Weekly experimentations have been going stronger than ever – and that’s for a reason.
The book
“MBA Disrupted” made it to a best seller in multiple categories last week – and reviews have followed. I met several readers live during a local event and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Really stoked and couldn’t be happier. If you’ve read the book, reviews are always appreciated, but even a reply with your feedback will go a long way!
Working on the print version – formatting and print prep takes forever, but we’re getting there slowly. Using multiple printers too – Amazon, another US one, and a European provider since shipping is tough.
Elon wins again
On the social end, one of our organic tweets made it a “best seller” as well – the Ryan Reynolds business empire review gathered 12.8 million impressions in 24 hours. It’s crazy, right? Link in the next section with my recent pieces.
Considering the down round of consistently low reach on LinkedIn (reported by tons of different sources), I have been pushing harder in other private communities and different social networks. At the moment of writing, the tweet has 16.4M views – and since LinkedIn tanked about 90% of my reach in the past year, I only have 720 thousand impressions for the entire period of 365 days back.
Bottom line, over 20X reach for a single post vs. the entire feed and all my hard work covering professional tips on LinkedIn. Worth it? Not with the current algo.
LinkedIn and Google are playing a dangerous game. I’m working on a draft discussing predictability in business and why serious companies would not bed advertising budgets or copywriting teams on platforms that aren’t grateful, always tinkering algorithms, or not providing clear insights on what works. So take a note here, LinkedIn and Google.
Beware the SEO AI bot
Speaking of Google, the rollout of the AI Overviews is absurd. It’s been covered by mass media already as the “leading search engine” now provides tips on “putting glue on your pizza” and hundreds of other ridiculous suggestions. Lily Ray has been my go-to source on daily WTFs in this department.
Having spent ~20 years adoring inbound marketing and SEO, it’s the first time I’m considering gated content just because I don’t want AI bots to both steal and misinterpret what I mean.
WordPress is still here
Running a digital agency specializing in WordPress, this is a no-brainer, but meeting people in the real world, I hear less and less of WordPress in website conversations.
Wix, Squarespace, Webflow have done a far better job marketing their site builders compared to WordPress staying quiet in the corner for years and years.
A brief reminder – WordPress still powers 43% of the web and that isn’t going anywhere. Check out the post in My Take below for a detailed brief on this.
So – quite a roller coaster here, with podcast interviews all week for the book and upcoming events next week. Making the most out of spring season and here’s to a strong summer!
Yours,
Mario
My Take
The King of Billion-Dollar Brands – At 47, Ryan Reynolds is a Hollywood star who owned & sold +$14 billion worth of businesses just for fun. I spent the weekend analyzing his work. Here’s his story, how he did it.
Happy 21st Birthday, WordPress! – In light of the WordPress birthday yesterday, a friend just DM’d me a WooCommerce store that made 18 million dollars this year alone (2024). I looked up some dashboards for Woo stores in our portfolio and found a couple between $3M and $8M to date.
How AI Transforms Marketing Agencies – Do you remember the last time your marketing team invested significant resources into developing radio advertising campaigns? Chances are, it’s not a vivid memory. That’s because highly effective marketing campaigns are agile, always adapting their message to match the most prominent mediums of the day. Radio, TV, newspapers, and telemarketing were once cutting-edge marketing mediums. They were the best way to reach the most people with the most specificity. No longer.
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
Gamestop shares soar again – GameStop shares soared Tuesday. The company announced Friday that it had made around $933 million from a stock sale. Shares in GameStop rallied earlier this month after the social media account behind 2021′s meme stock short squeeze posted for the first time since then.
OpenAI crisis – Two former OpenAI board members–Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley–who were behind the original campaign to push OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, out in November (and left following his reinstatement)–have published damning statements, calling for greater transparency and Government regulation, claiming Altman’s leadership is ruining the company.
Musk’s $6B AI milestone – Back in April, Musk denied rumors that his AI start-up–xAI (which powers AI chatbot, Grok) was raising $6B in funding, but has now confirmed that he has secured the funds, taking the company’s valuation (post-funding) to $24B.
Google’s new search profile feature – Google is launching a new profile for people who contribute reviews to search results. It centralizes and makes written reviews publicly visible. Increased transparency has implications for consumers, reviewers, and creators.
Wall Street trades faster – U.S. trading moves to a shorter settlement on Tuesday, which regulators hope will reduce risk and improve efficiency in the world’s largest markets, but is expected to temporarily increase transaction failure for investors.
Global News
Summer and the year’s halfway mark is starting to swing into view for investors. And so far, it seems like persisting with stocks is a strategy that’s working.
- S&P 500: $5,321(+0.16%)
Mortgage interest rates were mixed this week, according to data compiled by Bankrate. Rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages rose, while jumbo and ARM rates declined.
“The market was enamored with a slightly lower CPI. We are in a ‘buy on any positive news no matter how modest’ state,” says Dick Lepre of RealFinity.
- 30-year mortgage rate: 7.11%(+0.05)
- 15-year mortgage rate: 6.61%(+0.11)
The Federal Reserve should wait for significant progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari told CNBC.
Kashkari added that the central bank could potentially even hike rates if inflation fails to come down further.
Here are some of the most prominent headlines this week:
- Alec Baldwin will face a trial for fatally shooting ‘Rust’ cinematographer after a judge denies the actor’s last attempt to dismiss the case.
- Israel ordered to halt Rafah offensive by U.N.’s top court, though it is unlikely to comply.
- DOJ sues Live Nation, alleging it has hurt consumers and violated antitrust laws by creating an alleged monopoly of the live event ticketing industry.
Investing Updates
- Fleming – raising €700,000 to provide smart financial & banking solutions for healthcare professionals.
- 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
Strategy Game Mobile App – This mobile app is a combat-based strategy game with a worldwide user base.
- Monthly profit: $12,896
- Profit margin: 68%
- Business age: 8 years
Van Rental Service – This business provides on-demand van rental services for home moving or deliveries.
- Monthly profit: $7,916
- Average order value: $136
- Business age: 6 years
AI Writing SaaS Platform – This SaaS tool provides an AI content generation service for marketers and bloggers.
- Monthly profit: $20,484
- Profit margin: 51%
- Average order value: $20
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!
