We’re 10 days into 2024 – and it’s one of the busiest Januaries I can remember.
I received dozens of work calls on Jan 2 with meeting requests and due dates in the next 2 to 3 days. People busy at work, trying to decipher what 2024 is bound to offer (mixed with fear of layoffs or inflationary data).
I barely managed to post my annual walkthrough guide!
In any case, while January updates are slower – this year is different.
The ecommerce sector here is still holding up. December was mostly disappointing (Black Friday included), which meant fewer peaks and high scores during the season. But it means that January’s numbers are less depressing too!
The Fed expects that inflation is about to normalize and getting close to 2%. The employment reports in Dec were elevated, but not excessively much, and also considering the massive cuts in the past 15 months. The mass adoption of AI helped optimize and automate some processes and reduce the level of demand for hiring staff for repetitive tasks where automation can be plugged in.
Speaking of AI, it’s been threatening marketing channels more than anticipated. Social’s reach across different networks dropped – LinkedIn being completely unbearable and adding up random AI snippets with human-supplemented responses. And Google following through with their SGE (Search Generative Experience) update, infusing AI answers in response to queries instead of providing search results and crediting journalists, editors, entrepreneurs, ecommerce brands appropriately.
That’s leading to dubious conversations around the future of AI (no, it’s nowhere near dying). With every second tool integrating AI, investing apetite is stabilizing. And what everyone wants to see is what compliance looks like. Both for AI-driven startups, people worried about privacy, and the actual content creators whose work gets aggregated by chatbots and their efforts being bypassed.
I’m still bullyish on SEO as a leading channel, but the conversation will change undoubtedly. More first-party data funneling into newsletters and automation funnels and more brand building to social channels with scheduled educational content. Partnerships and affiliate work semi-automated, semi-outsourced to trained assistants.
Extremely busy year so far – when people are busy at work, innovation happens and revenue pops up naturally.
P.S. Some of you have received an annual email scrubbing inactive subscribers. Due to privacy issues with email clients and such, some emails seem very inactive. I want to make sure I don’t get flagged by email bots or spam filters either, so help me keep this newsletter running by indicating it’s valuable while you hit Reply or engage with some of the links here at the very least. Thanks!
Yours,
Mario
My Take
Using Flippa to Scale E-commerce – As an entrepreneur, I balance building and buying technologies to grow my businesses, often using Flippa, a marketplace for online businesses, for strategic acquisitions. Leading companies like DevriX and Rush, I try to advocate for sustainable, data-driven business strategies, drawing on my e-commerce experience to guide and advise other entrepreneurs.
14 Uncomfortable Questions Businesses Must Answer – Are you ready to face the uncomfortable truths shaping your business’s future? In this Forbes article, we explore fourteen questions every executive must ask themselves to navigate the ever-changing business landscape.
A Better Leader in 2024 – Want to be a better leader in 2024? Check out these 22 self-improvement areas to develop your leadership skills.
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.
The Average Joe – Market trends & insights that are simple, concise, and impactful. This newsletter stands out to me due to the 200,000+ audience that go through market trends and ideas together.
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.
Morning Brew – Аn absolute classic, the Morning Brew delivers top news from a business-minded angle, and deliver it in a short, easy-to-read, actionable, and entertaining way.
Business Strategy
OpenAI answers to New York Times’ lawsuit – OpenAI responded to The New York Times’ lawsuit, which accuses the company and its partner Microsoft of copyright infringement for using the newspaper’s content to train AI systems, by stating the lawsuit is without merit and defending their practices as fair use under copyright law.
TikTok’s New Ad Measurements – TikTok is enhancing its ability to measure ad campaign effectiveness with the introduction of two new specialties in the Measurement Badge category of the TikTok Marketing Partners Program: Cross-Channel and Lift. These specialties, coupled with TikTok’s first-party attribution solution and third-party methods, aim to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey and the incremental impact of TikTok campaigns, addressing the challenge that about 79% of TikTok-influenced purchases are not captured by traditional last-click attribution models.
2024’s First Market Rally – Stocks experienced a rally with significant gains in the Nasdaq and S&P 500, while Boeing shares dropped sharply due to the grounding of some 737 Max 9 jets, impacting the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This market movement comes ahead of key events including earnings reports from major banks and a crucial inflation reading, alongside notable movements in other areas like Nvidia’s stock surge and oil price fluctuations following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut crude supply prices.
The Third-party Cookies Restriction – Chrome has begun implementing its plan to restrict third-party cookies, initially affecting 1% of Chrome users, with a full-scale implementation for all users planned from Q3 2024, contingent on resolving any outstanding competition concerns by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.
LinkedIn Ads Prices Up – Due to advertisers shifting away from platform X following controversial comments by Elon Musk and subsequent loss in advertiser confidence, LinkedIn ad prices are increasing, as reported by the Financial Times and observed by Leesha Anderson of Outcast.
Global News
Last year, Rosenberg had a pessimistic outlook, predicting a 30% drop in stocks early in 2023 and a prolonged recession. However, his September forecast that the Nasdaq would reach its high point between December and January seems to be accurate based on market trends observed so far this year.
- S&P 500: $4,756 (-0.15%)
Greg McBride, CFA and chief financial analyst at Bankrate, suggests that mortgage rates might decrease gradually throughout the year. This trend started in late 2023 due to a reduction in inflation and the Federal Reserve’s decision to halt rate increases. The central bank is anticipated to reduce rates in 2024, which would significantly affect the economy, including the 10-year Treasury that primarily influences fixed mortgage rates.
- 30-year mortgage rate: 7.04%(+0.05)
- 15-year mortgage rate: 6.41%(+0.10)
On Monday, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman indicated that the era of increasing interest rates might be coming to an end. As a strong proponent of stringent monetary policies, Bowman expressed her reluctance to discuss rate reductions, emphasizing that it’s not the right time yet due to ongoing significant risks of rising inflation.
This week’s the US has managed to dodge a shutdown and a development over the Red Sea.
- Congress reaches a deal on how much to spend for 2024, a major step toward avoiding a shutdown.
- The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh whether former President Trump can be kicked off Colorado’s Republican primary ballot over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
- US Navy shoots down 24 Houthi missiles and drones launched from Yemen over Red Sea, defense officials say.
Investing Updates
- Sessions – backed by Earlybird, the VC who supported UiPath from its early days, aims to challenge the global video conferencing market.
- Easee – raises €1.25M to help children with myopia.
- Capital Cell– a digital investment platform specializing in healthcare and biotechnology.
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:
Mathematics and Physics Blog – This is the largest educational content site in LATAM in it’s niche. The business is three-year-old and has steadily growing revenue over the past 12 months.
- Monthly Profit: $2K
- Monthly Page Views: 944K
- Authority Score: 32
Digital Marketing Agency – A scalable business offering high-quality digital marketing services. With a strong client base and 1.2K email subscribers.
- Monthly Profit: $16.9K
- Annual Revenue: $308.3K
- Authority Score: 22
Cybersecurity SaaS – This is a well-known technology and solution provider in the cybersecurity industry, with an impressive 130% growth YoY in recurring revenue.
- Monthly Profit: $110.8K
- Annual Revenue: $4.5M
- Age: 20 years
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.
Running on Shopify? Set up Rush now and increase your revenue with post-purchase orders automatically!
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!