๐Ÿš€ Journey to $50k MRR ๐Ÿ“ฃ Marketing Channels That Work ๐Ÿ”บ How Much To Ask


This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

๐Ÿ•’ How to be patient
๐Ÿค” 8 logical fallacies
๐Ÿ”บ The pyramid of trust
๐Ÿ† An award-winning to-do app
๐Ÿค An essay on service marketplaces
๐Ÿ“ฃ 11 marketing channels for founders
๐Ÿš€ Reaching $50,000 MRR in 5 months
๐Ÿง  A book about neuroscience and productivity
โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



๐Ÿชถ Remember This

If the pain is strong enough, someone will pay you for it.



๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


๐Ÿ“ฃ Marketing Channels That Work shared by Royce Johnson
A list of 11 marketing channels that consistently work for founders


๐Ÿ”บ Pyramid of Trust shared by Prabhjot Singh Lamba
A video about not asking for too much too soon


๐Ÿค Service Marketplaces shared by Ryan Booher
An essay on the potential and challenges of service marketplaces



๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

8 Logical Fallacies

Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that make us think that we know something that we donโ€™t.

  • Red herrings: Arguments that seem relevant to an issue but actually are not.
  • Slippery slope: Chaining negative consequences thinking that one leads to the other.
  • Correlation is not causation: If 2 things often occur together, this does not mean one causes the other.



๐ŸŒŸ Founder of the Week

Edward Danilyuk

โ€œI have been a Trends Pro Member for a few years now. I love it for two reasons.
1. The reports. Dru and the team do a great job of diving into different topics. These would take me weeks if not months to do the research on.
2. The people. We have daily standups, I have had a lot of 1-1 calls with Trends Pro members and have even worked with some of them.โ€


Edward is building Black Mammoth, providing fast and reliable web development services for a flat monthly fee.


What’s your most important habit?
Doing what I say I will do.

Many years ago I asked Paul Jarvis for advice on how to be a good contractor. He told me two things:

“Do the work”,

“Do what you say youโ€™re going to do”.

I have made a good living so far by following this simple advice.


What are you reading right now?
Your Brain at Work by Dr. David Rock

I want to improve my performance while understanding more about the science of how our brains work. I’m a big fan of testing new routines, keeping what works and tossing the rest.

This book dives into your brain limitations and gives you good ideas on how to better organize your work day.


What product are you obsessively using right now?
Things. It’s a simple to-do app that organizes my life.


What are you bullish on?
Decentralization of things such as energy and food supply.

Almost everything we get comes from a big corporation and we can’t see what’s going on behind the scenes.


What are you bearish on?
AI.

I think it’s going to either become regulated to death or tightly controlled by a few big corporations who will stifle innovation with the goal of increasing their own profits.

Pretty much every major innovation has run into this.


What’s your favorite Trends Report?
๐Ÿงณ Digital Nomads

We (my wife and our four kids) have committed to a 2+ year journey around the world ๐Ÿ˜… Reading this report gave us a lot of insight, tools to checkout and people to follow.

The idea of optimizing where and specifically WHEN we live somewhere really stuck with me.


What else?
As cheesy as this sounds, you can literally make anything possible.

I went from digging holes in rocks in the heat and freezing snow, to full-time consulting as a software engineer while traveling the world. It all started with a thought. Don’t underestimate the power of thoughts you have.



๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



๐Ÿ”ง Try This

Journey to $50,000 MRR

Nick went from making $350,000 at Meta to making $0 as an indie hacker.

He built a portfolio of 9 products which grew to $50,000 MRR in 5 months.

The more you try, the higher are your chances of success.



โ” Ask Yourself

How to Be Patient in an Impatient World?

Many people mistake patience for the ability to wait for something.

Patience isnโ€™t simply waiting. Itโ€™s your attitude towards waiting.

You ordered a pizza and you can wait for it:

  • Patiently: Reading a book while waiting for it
  • Impatiently: Pacing around the house and calling the restaurant (again!)

Waiting patiently benefits everybody but weโ€™re getting worse at being patient.Learn how to be more patient to win in an impatient world.



๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

๐Ÿ‘ฅ Chris Bulen and Eren Suzer unlocked 1:1 Founder Intros by joining daily standups


๐Ÿ’ฐ Milly Tamati crossed $50,000 ARR with Generalist World


๐Ÿซ Mehmet Gonullu featured InvoiceBerry by Uwe Dreissigacker in The CTO Show newsletter


๐Ÿ‘” Jesper Delporte hit a $1,200 order with Cheegs thanks to landing page redesign tips from Errol Tiozon


๐ŸŒ Karthik Vijayakumar has started getting organic traffic to Kartvee.com


๐Ÿงญ Bernardt J. Vogel reached 6,000 subscribers with Curious Compass


๐Ÿง  Elie Steinbock unlocked Trends.vc Masterminds by reaching a 30-day standup streak


Get Weekly Reports

Join 65,000+ founders and investors


    ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

    Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

    ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

    ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

    ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

    ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

    Shopify Plugins: Referral Programs, Productized Services, Organic Growth

    “Because of Shopify, the problem we have to solve is what to build, not how to build.” – Mukul Chaware

    Get Full Access to Trends Pro


    โ“ What You’ll Learn

    • How to personalize customer support?
    • What is virtual shopping?
    • How to boost your chances of success?
    • How to boost your sales?
    • How to build trust?
    • How to optimize app store listing?
    • How to get featured by Shopify?
    • How to grow faster with less risk?
    • How to keep up with Shopify API updates?
    • How to stair-step your way to success?


    ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

    Shopify has 1,750,000 merchants and only 8,000 apps.


    ๐Ÿ” Problem

    Each merchant has unique needs that Shopify canโ€™t fulfill on its own.


    ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

    Shopify apps fill unaddressed needs by allowing merchants to customize their stores.


    ๐Ÿ Players

    Shopify Apps

    • BlogHandy โ€ข Build a SEO-optimized blog for your store
    • Stackend โ€ข Add social features such as live shopping, user profiles and more
    • Klaviyo โ€ข Smart email marketing and SMS automation
    • Bevi Design โ€ข Animated pop-ups
    • Rewind Backups โ€ข Backup your storeโ€™s items, themes and more
    • Tidio โ€ข Live chat and chatbots for customer support
    • DSers โ€ข Place orders, find suppliers and import products from AliExpress


    ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

    • Shopify stores will use ChatGPT for personalized customer support. This will boost engagement, conversion and sales.


