Paid Communities: Community-as-a-Service, User-Generated Content, Reverse Network Effects

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โ“ What You’ll Learn

  • Who offers community-as-a-service?  
  • How to build a high-signal environment? 
  • How to solve the chicken and egg problem?
  • Why do rituals matter?
  • How to use gamification?

๐Ÿ” Problem

Free communities tend to be noisy without a barrier to entry.

๐Ÿ’ก Solution

Paid communities use strategic friction to build high-signal environments.

Members are invested and engaged.

Community builders are aligned with members and able to invest in great experiences.

๐Ÿ Players

Paid Communities

Tools

Platforms

๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

  • Build an audience first. Start with a newsletter, podcast or YouTube channel. Audience-to-community solves the chicken and egg problem. Trends.vc reached 20,000+ subscribers before Trends Tribe meetups were launched.
  • Craft a mission statement. See Compound’s Manifesto.
    • Why do you gather?
    • What’s your mission?
    • What are your core values?
    • What problems do you solve together?
  • Use challenges to gamify success. Launch MBA members produce 12 products in 12 months.
  • Create rituals. Host standups, meetups, co-building sessions and retreats to form bonds and productive habits. Trends Pro Members build compounding relationships in daily standups.
  • Leverage user-generated content. Hundreds of people Tweet using #100DaysOfNoCode. Bringing attention to the community.
  • Nurture one-on-one connections to build a stronger community. Trends Pro Members have weekly one-on-ones along with daily standups.
  • Build growth tools to draw members into your paid community. See the No-Code Marketplace directory, toolkit and book.

๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

  • Price is multi-dimensional. Compound requires you to submit your best writing to apply. This is non-monetary friction.
  • Paid community members have skin in the game. Investment limits noise and boosts engagement.
  • You’re the average of the 5 people you surround yourself with. Paid communities raise the average.
  • Beware of reverse network effects. Scale changes everything. Especially niche communities. Engagement drops as communities grow.

๐Ÿ˜  Haters

“You already covered this.”
Yes and I’ve covered No-Code, Bootstrap Funds and Micro Private Equity more than once. There’s still more to learn.

“Most of these communities are online.”
Google jiu-jitsu, church, country club or university if you’re looking for offline paid communities.

“Some online paid communities are built without an audience.”
Cold outreach, personal networks and borrowed credibility can work.

“Paid communities are exclusionary.”
Yes. So are “free” communities. You can’t pay to become a Navy SEAL but the price can be your life. Price is more than money.

“What about community fatigue?”
Fatigue is a forcing function for quality. The same goes for newsletters.

๐Ÿ”— Links

  1. What’s your favorite paid community? โ€ข The tweet behind this report.
  2. Turning an Audience Into a Community โ€ข Girls’ Night In went from a newsletter to a community.
  3. Come for the tool, stay for the network โ€ข How to overcome the chicken and egg problem.

๐Ÿ™ Thanks

Thanks to Kieran Ball (Launch MBA), Max Haining (100 Days of No Code), Stew Fortier (Compound), Yaro Bagriy (Newsletter Crew), Jeremy Au HF (Monk’s Hill Ventures), Rick Lindquist (LegUpHealth), Logan Johnson, Aadil Maan (Nike), Marek Janetzke, Jose Bermejo (Startup Builder), Paul Martin (Integrity Music), Janel Loi (Newsletter OS) and Vikrant Duggal (Consulting Club). We had a great time jamming on this report. 

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Digital Products: Micro-Economies, Subscriptions, Scale

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๐Ÿ” Problem

We need your knowledge and experience. But providing 1:1 help doesn’t scale.

๐Ÿ’ก Solution

You can help at scale with digital products. While divorcing your time and money.

๐Ÿ Players

๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

  • More products will launch into micro-economies. Think Notion, Webflow, Figma and Canva. Million-dollar businesses, like Elegant Themes, are built on WordPress.
  • More people will combine community with digital products. This leads to network effects and members learning from each other. Makerpad combines community with tutorials.
  • Dynamic digital products will become common. See STACK$, a live Airtable database by Michael Gill. Notion docs will join the fray once Notion’s API is released.

โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

  • Build an audience first. This forces you to understand prospective customers, lowers your customer acquisition costs and leads to repeatable sales. Jack Butcher compounds his audience between courses, community, planners and wallpapers.
  • Add a community to your digital product. This curbs piracy and allows members to learn from each other. See Flowmingo from Mackenzie Child.
  • Get ideas on what to build next from your community. The introductions channel in Trends Pro reveals that most members use Notion. Should there be a Notion-themed Deal of the Week? ๐Ÿ‘€
  • Presell to gauge demand and boost urgency with presell pricing. Failory used presell pricing for the Product-Market Fit book.
  • Borrow trust and attention from affiliates. Leverage influencers and platforms like AppSumo or (shameless plug) Trends.vc โ€” Deal of the Week.
  • Establish predictable and compounding revenue with subscriptions. See Product Explorer, Egghead and Code with Mosh.

๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

  • Digital products give you leverage. As Naval says, “Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media).”
  • Build a value ladder. Have a free offer and others that gradually increase in price.
  • Build a content ladder. Make the simplest version of your product first. Learn and iterate fast.
  • Every business model has a weakness. Most digital products have unpredictable revenue. Services have high marginal costs. Most SaaS businesses have no moat. Thereโ€™s no free lunch. Pick your pain. Then stack business models to hedge the downsides.

๐Ÿ˜  Haters

“Lots of people succeed without an audience.”
Yes. And this is a riskier proposition. You depend on virality and your ability to capture some of that momentum and convert eyeballs into an audience for repeatable sales. Max Rand writes about how he reached #2 on Product Hunt without an audience.

“What about doing direct sales?”
This works. But your LTV has to justify it. And do you have leverage if you can’t sell at scale?

“What if someone steals my idea or pirates my product?”
Content is a magnet. Community is a moat.

“What about subscription fatigue?”
Subscriptions don’t make sense for every product. Fatigue forces quality up.

“You missed digital product categories.”
Chances are, you can find them in Trends Pro.

๐Ÿ”— Links

๐Ÿ™ Thanks

Thanks to Jose Bermejo (The Startup Builder), Mark Bowley (Tiny Design Lessons), Mackenzie (Flowmingo), Marie Poulin (Notion Mastery), Len Markidan (Podia), Alex Pethick (Nutriso), Tem (Optemization), Max Rand (Startup Growth Kit), Nicolรกs Cerdeira (Failory), Gene (Swipe Page), Janel Loi (Newsletter Operating System), Ash (Bad Unicorn), Yarty Kim (Kick Ass Letters), Traf (Super.so), Doc Williams (Build with Me) and Ben Issenmann (Supercreative). We had a great time jamming on this report.

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Virtual Events: Interactivity, Form Factors, Event Marketplaces

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๐Ÿ” Problem

Time, location, health and financial constraints hinder physical meetings.

๐Ÿ’ก Solution

Virtual events reduce these concerns. And lead to experiences that are impossible to physically recreate. For better or worse.

๐Ÿ Players

Virtual Events

Tools

Types

๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

  • Make it interactive. Keep your audience engaged with Q&As, polls, challenges and trivia. MicroConf Remote gave founders a challenge. Get a customer testimonial and bring it back.
  • Start sawdusting.
    • Use registration information to build your list (Rita Barry)
    • Distribute talks through your podcast (MicroConf OnAir)
    • Distribute talks through your YouTube channel (Everything Marketplaces)
    • Turn user-requested songs into playlists (OBFH)
  • Bundle to raise your average order value. Combine your paid newsletter, paid community, digital products or physical products with virtual event access. Teaching an online bartending class? Offer to ship the shaker and glasses.

๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

  • Virtual events are better at some things. And worse at others. In-person events give us high-fidelity experiences. Virtual events can remove space and time. And create worlds.
  • Start with the end in mind. Why are you creating this event? How will participants be transformed? What’s your north star?

๐Ÿ˜  Haters

“Virtual events won’t replace face-to-face interactions.”
Yes. And they’re not meant to. Each type of event excels at different things.

“1:1 matching isn’t new. What about Chatroulette?
Smartphones, tablets and wireless headphones weren’t new either. Then Apple came in. Lunchclub, Bevy, Icebreaker, Run The World and Hopin are popularizing this feature.

“You said that virtual events reduce time constraints. What about time zones?”
Reduce. Not eliminate.

