Technology and regulatory changes are both making investing more accessible.
At the same time, we're seeing a massive shift in the cultural mindset from "renting" time to thinking like an equity holder.
Thread 👇
1/ Until the past few years, you had to make over $200K a year or have a net worth over $1M to make angel investments. The rules were incredibly restrictive.
The SEC recently changed the rules to make angel investing more accessible (though still not available to everyone yet).
2/ As a result, we're starting to see more venture rounds include employees, creators, customers, and everyday people:
3/ At the same time, young people are thinking like investors & putting dollars to work.
We see this in the 13M users of Robinhood.
We see this in the 10M members of r/WallStreetBets.
We see this in the rise of social investing platforms like CommonStock and Public.
4/ Creators don't want to rent space on their feeds to brands.
Red Bull wanted to work with Josh Richards, a TikTok creator with 25M followers.
Instead, Richards decided to launch his own energy drink and created Ani Energy.
Creators want to be owners.
5/ Notice this line from @TaylorLorenz's latest piece:
"What [food creators] want is to build their own businesses, whether by launching a cookware line, publishing a cookbook or opening a restaurant. What they don’t want is to work for someone else."
They are entrepreneurs.
6/ Young people are inherently skeptical of institutions.
They grew up watching their parents work within "the system" only to lose their jobs in the Great Recession.
Why rent your time to a corporation when you could take your fate into your own hands and be an owner?
7/ Crypto unlocks more potential to be an investor.
Own an NFT and watch its value appreciate.
Own a social token and share in your favorite creator's upside.
46 million Americans own at least a share of Bitcoin.
8/ Tech is making investing faster & easier than ever.
Outdated regulations are changing.
And culture is shifting to thinking like an owner, not a renter.
These forces are combining to make investing more accessible to anyone, which in turn unlocks greater economic mobility.
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NoPixel is the most fascinating virtual world on the internet.
NoPixel is a role-playing game in Grand Theft Auto. You have to apply to get in, and you must stay in character the whole time.
Here's how it works 👇
1/ First, you create your character. You customize your hair, your clothing, your accessories.
Then you fill out an application. You answer questions in character, like "You’ve found what looks like a random car in the street with a load of drugs inside. What do you do and why?”
2/ The goal of role-play is to create an immersive experience—basically to create a realistic, robust virtual world.
At all times in NoPixel, you must talk and act as your character.
During the pandemic, unemployment in the Philippines hit 40%.
Thousands of Filipinos without jobs—like Howard, pictured here—turned to blockchain-based online games as a way to make money.
Here's how it happened 👇
It started with Axie Infinity, a popular blockchain game with cartoonish creatures called Axies.
Axie is what’s called a play-to-earn game: if you win battles you earn a resource called Small Love Potion. You can exchange SLP for the cryptocurrency ETH & then convert to dollars.
This man used to drive a taxi, but he had no customers during COVID.
He started playing Axie and making up to ~$300 a month. For reference, minimum wage in the Philippines is about $170 per month.