    โ˜๏ธ Opportunities


    ๐Ÿ”๏ธ Risks

    • Platform Risk โ€ข Shopify apps are subject to Shopifyโ€™s outages and policies.
    • Competitor Risk โ€ข Youโ€™ll have to convince customers that your app is better than competitors.
    • Compatibility โ€ข Shopify apps can conflict with each other. This can break store operations such as order processing, inventory management and more.


    ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons


    ๐Ÿ”ฅ Hot Takes

    • Those who copy successful paid apps and offer freemium alternatives will grow faster with less risk.
    • Excessive customization leads to confusion and poor customer experience. Merchants want to be able to quickly set up the app and do the job.
    • Free Shopify apps devalue the marketplace and make it harder for paid apps to survive. Why would merchants pay for your discount spin wheel if they can get it for free?


    ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

    โ€œShopify updates its API every 3 months. I donโ€™t want to deal with constant maintenance.โ€
    Shopify gives you 9 months to adapt your Shopify app. If you fail to do so, Shopify will switch your app to the oldest supported API version to lower the chances of breaking your app.

    โ€œShopify can take me out of business by building similar products. Sidekick can kill all AI-powered apps.โ€
    Thatโ€™s part of the platform risk. While ecosystems help you grow, nothing stops them from adding their own tools.

    โ€œCompetitors can see the reviews to spot the pros and cons of my Shopify app. This makes it easier to compete with me.โ€
    You canโ€™t stop copycats but you can build an unlisted app. Though this will lower your reach and social proof. Stop worrying about competitors and focus on building an app that is so great your customers will feel dumb switching to anything else.


    ๐Ÿ”— Links

    1. Building a Report on How to Launch and Grow Shopify Plugins โ€ข The tweet behind this report.
    2. How to Build a Shopify App โ€ข In-depth guide on building Shopify apps.
    3. Stair-Stepping with Plugins โ€ข Benefits and risks of building on existing ecosystems.


    ๐Ÿ“ Related Reports


    ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

    Thanks to Vikash Kumar Prajapati, Dan Schoonmaker, Uwe Dreissigacker, Eamonn Carey, Sam Schrup and Tim Jones. We had a great time jamming on this report.

    โœ๏ธ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


    ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

    Trends PRO #0126 โ€” Shopify Plugins has more insights.

    What youโ€™ll get:

    • 23 Shopify Apps (229% More)
    • 11 Predictions (267% More)
    • 9 Opportunities (200% More)
    • 5 Risks (67% More)
    • 7 Key Lessons (133% More)
    • 7 Hot Takes (133% More)
    • 11 Links (267% More)

    With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to sell products on live streams?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How will social networks adapt to online shopping?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Where to learn how to build, grow and monetize Shopify apps?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to turn web stores into mobile stores?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to automate store operations?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to lower competitor risk?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to lower your customer acquisition costs?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to turn your Shopify app into a full SaaS product?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How much time does it take to build a SaaS-like Shopify app?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who has made $900,000 with Shopify apps?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are store operation niches you can build a Shopify app for?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to market Shopify apps?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who grew a Shopify app to $10,000 MRR?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to pass the review of your Shopify app?
    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are key lessons shared by Shopify developers?
    • And much moreโ€ฆ

    Get Weekly Reports

    Join 65,000+ founders and investors


      ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

      Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

      ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

      ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

      ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

      ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

      ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

      ๐Ÿฆพ Awesome AI Agents โŒ› Taking Control of Time ๐ŸŽจ 1,448 Design Principles


      This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

      ๐Ÿฆพ A list of AI agents
      ๐Ÿ“ˆ The power of tiny gains
      ๐Ÿ‘• A project estimation tool
      ๐ŸŽจ A list of design principles
      ๐Ÿค– How to fine-tune GPT-3.5
      ๐Ÿ•‘ How to gain control of your time
      ๐Ÿง  Why smart people have bad ideas
      ๐Ÿ„ How to stand out in a crowded market
      โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



      ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

      Learning how to break habits can serve you in life almost better than anything else.



      ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

      Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


      ๐Ÿฆพ AI Agents Landscape shared by Mehmet Gonullu
      An overview of currently available AI agents


      ๐Ÿ‘• T-Shirt Sizing Project Estimation shared by David Fu
      A project estimation tool based on T-shirt sizes


      ๐Ÿง  Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas shared by Royce Johnson
      An essay on the challenges of creating products that people will want to buy



      ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

      Continuous Improvement

      Continuous improvement occurs when you make small positive changes each day.

      If you get 1% better each day for 1 year, youโ€™ll end up 37x better at the end of it.

      Hereโ€™s how you can start getting better right now:

      • Do More of What Already Works: Floss every day and never miss workouts.
      • Avoid Tiny Losses: Lower your credit card limits and eat fewer unhealthy foods.
      • Measure Backward: Make decisions based on what happened, not what will happen.



      ๐ŸŒŸ Founder of the Week

      Frank Jones

      โ€œI started using Trends Pro at the end of 2022. However, the new year started with two deaths in my family and that took my attention away from work. I recently returned to the Trends Pro Community. Today, I’m just over a week into a standup streak shooting for the 30-day mastermind goal.โ€


      Frank is building ENC Explorer. This is a travel guide for anyone that visits or relocates to eastern North Carolina.


      What’s your most important habit?
      Putting my health first. Exercise, community service and family time are anchors in my calendar.


      What are you reading right now?
      Iโ€™ve just finished Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows. I’m reading ย Purple Cow by Seth Godin and Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson will be next. I’m looking for patterns related to remarkable businesses that I can launch fast.


      What product are you obsessively using right now?
      ChatGPT API. Everyone has access to these tools, just like we all have access to website builders. There is an opportunity right now to develop niche tools based on clever prompt engineering and simple user interfaces.


      What are you bullish on?
      Prototyping AI tools. Most people wonโ€™t become prompt engineers. If you find a clever way to transform user input into a valuable output, there is an opportunity to build niche tools.