๐Ÿ”— Links

  1. Best virtual event youโ€™ve been to? โ€ข The tweet behind this report.
  2. How We Hosted a 55 Speaker Virtual Summit in Just 10 Weeks โ€ข Foti Panagiotakopoulos shares how he launched the GrowthMentor Summit using no-code tools like Zapier and WordPress.
  3. HeySummit Speaker Directory โ€ข A growth tool/marketplace from HeySummit that helps speakers find gigs and organizers find speakers.

๐Ÿ™ Thanks

Thanks to Anthony Castrio (Indie Worldwide), Rob Walling (TinySeed + MicroConf), Nicolรกs Cerdeira (Failory), Matt Middleton (Advisor Circle), Jack Cohen (FirstMark), Ethan Jones (Tools for MGMT), Karl Mc Carthy (Tito + Campfire), Joey Womack (Goodie Nation) and Brian Ardinger (Inside Outside). We had a great time jamming on this report.

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    Micro-Marketplaces: No-Code, Niches, Better Experiences

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    ๐Ÿ” Problem

    General marketplaces lack focus.

    ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

    Micro-Marketplaces focus on a niche. And build an experience around it.

    MarketplaceMicro-Marketplace
    Monster.com (All Jobs)Remote Ok (Remote Jobs)
    BizBuySell (All Businesses)MicroAcquire (SaaS Businesses)
    Freelancer.com (All Freelancers)Unicorn Factory (NZ Freelancers)

    MicroAcquire aims at SaaS businesses. Displaying recurring revenue, customer acquisition costs and number of customers.

    BizBuySell is for all businesses. But food trucks don’t have recurring revenue.

    ๐Ÿ“˜ Terms

    Marketplace
    A business that connects buyers and sellers.

    Micro-Marketplace
    A marketplace that focuses on a niche. And designs around it. Leading to a better experience for buyers and sellers.

    ๐Ÿ Players

    Micro-Marketplaces

    (๐Ÿ“ˆ Trends Pro) Database of 50+ Micro-Marketplaces

    ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

    โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

    ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

    ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

    “Your definition of a marketplace (a business that connects buyers and sellers) is wrong. What about managed marketplaces with inventory risk?
    A business that connects demand and supply is also wrong. It includes wholesalers and retailers. ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ Embrace imperfection.

    “MDacne and Otter’s models aren’t perfect.”
    Nothing is.

    “Every category can’t have it’s own micro-marketplace.”
    Maybe not. It’s a battle between the benefits of having everyone in one place (general) and the benefits of specific form factors (micro).

    “You didn’t mention frequency, AOV, monogamy, take rates or critical mass.”
    Look out for more on marketplaces.

    “Micro-Marketplaces? These are vertical marketplaces.”
    Sure. But can we admit? Alliteration is fun.

    ๐Ÿ”— Links

    1. Who’s building a marketplace? โ€ข The tweet behind this report.
    2. All Things Marketplaces โ€ข Fabrice Grinda on SaaS tools, curating and locking in supply.
    3. Hierarchy of Marketplaces โ€ข Sarah Tavel on the levels of marketplaces and what makes them special.

    ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

    Thanks to Andrew Gazdecki, Jeff Ericson, Vartika Manasvi, Nate Ritter, Dominic Monn, Stan Rymkiewicz, Gali Meiri, T.D. Bryant, Bobby Gilbert and Yoroomie for being great thought partners.

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    No-Code: Agencies, Productized Services, Small Teams

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    ๐Ÿ” Problem

    Recreating wheels (and apps) wastes time, money and energy.

    ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

    No-Code tools help you solve well-understood problems. Blogs, online stores, games, marketplaces, mobile apps and more can be built without writing code.

    ๐Ÿ Players

    Products

    Tools

    Founders

    ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

    • Using no-code will be a competitive advantage. Saving time, money and energy. Allowing you to build (and change) faster and cheaper than competitors.
    • No-code leads to bundling and unbundling. Sharetribe, Anchor, Podia and Substack are monolithic. Studiotime, Swimmy and Wheelprice are specific.

    โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

    ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

    ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

    “No-Code?! There’s actually code.”
    But you aren’t writing it. Some hate this term. But alternatives have too many syllables to win a marketing war. Haters complain about “no-code” and make it more popular.

