idea for 5 years and it’s finally materializing… My MBA book is almost completed and I’m aiming to release the Kindle version in the next 30 days!
Newsletter Recommendations
Stacked Marketer – One of my go-to newsletters and a business that we’ve worked with a while ago on the DevriX front. It is loved by marketers who get hands-on with campaigns, who need to stay up-to-date with frequently changing platforms., who need to get an edge, and who need to achieve outsized results with limited resources, aka performance-focused marketers.
Boldpush – А special newsletter for those interested in marketing intelligence and strategy to the most ambitious brands. Props to Julius Solaris for creating one of my top newsletter reads for GTM strategies and actionable content.
Business Strategy
Google needs very few links to rank pages – Gary Illyes from Google spoke at the SERP Conf on Friday and he said what he said numerous times before, that Google values links a lot less today than it did in the past. He added that Google Search “needs very few links to rank pages”. Gary reportedly said, “We need very few links to rank pages… Over the years we’ve made links less important.
EU investigates TikTok Lite – The European Union (EU) has opened a second formal investigation into TikTok and has accused the platform of running afoul of the region’s Digital Services Act (DSA), according to a report by TechCrunch. The probe involves the addictive nature of TikTok Lite, which is a smaller version of the app that takes up less memory on a smartphone and was built to perform over slower internet connections.
Meta licensing Horizon OS to 3rd parties – Meta has started licensing the operating system for its Quest headset to other hardware makers, starting with Lenovo and Asus. It’s also making a limited-run, gaming-focused Quest with Xbox.
Global News
General Motors (GM) shares are climbing after forecast-beating earnings and a higher outlook, while a profit beat is also lifting UPS (UPS) shares a profit beat. PepsiCo (PEP) stock is down even after a profit and revenue beat, JetBlue (JBLU) sliding after a hefty loss and warning.
- S&P 500: $5,070(+1.19%)
“The issue of inflation remains unsettled,” says Ken Johnson of Florida State University. “This is putting upward pressure on mortgage rates through the yield on 10-year Treasurys.”
The Fed indicated it’d cut rates in 2024, but policymakers held off at its latest meeting, citing the need for more promising economic data. The Fed has been working to bring inflation back to its 2 percent target since 2022.
The Fed meets next on May 1 — the start of one of the busiest homebuying months.
- 30-year mortgage rate: 7.30%(+0.17)
- 15-year mortgage rate: 6.76%(+0.12)
When the Federal Reserve starts cutting interest rates, it will not restore them to their post-financial crisis lows, according to veteran investor Howard Marks.
Marks told CNBC that doing so would be “unnecessary stimulus” for a strong-performing economy, and that ultra-low rates had negative impacts on market behavior.
The current environment and future picture mean investors should be adding credit into their portfolios, he added.
Here are some of the most prominent headlines this week:
- The House passes nearly $61 billion in aid for Ukraine after months of delays.
- House passes bill to ban TikTok in the U.S. if it doesn’t divest from its China-based owner.
- A man set himself on fire outside the courthouse where the trial of former President Trump’s hush money case was taking place.
Investing Updates
- Swisspod – raising €1,6M to develop the hyperloop, a high-speed transport system.
- MindAhead – raising €1M to scale its digital therapy solutions that slow the progression of dementia.
- Hunch – raising €1,25M to increase sales through automated marketing & AI. Backed by Catalyst Romania, Euroventures.
Note: Got a round going that you want to feature – your own business or a portfolio company? Get in touch.
Now let’s have a look at the latest top Flippa offers
Game Replay YouTube Channel – This 10 year old YouTube channel features various replay segments from video games.
- 28-day views: 4.8M
- Subscribers: 1M+
- US viewership: 28.3%
Employee Scheduling SaaS – This B2B SaaS solution enables simple employee scheduling, timesheet management, and project tracking.
- Monthly profit: $24.2K
- Active subscribers: 500
- Business age: 6 years
Tax & Accounting Training SaaS – This 3-year-old SaaS business is an IRS-approved continuing education provider of courses for CPAs, tax attorneys, and other tax specialists.
- Monthly profit: $16.6K
- MRR: $25.1K
- LTV: $754
Need my Help?
I’m involved with a number of initiatives – here’s what I can do to help you:
Scalable and secure WordPress? DevriX provides WordPress retainers to SMEs, publishers, eCommerce, SaaS, and more. Our plans start from $1,200/mo to $40K/mo for anything from support through engineering, CRO, performance, security, to fractional CXO services and managing the data stacks of large corps. Want to scale and optimize your business? Growth Shuttle offers personalized advisory plans starting at $600/hr. Tap into my personal pool of business know-how and my data warehouse of industry data. Want access to my blueprints/books and a weekly Slack planning session? Join my Community and grab my Entrepreneurship book.
Looking to start a US company? Check out doola and their “Business in a Box” model. Suitable for both foreigners and US citizens and both for residents and non-residents.
Have you tried buying and selling digital property? Have a look at Flippa’s marketplace. They offer a vast variety of online businesses for any buyer’s interests. Or if you’re ready for an exit, Flippa provides you with the necessary tools to list your business and close the deal. Looking for investment opportunities? Check out SeedBlink and use Nimity to manage it. Eager to incorporate my recommended solutions? Track my angel investments. Sharing, applying for open roles, or writing reviews helps a ton. And anything else I try to publish on my blog and my courses here!