      What’s your favorite Trends Report?
      I have a portfolio of niche websites, so I appreciate the broad list of report topics. They help me find content topics for new or existing websites.


      Exclusive Deal: Frank is offering Trends.vc readers a free membership to the SEO Social Club. They meet each month to discuss digital marketing and SEO. Create your account on https://seosocial.club/ to claim.



      ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

      Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



      ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

      Design Principles

      An open-source collection of 1,448 design principles and methods that form the basis of good products.

      Including 195 real-life examples used by organizations, individuals and product teams.



      ๐Ÿ‘€ Watch This

      How to Gain Control of Your Free Time

      Key to time management is setting priorities.

      If you donโ€™t have time to do something, it means itโ€™s not a priority.

      You say youโ€™re busy but if the water heater breaks and thereโ€™s water all over your basement, youโ€™ll find time to deal with the mess.

      Time is a choice.

      Even if we are busy we have time for what matters.

      When we focus on what matters we can build the lives we want in the time weโ€™ve got.



      ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

      ๐Ÿค– Elie Steinbock made a tutorial for fine-tuning GPT-3.5 Turbo


      ๐ŸŽฅ Maisha Cannon made a video comparing Claude and GPT-4


      ๐Ÿ“ˆ Jakub Nowikowski wrote a monthly update for Languive


      ๐Ÿ”’ Anderson Dadario launched a free security tool


      ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ Meiko S. Patton wrote a guide on making talking photo avatars


      ๐Ÿง  Royce Johnson, Meiko S. Patton and Ryan Booher unlocked Trends.vc Masterminds by reaching 30-day standup streaks


      Get Weekly Reports

      Join 65,000+ founders and investors


        ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

        Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

        ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

        ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

        ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

        ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

        ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

        Chrome Extensions: ChatGPT, Pink Oceans, No-Code Tools

        “Consumers are expecting personalized experiences.” – Mary Beth Laughton

        Get Full Access to Trends Pro


        โ“ What You’ll Learn

        • How to build Chrome extensions with no-code?
        • Which Chrome extensions turned into SaaS platforms?
        • Who offers productized services for building Chrome extensions?
        • How to build Chrome extensions with ChatGPT?
        • How to index into existing markets?
        • How to grow organically?
        • What is a pink ocean?
        • How to find Chrome extension ideas?
        • How to spy on competitors?
        • What Chrome extension makes $1,500,000 ARR?
        • Who presold a Chrome extension for $1,000 in 24 hours?


        ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

        Google Chrome has billions of users but each person has unique needs.


        ๐Ÿ” Problem

        Google Chrome tries to cater to everyone.

        But each of us has unique needs.


        ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

        Chrome extensions improve your browsing experience with custom features.


        ๐Ÿ Players

        Chrome Extensions

        • Wappalyzer โ€ข Helps to see what technologies websites use
        • Grammarly โ€ข Check spelling and grammar mistakes
        • Mailtrack โ€ข Track your email open rate
        • Loom โ€ข Record your screen, video and audio
        • Keywords Everywhere โ€ข Get keyword data with traffic, cost and volume estimates
        • Honey โ€ข Find coupons on 30,000+ sites

        Chrome Extension Makers


        ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions


        โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

        • Niche down to lower competition. Serve customers with unique needs that nobody else is serving.


        ๐Ÿ”๏ธ Risks


        ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

        • Chrome extensions can boost your reach. Grammarly grew from 0 users in 2009 to 1,000,000 daily active users in 2015 when it launched Grammarly for Chrome. It grew to 7,000,000 daily active users in the next 2 years.
        • Having badges can help you build trust and get more users. They prove that an extension follows Googleโ€™s best practices and was published by a verified developer.
        • Chrome extensions are hard to debug. They rely on third-party websites that may or may not work properly.


        ๐Ÿ”ฅ Hot Takes

        • Chrome Web Store is a pink ocean. There are ~137,000 extensions for ~3,000,000,000 Chrome users. In contrast, there are ~1,600,000 apps for ~2,000,000,000 Apple users.
        • Many Chrome extensions are SaaS apps. They offer features for a recurring price.
        • You can succeed by offering alternatives to obsolete Chrome extensions. Tim Leland says you can find many extensions that have not been updated in years and have high user counts.


        ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

        โ€œI canโ€™t provide enough value with a Chrome extension. The problem Iโ€™m trying to solve is too complex.โ€
        Chrome extensions often excel at doing simple actions. If you have a complex workflow, you can build a full SaaS platform with a Chrome extension being a nice-to-have.

        โ€œYou underestimate how hard it is to build complex Chrome extensions.โ€
        While you can build a simple extension in 1 day, a complex one may take months to build. Taplioโ€™s new extension for LinkedIn outreach took months to develop.

        โ€œI can obfuscate my code so that nobody can steal my Chrome extension.โ€
        This goes against Chrome Web Store policies.


        ๐Ÿ”— Links

        1. Building a Report on How to Grow and Monetize Chrome Extensions โ€ข The tweet behind this report.
        2. Chrome Extension that Steals Everything โ€ข Building a malicious Chrome extension.
        3. Build It and They Will Come โ€ข How app stores help you get organic traffic.


        ๐Ÿ“ Related Reports

        • โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹Ecosystems โ€ข Extend platforms with useful tools and services
        • Freemium โ€ข Lower your customer acquisition costs with a free version of your product
        • Competitor Risk โ€ข Index into an existing market instead of trying to create one
        • No-Code โ€ข Build products faster, cheaper and better without writing code
        • AI Agents โ€ข Gain limitless productivity with AI that makes decisions on your behalf


        ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

        Thanks to Meiko S. Patton, Daniele, Tim Jones, Stewart Townsend, Uwe Dreissigacker, Maciej Cupial, Errol Tiozon, Damian Janzi and Yarty. We had a great time jamming on this report.

        โœ๏ธ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


        ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

        Trends PRO #0125 โ€” Chrome Extensions has more insights.