    “No-code will eliminate developer jobs.”
    Developers will spend less time on CRUD apps. And more time on hard problems. Michael Gill and Yaro Bagriy use no-code tools to boost productivity.

    “All problems can’t be solved with no-code.”
    Correct. Absolutes are usually false.

    “No-code tools can’t scale.”
    Most can. But this is a good problem.

    “Don’t call your agency a ‘no-code’ agency.”
    Some search for no-code agencies in need of speed and accessibility. Build two funnels with the same service. Capture both segments.

    ๐Ÿ”— Links

    ๐Ÿ™ Thanks

    Thanks to Samuel Thompson, Seth Kramer, Edmund Amoye, Max Haining, Ben Tossell, Ash, Yoroomie, Mark Magnuson, Dan Parry, Lacey Kesler, Isaiah Weaver and Steven Gunn for their help with this report.

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    Audience-First Products: Moats, Founding Influencers, Optionality

    This is the free version of Trends PRO #0030 โ€” Audience-First Products

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    ๐Ÿ” Problem

    You need to understand and reach customers.

    ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

    Build trust before you build products.

    ๐Ÿ Players

    ProductTypeSource
    LetterDropAggregatorKP
    UserlistSaaSJane Portman & Benedikt Deicke
    Bite-Size PythonBookApril Speight
    Earnest CapitalFundTyler Tringas
    The Tim Ferriss ShowPodcastTim Ferriss
    Power-Up PodcastingCoursePat Flynn
    GrouponMarketplaceThePoint.com
    Chicken + BeerRestaurantLudacris
    Virginia BlackLiquorDrake
    Roc Nation SportsAgencyJay-Z
    Ministry of TestingCommunityRosie Sherry

    ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

    โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

    • Choose your channel and build an audience. Use YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook. But don’t stop there. To reduce platform risk, use these as funnels. Not destinations.
    • Get feedback from your audience. Failory surveys subscribers to find pain points. Bram Kanstein used Twitter to get 135 pre-launch subscribers. Kalo Yankulov used a blog to get $4,000 in pre-sales. (Via Nico)
    • Leverage your audience to find investors, suppliers and employees. Ben Tossell uses Twitter to find customers and hire. Now he’s raising a fund.
    • Use an audience-first approach to find your dream job. Iheanyi (Github) and April (Microsoft) have audiences, optionality and side hustles. Social profiles are replacing resumes.
    • Use gamification to grow your audience. Pieter Levels gained more than 10,000 followers with a giveaway. See the Makerpad Challenge.

    ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons

    • Audience-building is a forcing function to find and understand customers.
    • Your audience is your moat.
    • An audience gives you optionality. You can sell products, raise funds, hire employees, get jobs, endorsements, affiliates and more.

    ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

    “This isn’t new.”
    Common knowledge isn’t common practice.

    “You mention agencies, restaurants and conferences. These are not products.”
    ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ Use your imagination.

    “If I build it, they will come.”
    Tell that to Stephen King. Who wrote under a pen name in relative obscurity. Until his identity was revealed. Audience outweighs product.

    This doesn’t always work.”
    Indeed. There are broke celebrities. Blame execution not efficacy.

    “What if I build the wrong audience?”
    Start with the end in mind. Who do you want to help? Who do you enjoy spending time with? Educate or entertain them.

    “Is paid acquisition useless?”
    No. Use it for validation. And arbitrage opportunities. Not for survival. Unit economics change fast when you bid for attention.

    Gamification only attracts those who want prizes. Not my product.”
    Make your product the prize.

    ๐Ÿ”— Links

    1. On Linear Commerce โ€ข Media and commerce are merging.
    2. 12 Startups in 12 Months โ€ข Pieter Levels built an audience by building in public.
    3. My Journey From Quitting My Job to Building 7 Apps and $1,000+ MRR โ€ข Andrey Azimov followed in Pieter’s footsteps.

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      • with your audience? 
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      Drop Culture: Manufacturing Scarcity, Financial Derivatives, Blind Auctions

      This is the free version of Trends PRO #0026 โ€” Drop Culture

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      ๐Ÿ” Problem

      We are status seeking monkeys, as Eugene Wei says.

      ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

      Brands manufacture scarcity (and status) to drive sales.