        What youโ€™ll get:

        • 17 Chrome Extensions (183% More)
        • 13 Chrome Extension Makers (160% More)
        • 7 Predictions (133% More)
        • 13 Opportunities (333% More)
        • 5 Risks (67% More)
        • 6 Key Lessons (100% More)
        • 6 Hot Takes (100% More)
        • 10 Links (233% More)

        With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What Chrome extension was acquired for $4,000,000,000?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How will AI agents automate browsing?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to validate demand for your SaaS?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost your reach with influencer marketing?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to automate your everyday tasks?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who got sued for building malicious Chrome extensions?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to port Chrome extensions to other browsers?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who pivoted from a SaaS to a Chrome extension?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who grew a Chrome extension to 450,000+ users?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to build successful Chrome extensions?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who made $4,000 in 7 days selling a Chrome extension?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who grew a Chrome extension to $38,000 MRR?
        • And much moreโ€ฆ

        Get Weekly Reports

        Join 65,000+ founders and investors


          ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

          Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

          ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

          ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

          ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

          ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

          ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

          ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ AI Design Tools ๐Ÿ’ฐ Profitable Side Projects ๐Ÿค– ChatGPT Plugins


          This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

          ๐Ÿ•ธ๏ธ An SEO case study
          ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ A collection of AI design tools
          ๐Ÿค– 36 ChatGPT plugins for founders
          ๐Ÿ”‘ 9 key lessons for startup founders
          ๐Ÿ’” 40 emotional drivers in copywriting
          ๐Ÿง  How to cultivate a beginner mindset
          ๐Ÿ’ฐ How to build profitable side projects
          ๐Ÿ“– A book on overcoming creative blocks
          โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



          ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

          If it’s a good idea, you just have to suck it up, that it’s going to get stolen.



          ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

          Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


          ๐Ÿ–Œ๏ธ AI Design Tools shared by Prabhjot Singh Lamba
          A curated collection of AI design tools


          ๐Ÿ’ฐ Side Projects to Startups shared by Royce Johnson
          Pieter Levels’ framework of building profitable side projects


          ๐Ÿ•ธ๏ธ Niche Site Case Study shared by Yuyu
          A case study on using SEO to drive traffic to a niche website



          ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

          40 Key Emotional Drivers

          Use emotional drivers to nurture leads into making a desired action. These are natural motivators that each person has.

          • Health: vigor, endurance and longer life.
          • Leisure: traveling, hobbies and self development.
          • Business: better job, reward for merit and โ€˜being your own bossโ€™.

          Think of what they want to get, who they want to be or what they want to do. Then amplify that by appealing to their pride, fear, love and more.



          ๐ŸŒŸ Founder of the Week

          Meiko S. Patton

          โ€œI absolutely love the Trends Pro community. I look forward to getting the email reminding me to post in the stand-ups. The one thing that can help any person or business is consistency. 99% of people start but never finish. That is not me.โ€


          Meiko helps content creators build and grow their audiences with beehiiv newsletters.


          What’s your most important habit?
          After my mom died of cancer in 2008, I fell into a deep depression. There were many things that helped me cope during that time, but the one habit that changed my brain chemistry was getting up at 5:00 AM every day and going to the gym. I don’t get up that early anymore, but I still work out daily.


          What are you reading right now?
          The 6 Psychological Factors that May Lead to Cancer by Tom Laughlin

          The secret to healing lies in our ability to live up to our full potential instead of someone else’s expectations.


          What product or service do you wish existed?
          After my mom died, I longed to hear her voice and see her talking to me again. Itโ€™s possible with AI now.


          What product are you obsessively using right now?
          To build trust with your audience, you have to consistently show up. My best way to do that is via a newsletter. That’s why I absolutely love beehiiv.


          What are you bullish on?
          There’s another book I am reading called, Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Truman. She says our feelings can cause us to experience happiness or pain. I am bullish on the fact that our feelings cause our circumstances in life.


          What are you bearish on?
          I am a writer, so that means I read a lot. Another book I’m reading is You Can’t Afford the Luxury of Negative Thought by Peter McWilliams. He says when we think of something negative and try to get rid of it in our lives, we are giving it more energy. Instead of focusing on the negative thing you want to give up, focus on the positive thing you want to enjoy.


          What’s your favorite Trends Report?
          ๐Ÿ•ธ๏ธ Programmatic SEO

          I am currently in HackerNoon’s Writing Fellowship where I am learning all about SEO. I love the concept of programmatic SEO and I hope to use it in my future writings.


          What else?
          The book that I always go back to is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. All of us here in this community are in a war to express our art. Pressfield says, “So you’re taking a few blows, that’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines. Whatever it is you were meant to do and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, you hurt your children, you hurt all of us, and you hurt the planet. Creative work is not a selfish act, it’s a gift to the world. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you got!”


          Exclusive Deal: Meiko is offering Trends.vc readers $100 off the first month of her Perpetual Pitching Press Kit service with the coupon code P3K_100.



          ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

          Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



          ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

          How to Cultivate Beginnerโ€™s Mind

          โ€œBeginnerโ€™s mindโ€ helps you boost your learning abilities, creativity and performance.

          These 10 exercises that will help you get a fresh perspective on how the world works:

          • Flip Your Expectations: Stop assuming how things work.
          • Building Blocks: Break topics into smaller tasks.
          • Simple Questions: Ask like a 5-year-old.



          ๐ŸŽง Listen To

          9 Key Takeaways for Startup Founders

          Rob Walling and Arvid Kahl talk about founder mental health, motivations for bootstrapping, the value of in-person events, product marketing and more.



          ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

          ๐Ÿค– Maisha Cannon made a list of 36 ChatGPT plugins for founders


          ๐Ÿชค Ryan Crownholm launched his book The Hustle Trap


          ๐Ÿ“ Elie Steinbock made a tutorial on Novel.sh


          โœ๏ธ Eddie Forson wrote about better note taking during user interviews


          ๐ŸŽฌ Mehmet Gonullu made a video on ChatGPT Code Interpreter


          ๐ŸŒŽ Bernardt J. Vogel wrote a worldwide macroeconomic forecast


          Get Weekly Reports

          Join 65,000+ founders and investors


            ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

            Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

            ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

            ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

            ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

            ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

            ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

            Micro-Education Businesses: AI Assistants, Micro-Courses, Content-Format Fit

            “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” – Albert Einstein

            Get Full Access to Trends Pro


            โ“ What You’ll Learn

            • How to build micro-courses with AI prompts?
            • Who will offer micro-consulting services?
            • How to build an email course?
            • How to get quick insights into any topic?
            • How to pick the right format?
            • How to boost course completion rates?
            • How to retain information better?
            • What is the benefit of long books?
            • Why should you be a painkiller?
            • How to use micro-learning to teach complex topics?
            • How to learn anything in the first 20 hours?
            • What is the micro-education business model?


            ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

            You can transform your life in hours instead of months.


            ๐Ÿ” Problem

            You want to learn a new skill but lack time


            ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

            Micro-education helps you learn new skills fast.


            ๐Ÿ Players

            Micro-Education Examples

            Micro-Education Tools

            • Sequel โ€ข Add onboarding webinars to your website
            • Zuddl โ€ข Run scalable webinars with polls, chats and more
            • Mindsmith โ€ข Use AI to build detailed micro-courses
            • Readwise โ€ข Highlight, save and manage notes from the web
            • PDF.ai โ€ข Chat with your PDF documents


            ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

            • Personal AI assistants will help us make informed decisions. They will become our personal consultants.
              • Jarvis Invest helps you trade stocks.
              • FP Alpha gives insights into financial planning.
              • FinChat.io helps you get insights into 50,000+ public companies.
              • Wally helps you learn more about investing, finance and personal budgeting.


            โ˜๏ธ Opportunities


            ๐Ÿ”๏ธ Risks

            • Content-Format Fit โ€ข Micro-learning may have theory and tasks that barely touch the topic. It can be hard to teach backend development with a micro-course.
            • Low Lifetime Value โ€ข This lowers margins and makes it harder to invest in customer acquisition.


            ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

            • Micro-learning accommodates shorter attention spans. Keeping lessons short and focused can boost the completion rate.
            • Micro-education is great for upskilling. You can enhance your current skills with a few focused lessons.
            • Spacing out topics over short lessons helps to retain information better.


            ๐Ÿ”ฅ Hot Takes

            • There’s a benefit to long books. Especially if the ideas are repetitive. You spend more time with the ideas and soak in the lessons better.
            • You need to pick an area that’s painful enough for people. Be a painkiller, not a vitamin.
            • Micro-learning is bad for reskilling. You need more than a few micro-lessons to switch careers.


            ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

            โ€œIt’s hard to learn a new skill in N hours.โ€
            It depends on what you want to learn. While it can be hard to learn data science in a few hours, you can learn how to do squats in a few minutes.

            โ€œA mobile format does not work for people who get easily distracted.โ€
            It can be wise to take on a cohort-based course if you rely on external support and accountability to keep going.

            โ€œA 3-hour course is not a micro-course.โ€
            Compared to what? There are 50-hour online courses, 30-day email courses and 6-month cohort-based courses. While you can finish a Duolingo lesson in a few minutes, not all topics can fit this format.

            โ€œMicro-courses seem like a bad fit for what I want to teach.โ€
            The micro-learning format might not be a good fit for teaching complex topics. Focus on one goal at a time. This course tries to teach โ€œeverythingโ€ about SEO and lasts ~46 hours. This course teaches local SEO and lasts ~2.5 hours.


            ๐Ÿ”— Links

            1. Building a Report on Launching and Growing Micro-Education Businesses โ€ข The Tweet behind this report.
            2. The First 20 Hours โ€” How to Learn Anything โ€ข How to master practical knowledge and skills.
            3. The Micro-Education Business Model โ€ข How to turn your knowledge into a micro-education business.


            ๐Ÿ“ Related Reports


            ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

            Thanks to Meiko S. Patton, Alex Doda, Katt Risen, Uwe Dreissigacker, Simon Hell, Marcos Gorgojo, HJ Barraza, Maria Garcia Quintana, Errol Tiozon, Stewart Townsend, Bernardt J. Vogel and Eamonn Carey. We had a great time jamming on this report.

            โœ๏ธ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


            ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

            Trends PRO #0124 โ€” Micro-Education Businesses has more insights.

            What youโ€™ll get:

            • 19 Micro-Education Examples (171% More)
            • 14 Micro-Education Tools (180% More)
            • 8 Predictions (167% More)
            • 13 Opportunities (333% More)
            • 4 Risks (100% More)
            • 7 Key Lessons (133% More)
            • 10 Hot Takes (233% More)
            • 9 Links (200% More)

            With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How will teachers spread knowledge beyond classrooms?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why will companies use micro-learning to train employees?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why do companies build learning academies?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to manage personal knowledge?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to share quick solutions to common problems?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to turn expertise into a short guide?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost engagement for your online course?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost customer success with onboarding?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to cater to visual learners?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost student success?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to stand out from competitors?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are micro-credentials?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost views on YouTube videos?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to take better notes?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to make educational micro-videos?
            • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to use gamification?
            • And much moreโ€ฆ

            Get Weekly Reports

            Join 65,000+ founders and investors


              ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

              Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

              ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

              ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

              ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

              ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

              ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

              ๐Ÿ’ผ 130+ Boring Businesses ๐Ÿ™‚ The Secret to Happiness ๐ŸŽฎ Gamified Habit Tracking


              This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

              โœจ A Midjourney guide
              ๐ŸŽฎ A gamified productivity app
              ๐Ÿ“ธ An advanced graphic design tool
              โŒ› How to find time for side projects
              ๐Ÿ’ผ 130+ boring businesses to invest in
              ๐ŸŒ€ How the flow state leads to happiness
              ๐Ÿš€ A book about the struggles of founders
              โ“ 25 questions you should ask before starting
              โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



              ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

              You only ever grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone



              ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

              Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


              ๐Ÿ“ธ Artboard Studio shared by Daniel Berggren
              A graphic design tool with automation features


              โŒ› Finding the Time for Side Projects shared by Royce Johnson
              A blog post on managing side projects with a busy schedule


              ๐Ÿš€ Lost and Founder shared by Chuck Hardy
              A book about the struggles of building a tech startup



              ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

              130+ Boring Businesses to Invest In

              Hereโ€™s the formula for a boring business that you want to buy, build or invest in:

              • Stale: No fancy CRM or automation.
              • Old: Has been around for 5, 10, 15 years.
              • Weak: Its competitors are โ€œokโ€, not โ€œgreatโ€.
              • Simple: Has a simple but needed business model.

              Buy it, automate it and win over the competition.