      Constricting supply amplifies word of mouth. Everyone talks. Those who were able to get it, missed it and hate it. They spread the word.

      Drop culture has moved from fashion to software and experiences.

      ๐Ÿ Players

      Products

      Brands

      Platforms

      ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

      • Influencers will hoard items, influence culture then release them for profit. The song, RAF, made Raf Simmons’ items skyrocket in value. What if A$AP Rocky bought pieces before releasing the song?
      • ETFs and financial derivatives will form around streetwear. StockX holds IPOs (Initial Product Offerings). Some users trade items without taking possession.
      • Platforms will get unbundled. Chrono24 exists outside of watch categories on StockX and eBay.

      โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

      • Become a reseller. Brands must create scarcity for drops. Unmet demand is your margin. Convert access into capital.
      • Use drop notifications to get emails, phone numbers and downloads. You can text 917-540-3113 or download the MSCHF app for alerts. Cryptocurrency airdrops use a similar strategy.
      • Post items on Instagram and run blind auctions via DMs. Take the best price.
      • Drop access to your paid community. The Book of Resale randomly opens spots in the group. (From a Trends Pro, Ethan Jones)
      • Manufacture scarcity. Create an imbalance of supply and demand. Don’t have a large audience? Constrict supply even more. A stadium is scarce for Taylor Swift. Your version may be a tiny desk.
      • Weave items into stories. Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes fetched $104,000. Sell items featured in your YouTube, Instagram and TikTok (๐Ÿคž) videos. Let your audience own part of the story.
      • Reverse engineer product market fit and make scarcity a side effect. Accept ideal users. Put others on a waiting list.

      ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

      “This is exclusionary.”
      That’s the point. Drops fail without scarcity. They also subsidize art for the masses.

      “It’s not all about status.”
      Some of us find streetwear, art and experiences interesting without artificial scarcity. But this report is about drop culture. And those drawn to hype.

      ๐Ÿ”— Links

      1. A Walk with Mr. MSCHF โ€” A rare interview with Gabe Whaley, founder of MSCHF.
      2. StockX’s Josh Luber โ€” Get the origin story and vision of StockX.
      3. 7 Marketing Lessons From Drop Culture โ€” Find out why drops work.
      4. How Two Sneaker Moguls Are Bringing Drop Culture to the Whiskey World โ€” A duo uses drop culture to sell whisky for $185 per bottle.
      5. Reinventing the Resell โ€” A argumentative passionate panel represents different perspectives in drop culture. From marketplaces to manufacturing and retail.

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

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        With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to use gamification to make drops more effective?
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        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Why do brands eventually move downmarket?
        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which traditional industries are adopting drop culture? 
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        • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to build a business by creating pop-up experiences for brands? 
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        Digital Products: Validating Demand, Value Ladders, Piracy

        This is the free version of Trends PRO #0022 Digital Products

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        This is the first version. Click here for the second version.

        ๐Ÿ” Problem

        Selling time doesn’t scale.

        ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

        Digital products, like eBooks, courses and fonts, allow you to help at scale. You can build once, sell twice, as Jack Butcher says.

        ๐Ÿ Players

        Products

        NameCreatorType
        Maker Minions WorkshopMichael GillCourse
        Your Productized Consulting GuideJane PortmaneBook
        Substation ThemeDan RowdenGhost Theme
        Bite-Size PythonApril SpeighteBook
        DrracMartin RydenCarrd Theme
        Profitable NewslettersChris OsborneCourse
        Zero to SoldArvid KahleBook
        4 Week Bariatric DietKristin WillardMeal Plan
        The Standout DeveloperRandall KannaeBook
        ScrapbookKacper StaniulAirtable Database
        SEO Cheat-SheetBenas LeonaviciuseBook
        React for Data VisualizationSwizec TellerCourse
        ORBITALKyle BeatsDrum Kit
        EcoShotStuart PowelleBook
        Simple SlidesPaul BurkePowerPoint Slides
        Build Once, Sell TwiceJack ButcherCourse
        FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERDVisakan VeerasamyeBook
        Standard Financial ModelTaylor DavidsonSpreadsheet
        The $10K Website ProcessRan SegallCourse
        Marketing for DevelopersJustin JacksoneBook and Course
        Imposter SyndromePete CodeseBook
        PLAN 915-8Tumbleweed Tiny House CompanyHouse Plan
        No-Code MVPBram KansteinCourse
        Watercolor TeacherKristi DominguezPrintables
        100 Business ModelsGennaro CuofanoeBook
        McDonnell Douglas FA-18C HornetDmitriy Sidelev3D Model
        Better SheetsAndrew KampheyCourse
        Twitter for No-CodersJens LennartssoneBook
        Font PersonalityTaughnee Stone Goluboviฤ‡Swipe File
        No Code MBASeth Kramer
        Course
        Drinking Board GameCatAndBruPrintable Board Game

        ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

        • The line will blur between digital and physical products. Platforms like Printful and Printify allow you to turn digital products into mugs, shirts, 3D printed parts, paintings, stickers and more.
        • Digital product platforms will be unbundled. Look at sites like BeatStars, Houseplans and MyFonts. Individual platforms will be built to sell swipe files, spreadsheets or printables. The same happened with Craigslist.

        โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

        • Build an audience to learn about customers needs. Start a newsletter or podcast. Leverage your audience from YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and beyond.
        • Presell to verify demand. This will force you to clarify what you are building. Those who pre-purchase can offer feedback.
        • Offer early bird pricing. Reward early supporters with discounted prices.
        • Leverage niche communities for distribution. Answer questions and support others on platforms like Indie Hackers, Reddit and Product Hunt.
        • Build a content ladder to validate demand. Start with tweets and blog posts. Then move to books and courses. You can save time if early content does not resonate.
        • Combine digital products with paid communities to curb piracy and unpredictable revenue. Community can’t be pirated.
        • Allow “lifetime access” to courses and databases to boost perceived value. This translates into real value if you provide updates.
        • Build a value ladder. Have a foot-in-the-door offer that delivers massive value. This builds trust. Happy customers are more likely to make larger purchases.
        • Read the report on online courses if you want to make a course.
        • Build a digital product fast by curating. Create a swipe file of great UI designs, cold emails or landing page copy.

        ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

        “What about piracy?”
        Every business model has weaknesses. Digital products suffer from piracy and unpredictable revenue. Niche communities have reverse network effects. Agencies have high marginal costs. Most SaaS businesses have no moat. There’s no free lunch. Pick your pain. Then stack business models to hedge the downsides.

        “Digital product is a euphemism for information product.”
        Nice try ๐Ÿ˜‰ Information products include eBooks and courses. Digital products also include WordPress themes, typefaces, comics, floor plans and 3D models.

        “You didn’t include apps.”
        I excluded apps and subscription products to control the scope of this report.

        ๐Ÿ”— Links

        1. Leverage Information โ€ข How to leverage knowledge from your current field to create digital products.
        2. The Ladders of Wealth Creation โ€ข A classic post on improving the quality of your income over time.
        3. Open Report โ€ข 8 months of sales and expenses from Daniel Vassallo.
        4. Creating Passive Income with Digital Products โ€ข How Jen Wagner makes money by selling fonts.

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          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.

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          • 100+ Digital Products (225% More)
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          • 4 Predictions (100% More)
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          • (๐Ÿ“ˆPro)How to build trust and word-of-mouth marketing?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆPro)How to get distribution without an audience? 
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          Angel Investing: Syndicates, Belief Capital, Investment Pre-Mortems

          This is the free version of Trends PRO #0018 Angel Investing

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          ๐Ÿ” Problem

          Founders need early believers, advice, networks and capital.

          Most investors wait on the sidelines until traction is clear.

          ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

          Angel investors are early believers. They invest in founders with billion dollar ideas and expect for most to fail.

          It’s counterintuitive. You can profitably lose 9 out of 10 bets if the winner returns 30x.

          ๐Ÿ Players

          Angel Investors

          Angel-Funded

          Syndicate Leads

          ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

          • More investors will expect founders to have a product ‘in the wild’ before investing. This signals resourcefulness. Especially for non-technical founders. No-code tools lower the barrier to entry.
          • More influencers will get paid in equity. Joe Rogan got a stake in Onnit in exchange for promotion. This strategy aligns long-term interests with influencers.

          โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

          For Angel Investors

          • Build a personal brand for proprietary deal flow. Make it clear how you help founders: expertise, network, audience, etc.
          • Start a blog, podcast, newsletter and stay active on Twitter. Widen your luck surface area and stay top of mind for founders.
          • Keep an investment decision journal. Angel investing has slow feedback loops. This gives us time to fool ourselves about why we did or didnโ€™t invest. Journals lock thoughts in time and keep us honest.
          • Avoid the risk of ruin. Most suggest limiting angel investments to 5-10% of your net worth. Naval Ravikant says don’t get into angel investing to make money because you probably won’t. 
          • Do investment premortems. Ask yourself, “If this investment fails, why did it?” Negative visualization helps mitigate/identify the riskiest parts of a deal. (Thanks to Leon Lin for this link)
          • Write fantasy investment deal memos before you start investing. This is how Vedika Jain landed at Weekend Fund. VCs do this too.

          For Founders

          • Take some money off the table and join a syndicate. Angel investors hedge risk but most founders don’t.
          • Keep a decision journal. This helps you find patterns, identify bias and improve your decisions.
          • Build an audience first. Leverage your reach to build a startup and raise capital.

          ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

          “How dare you write this?! Are you an angel investor?”
          Not yet.
          And that almost stopped me. But I have a growth mindset. You should try it. ๐Ÿ˜‰

          “You forgot some angels.”
          AngelList has more than 42,000 investors on the platform. The Center for Venture Research estimated that there were 258,000 active angel investors in 2017.

          Trends.vc is known for brevity.

          Furthermore, some venture capitalists are mistaken for angel investors. What’s the difference? VCs take less risk, have LPs, invest bigger checks at later stages and move with teams instead of solo or syndicates. Let me know if you’re interested in a report on VCs.

          ๐Ÿ”— Links

          1. Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups (Jason Calacanis)
            • Invest in founders. “Would you buy stock in this person?”
            • Start with syndicates and small checks.
            • Negotiate pro rata and information rights.
          2. How to Be an Angel Investor (Paul Graham)
            • Start with syndicates.
            • Understand dilution and valuations.
            • Understand what makes a good founder.
          3. How to Be an Angel Investor (NavalRavikant and BabakNivi)
            • Think of yourself as a patron of innovation.
            • Balance your portfolio with ultra-safe investments.
            • Investing in groups makes for better decision making.
          4. Memo โ€” YC provides great questions to ask yourself as a founder.
          5. The Underrated Types of Capital That No One Is Talking About โ€” KP looks at intangible benefits that angel investors offer founders. Beyond financial capital. They offer belief capital.

          Open Startups: Exhaust Data, Transparency, Open Makers

          On the surface this is about open startups. It’s really about a lot more. Another name? How to Profit from Transparency.

          This is the free version of Trends PRO #0015 โ€” Open Startups

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          ๐Ÿ” Problem

          Startups have to cut through noise to stay top of mind for customers. And prospective employees.

          ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

          Open startups tell a story (mostly) with exhaust data

          Revenuepage viewssalaries and more. Data generated from business activities.

          This is a marketing strategy. Not only for customers. But prospective employees.

          In 2013, Buffer listed staff salaries publicly. Job applications doubled. Jumping to 2,886 from the 1,263 they received 30 days prior.

          ๐Ÿ Players

          Open Startups

          Open Makers

          Makers sharing metrics and stories.

          Open Platforms

          ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

          โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

          ๐Ÿ”— Links

          1. Transparency โ€” This TED radio hour episode tells stories of transparency. Covering everything from salaries to CIA operations.
          2. The End of Asymmetric Information โ€” Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok take a deep dive into information problems and their effects.
          3. Doubling Down Instead of Shutting Down โ€” Nathan Barry is the founder and CEO of ConvertKit. In an interview with Eric Siu, he said “…another important thing for us is storytelling. I want you to buy ConvertKit not just because it’s the best tool for your business. I want you to buy because of the team and the story and who we are and what we’re building.”
          4. ‘100% copycat’ โ€” Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee, tweets about downside of sharing numbers. This is why moats matter.
          5. Research: Gender Pay Gaps Shrink When Companies Are Required to Disclose Them โ€” Denmark required companies over 35 employees to disclose gender wage gaps and the gap to shrunk to 7% from 17.5% between 2003 to 2008.