              ๐ŸŒŸ Founder of the Week

              Tim Jones

              โ€œI’ve been reading Trends.vc for years. I recently joined Trends Pro and I like how supportive the community is. Everybody is there to help you grow as an entrepreneur.โ€


              Tim is building Derby City Data which offers freelance data consulting for small businesses and nonprofits.


              What’s your most important habit?
              Telling myself each day something that I’m thankful for. Sometimes work and life can get really overwhelming. Reminding myself about the best things in my life helps to keep me sane and motivated.


              What are you reading right now?
              The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland

              My dad is legally blind and recently needed to start using a cane. I wanted to know how he might be feeling without being intrusive or offensive. I hope the book will give me more insight into how I can connect with him.


              What product or service do you wish existed?
              ย A tool that increases prices after a set time or X number of purchases.


              What product are you obsessively using right now?
              I use the iOS app Habitica to track and maintain my habits.


              What are you bullish on?
              Publishers with large historical or technical archives. Publishers can license their works to AI companies to train models that are better than what we have now.

              ChatGPT was trained on Common Crawl data and still gives good results. Imagine AI trained on high-quality data from The New York Times articles, O’Reilly technical books or peer-reviewed magazines.


              What’s your favorite Trends Report?
              ๐Ÿฆพ AI Agents

              I’m a fan of delegating work to my AI assistants.


              Exclusive Deal: Tim is offering Trends.vc readers free advice on how to model your data. Not sure how to structure your tables and link them together? Tim will help you out pro bono. First come, first serve. Contact Tim via email or message him on Trends.vc to claim.



              ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

              Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



              โ” Ask Yourself

              25 Questions Before Starting

              Here are 25 questions on your value proposition, user acquisition, conversion, delivery and operations. 

              Answer them before building a product:

              • Whatโ€™s your pricing strategy?
              • How will you get your first 100 users?
              • Why would people return to your product?
              • What value will users get from your product?
              • How will you balance building and marketing?



              ๐Ÿ‘€ Watch This

              The Secret to Happiness

              Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studies happiness. He says money doesnโ€™t make us happy.

              What makes us happy is the โ€œflowโ€ that boosts our well-being, productivity and creativity. It occurs when we get involved in challenging, but doable tasks.



              ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

              ๐ŸŽจ Shuyen Phoon launched UI Design for No-Coders


              โœจ Vikash Kumar Prajapati made a Midjourney guide


              โค๏ธ Dale Williams built Heart of your Strategy


              ๐ŸŽช Chuck Hardy is building Habium in public


              โš™๏ธ Mehmet Gonullu hosted a masterclass on business efficiency


              ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Maciej Cupial was interviewed in Spanish


              ๐Ÿซ Uwe Dreissigacker went viral on Sri Lankan TikTok with InvoiceBerry


              ๐Ÿง  David Fu unlocked Trends.vc Masterminds by reaching a 30-day standup streak


              Get Weekly Reports

              Join 65,000+ founders and investors


                ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

                Recruiting Businesses: AI Screening, Vertical Hiring Service, Niche Job Boards

                “The greatest asset of a company is its people.” – Jorge Paulo

                Get Full Access to Trends Pro


                โ“ What You’ll Learn

                • How to use AI to screen candidates?
                • What are vertical hiring services?
                • Why serve local businesses?
                • How to find candidates with unique skills?
                • How to attract more candidates?
                • Whatโ€™s the cost of a bad hire?
                • How to find your niche?
                • How to deal with a talent shortage?
                • Why does employer brand matter?
                • Who are informal recruiters?
                • What is collaborative hiring?
                • How to avoid being circumvented as a recruiter?
                • How to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of job boards?
                • What are the most common HR terms?
                • What is the recruiting process of a staffing agency?


                ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

                Recruiting is a ~$450,000,000,000 industry with a low barrier to entry and high-value sales.


                ๐Ÿ” Problem

                Talent acquisition takes time.


                ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

                Recruiting businesses help you find, screen and qualify candidates fast.


                ๐Ÿ Players

                Placement Businesses

                Recruiting Tools

                • Deel โ€ข Platform for hiring remote talent in 100+ countries
                • Leap Room โ€ข AI hiring assistant for tech, sales, marketing and more
                • Frontend Mentor Hiring โ€ข Find junior front-end developers
                • Recruit CRM โ€ข Workflow automation tool for staffing agencies
                • Honeit โ€ข Turn calls and interviews into actionable talent insights
                • TalentReef โ€ข Staffing tool for the hourly workforce


                ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

                • We’ll see more vertical hiring services. They will help you find talent in specific, lower-cost locations.
                  • Uplers helps to hire remote talent from India.
                  • TalentQL helps to hire top tech talent from Africa.
                  • Remote Talent LATAM helps you hire remote talent from Latin America.
                  • RemotelyTalents helps you find talent from Ukraine, Romania, Poland and more.
                  • Shepherd helps you hire full-time employees from the Philippines and Latin America.


                โ˜๏ธ Opportunities


                ๐Ÿ”๏ธ Risks

                • Economic Downturns โ€ข Hiring during a recession is hard as companies cut costs.
                • Bad Hire Costs โ€ข The average cost of one bad hire is $15,000. Clients can recover losses from you for placing a candidate without proper vetting.


                ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

                • Niching down can help you succeed. Itโ€™s easier to hire developers than to hire developers, marketers, lawyers and executives. Donโ€™t try to boil the ocean.
                • Building a vetted, high-quality talent pool can help you deal with a talent shortage. Itโ€™s easier to fill your talent pipeline with qualified candidates when you donโ€™t have to wait for them to apply.
                • Itโ€™s easier to fill a vacancy if the employer has a great brand, benefits and values.


                ๐Ÿ”ฅ Hot Takes


                ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

                โ€œAs a recruiter, how can I avoid being circumvented if I place a candidate?โ€
                Japan Dev motivates clients to tell about a successful hire via late fees and ยฅ3000 Amazon Gift Cards. Word-of-mouth is effective too. As other recruiters discover this type of behavior, they may choose not to work with those companies and candidates.

                โ€œItโ€™s hard to find a niche that is large enough to build a recruiting business but small enough to not be saturated.โ€
                Unless itโ€™s a marketplace-like business such as job boards, the recruiting space is fragmented and no recruiter can serve all the worldโ€™s needs. You can tap into most of these markets and thereโ€™s proven demand in each.

                โ€œHow can I solve the chicken-and-egg problem to build a job board?โ€
                Borrow supply from other job boards. Do things that donโ€™t scale and hand-pick jobs. Engage with communities where talent hangs out. Do this until you have enough traffic to monetize with paid job posts.

                โ€œOffering paid career coaching to those in the same role sounds like a recipe for moral hazard. The coach can make more money when candidates switch roles often.โ€
                It can be wise to switch coaches if you feel like the coach is not living up to your expectations.

                โ€œItโ€™s not that easy to enter this industry.โ€
                It depends on what you want to offer. While you may need a great reputation to do executive search, a good reputation can help you get started with simpler placements. If youโ€™re a good React developer, chances are you can recruit another good React developer for your client.


                ๐Ÿ”— Links

                1. Looking for Bootstrapped Businesses in the Hiring Sector โ€ข The Tweet behind this report.
                2. Glossary for HR Terms โ€ข List of the most common HR terms.
                3. The Recruitment Process of a Staffing Agency โ€ข Guide on finding and vetting candidates.


                ๐Ÿ“ Related Reports

                • โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹Lead Generation โ€ข Find potential clients with high lifetime value.
                • Agencies โ€ข Help clients solve problems without hiring and managing large teams.
                • Consulting โ€ข Consulting helps you learn more and earn more.
                • Personal Brands โ€ข Good personal brand gives you pricing power and opportunities.
                • Micro-Consulting โ€ข Turn years of experience into a short call.


                ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

                Thanks to Elie Steinbock, Sumant Yerramilly, Stewart Townsend and Maisha Cannon. We had a great time jamming on this report.

                โœ๏ธ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.


                ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

                Trends PRO #0123 โ€” Recruiting Businesses has more insights.

                What youโ€™ll get:

                • 18 Placement Business Examples (200% More)
                • 18 Recruiting Tools (200% More)
                • 8 Predictions (167% More)
                • 15 Opportunities (400% More)
                • 5 Risks (150% More)
                • 11 Key Lessons (267% More)
                • 6 Hot Takes (100% More)
                • 12 Links (300% More)

                With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to follow foreign laws when hiring remotely?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which recruiting companies offer premade teams instead of individuals?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to monetize your work experience?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which recruiting companies offer top talent curation services?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why build a marketplace with hand-picked jobs?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to get insights into candidates’ hard and soft skills?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are fractional HR services?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to measure the success of your hiring strategies?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What do candidates seek in a staffing agency?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What can save you from paying for bad hires?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who offered to pay $100,000 for referring a candidate?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are alternative ways to spot talent?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How can AI lead to discrimination?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What will companies focus on instead of resumes?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost the candidate-job fit rate?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to build a job board over the weekend?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to interview candidates?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to find candidates on LinkedIn?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are 15 recruitment marketing strategies?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to hire great remote candidates?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What are the 12 types of hiring bias?
                • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who grew a 2-person recruiting business to $960,000 per year?
                • And much moreโ€ฆ

                Get Weekly Reports

                Join 65,000+ founders and investors


                  ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                  Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                  ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                  ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                  ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                  ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

                  ๐ŸŽต AI Songs ๐Ÿ’ก Network Effects of Ideas ๐ŸŽจ Landing Pages that Convert


                  This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

                  • An AI text-to-song tool
                  • How to build a 5-year plan
                  • A video series on the basics of AI
                  • A step-by-step landing page guide
                  • An AMA about reaching $100,000 ARR
                  • A reminder about taking responsibility
                  • An essay on the network effects of ideas
                  • And moreโ€ฆ



                  ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

                  Believe you can and you’re halfway there.



                  ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

                  Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


                  ๐ŸŽจ Landing Page Guide shared by Royce Johnson
                  A step-by-step guide to building high-converting landing pages


                  ๐Ÿค– How AI Works shared by Prabhjot Singh Lamba
                  A YouTube playlist of short videos to learn about the basics of AI


                  ๐ŸŽต Suno AI shared by Stewart Townsend
                  An AI tool that generates songs from text prompts. Listen to some examples here



                  ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

                  Create a 5-Year Plan That Fires You Up

                  Do you know what you want or will be doing in 5 years?

                  Itโ€™s easy to get lost in your daily routine and lose sight of goals you have for the future.

                  Learn how to make a 5-year plan with a long-term vision and key steps to achieving your goals.



                  ๐ŸŒŸ Founder of the Week

                  Nik McFly

                  โ€œI love Trends Pro. The reports are great and the community is awesome.โ€


                  Nik is building Hybrain.Academy. Itโ€™s an AI school for non-techies that helps them learn AI to save time and money doing personal and business tasks.


                  What product or service do you wish existed?
                  AI SaaS that helps people build good habits.


                  What product are you obsessively using right now?
                  ChatGPT. It helps me work faster.


                  What are you bullish on?
                  AI agents. These will help us remove inefficiencies.


                  What are you bearish on?
                  Nation-state. Nation-states lead to fights and bias They make it harder for people to move freely and ignore the voice of small groups.


                  What’s your favorite Trends Report?
                  ๐Ÿค– ChatGPT

                  Because my ChatGPT online course was included! ๐Ÿ™‚


                  Exclusive Deal: Nik is offering Trends.vc readers 20% off his ChatGPT Cash Cow course using the code TRENDSVC20.



                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

                  Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



                  ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

                  How Ideas Grow

                  Everything we do is based on narratives โ€” stories that explain how the world works.

                  • AI is booming โ€“ you started building an AI startup.
                  • You heard carbs are bad โ€“ you started eating salads for lunch.
                  • You saw โ€œtrue loveโ€ in a movie โ€“ you broke up because it didnโ€™t feel right.

                  Narratives have network effects. When more people see that the narrative is promising, more people start using it, investing in it, talking about it and building it.

                  Thatโ€™s how ideas grow.



                  ๐ŸŽง Listen To

                  Itโ€™s Not Your Fault, But It Is Your Responsibility

                  Expecting nothing but good feels like a good mindset. But then life happens.

                  There are dogs that get sick in the middle of the night, unpleasant conversations, hard decisions and more. Most peopleโ€™s reaction is to shirk.

                  Things are hard and scary. Itโ€™s not your fault. But itโ€™s your responsibility to do what has to be done.



                  ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

                  ๐Ÿ‘ฅ Gab, Frank Jones and Jinay Shah unlocked 1:1 Founder Intros by joining daily standups


                  ๐Ÿ’ฏ Maciej Cupial hosted an AMA about Calendesk’s journey to $100,000 ARR


                  ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Simon Daley was featured in a podcast


                  โœ’๏ธ Dale Williams wrote about ethics in coaching


                  ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Elie Steinbockโ€™s YouTube channel reached 100+ subscribers


                  ๐Ÿบ Stewart Townsend signed the first customer for Podcast Wolf


                  ๐Ÿ’Œ Yarty reached 1,000 subscribers for FP&HEY


                  ๐Ÿš— Prabhjot Singh Lamba built a simple car game with Spline


                  ๐Ÿ“ Maisha Cannon launched a guide for recruiters


                  Get Weekly Reports

                  Join 65,000+ founders and investors


                    ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                    Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                    ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                    ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                    ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                    ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.

                    Daily Newsletters: AI Content, Monetization, Communities

                    “Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” – Mitchell Kapor

                    Get Full Access to Trends Pro


                    โ“ What You’ll Learn

                    • How to sell sponsorships?
                    • How to grow your daily newsletter?
                    • How to build a value ladder?
                    • How to calculate customer acquisition costs?
                    • How to use AI to write daily content?
                    • What are daily newsletter networks?
                    • Why are local daily newsletters important?
                    • Who is building paid communities around daily newsletters?
                    • Who is building niche job boards around daily newsletters?
                    • Who sold $100,000 in sponsorships with only 10,000 subscribers?


                    ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

                    You can build direct relationships with your audience at scale.


                    ๐Ÿ” Problem

                    The world moves fast. Itโ€™s hard to keep up with the latest news.


                    ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

                    Daily newsletters help you stay informed on industry news and trends.


                    ๐Ÿ Players

                    Daily Newsletters

                    Newsletter Tools

                    • beehiiv โ€ข The newsletter platform built for growth.
                    • Ghost โ€ข Open-source email platform for content creators.
                    • Passionfroot โ€ข Build a storefront that converts more sponsors. 
                    • BeyondWords โ€ข Converts text-based content into audio.
                    • Get Response โ€ข All-in-one tool for email marketing.


                    ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

                    • There will be more local daily newsletters. Readers want to stay up-to-date on news and events in their cities.


                    โ˜๏ธ Opportunities


                    ๐Ÿ”๏ธ Risks

                    • Burnout โ€ข It can be hard to make content every day.
                    • Platform Risk โ€ข Most email accounts are on Gmail. Youโ€™re subject to Googleโ€™s policies and outages.
                    • Data Privacy Laws โ€ข Data privacy can hurt your email deliverability.


                    ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

                    • Pick a topic that has enough content for a daily newsletter. Combine related topics if your subject is too niche.
                    • Build a value ladder to upsell products. Engage readers with free content before promoting your paid offer.
                    • Quality and consistency matter. Do not sacrifice quality for the sake of your publishing cadence.


                    ๐Ÿ”ฅ Hot Takes

                    • Customer acquisition costs will rise as more newsletters enter the market. Newsletters will need to find cheaper marketing channels.
                    • Daily newsletters deliver bite-sized content. It will become more difficult for in-depth writing to succeed.


                    ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

                    โ€œHow are daily newsletter businesses defensible in the age of AI-generated content?โ€
                    AI-generated content is missing a unique voice and perspective. Audiences want to be entertained and connected to creators. Daily communication with readers builds loyalty and trust

                    โ€œMonthly, weekly, now daily newsletters. Why should I clog my inbox with daily emails?โ€
                    Daily newsletters send timely information. They keep you up to date on fast-moving industries and urgent news. They save you time with a value-packed email every day.

                    โ€œDaily newsletters can be biased. Who decides what content gets featured?โ€
                    The best way to handle bias is to get your news from different sources. Daily newsletters are just one source out of many.


                    ๐Ÿ”— Links

                    1. Looking for Daily Newsletters โ€ข The tweet behind the report. 
                    2. The Ultimate Guide to Email Newsletters โ€ข Learn how to grow and monetize your email newsletter.
                    3. 5 Essential Elements for a Great Newsletter โ€ข Learn what makes a good newsletter.


                    ๐Ÿ“ Related Reports

                    • โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹Paid Newsletters โ€ข Paid subscriptions are a revenue source for daily newsletters.
                    • Email Courses โ€ข Daily newsletters sell email courses to monetize their audience.
                    • Personal Brands โ€ข Growing a daily newsletter builds a loyal following.
                    • Curation as a Service โ€ข Curation is a popular content format for daily newsletters.
                    • The Creator Economy โ€ข Creators can capture value by making content for a niche audience.


                    ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

                    Thanks to Uwe Dreissigacker, Bernardt J. Vogel, Errol Tiozon, Stewart Townsend, Zarinah C., Chris Bulen, Tarek Zalt and Meiko S. Patton. We had a great time jamming on this report.

                    โœ๏ธ Nathaniel researched and wrote this report. Dru and Emin edited this report.


                    ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

                    Trends PRO #0122 โ€” Daily Newsletters has more insights.

                    What youโ€™ll get:

                    • 21 Daily Newsletter Examples (250% More)
                    • 10 Newsletter Tools (100% More)
                    • 8 Predictions (167% More)
                    • 8 Opportunities (167% More)
                    • 5 Risks (67% More)
                    • 6 Key Lessons (100% More)
                    • 4 Hot Takes (100% More)
                    • 8 Links (167% More)

                    With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why turn daily newsletters into podcasts?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Who is building million-dollar daily newsletters?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to use AI-generated images to boost reader engagement?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to monetize daily newsletters beyond ads?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to build a content engine?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to keep high deliverability?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to stand out from competitors?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to win readersโ€™ attention?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why are daily newsletters great for experiments?
                    • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost email open rate with ChatGPT?
                    • And much moreโ€ฆ

                    Get Weekly Reports

                    Join 65,000+ founders and investors


                      ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                      Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                      ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                      ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                      ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                      ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                      ๐Ÿ’ฒ 100k+ Startup Discounts โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.