"Your domain must have been expensive"

Fun fact: I bought our .com with my own money *BEFORE* I raised $3M

Here's how I landed our .com, how much it cost, AND why you should never trust GoDaddy brokers:

(thread 🧵) I bought the original memelord . tech domain in Sep '24

Obviously, I wanted the .com, but I knew it'd be too expensive

So I launched scrappy

And in 9 months, I grew @memelordtech to $100K ARR *with* a .tech domain (and no-code)

No excuses

https://x.com/iamjasonlevin/status/1972421057647968483

I've done marketing for 30+ startups.

Rabbit's launch for their AI hardware was GENIUS.

Tbh the founder might be the next Steve Jobs.

Here's the hidden marketing tricks you definitely didn't notice: STEP 1: Show the problems

Problem #1

The standard app-based OS leads to users clicking endless buttons.

Here, founder @jessechenglyu shows:
- Phones full of apps
- Prev. attempts at AI hardware
- Errors Siri gives you

Easter Egg from: He even includes Nothing Phone (a phone built for digital minimalism)

Problem #2

LLMs right now can "understand" language, BUT they can't take any actions.

He shows ChatGPT able to "understand" but unable to actually do any work for you

This leads to you Step 2: The Solution

I waited 90 minutes in line for a restaurant.

The only thing on the menu is steak-frites.

I spent $72, but learned a million-dollar lesson: SPECIALIZATION

My fiancée’s grandma ate here in the 1980s

The menu hasn’t changed: steak-frites.

When you specialize in 1 thing for long enough, you become known for it.

This is THE steak-frites spot in Paris.

Most people don’t realize @lildickytweets isn’t just a joke rapper.

He’s an evil genius at marketing.

I’ve been studying his career since I was 17.

Here’s 2 evil genius marketing ideas I can’t stop thinking about: 1: The Reverse Stereotype

Save Dat Money is a song about saving money

Most rappers brag about spending money

Dicky did the reverse stereotype of rappers

He rapped about being cheap and filmed an entire music video for free

Most people don't realize @RyanHoliday isn't just the Stoicism dude.

He's an evil genius at marketing.

I read his 2012 book "Trust Me, I'm Lying" about manipulating the media.

Here's 3 evil marketing ideas I can't stop thinking about: Want big publications to cover you?

Get into smaller publications and blogs first.

This will give you credibility to get into the bigger ones.

Holiday often paid small publications and blogs to post his work — which enticed big publications like NYT and Insider to cover him.

I spent my weekend reading old Playboys

(The articles and interviews of course)

Here's how Hugh Hefner turned $600 into the Playboy empire: Hef got into journalism very early.

At age 8, he started his own newspaper and sold it door-to-door

In high school, he wrote a magazine for his friends called School Daze.

He kept publishing it through his time in college and the army

Loneliness is hitting men the hardest

But the solution isn't AI girlfriends or the metaverse

Here's 7 reasons why all men should consider joining the mafia: You get supportive male friends.

My friend Charlie made $1 million from a meme account 🤯

I interviewed him for my new book

How a random dude in Minnesota became a millionaire memelord: In 2020, @charliewrich was bored at his finance job

So he started a meme account based on a grumpy rich old man

He named the account John W. Rich (@Cokedupoptions)

Did you know PR stunts have a secret formula?

Here are 6 legendary PR stunts from over the past 100 years

Try to find the 1 thing in common (the secret formula): STUNT #1:

In the 1920s, women only smoked inside

American Tobacco Company wanted women to smoke outside

So their PR guy told models to smoke in a parade to show they were equal to men

"The Torches of Freedom March" hit the front page

Event → News → Demand Increase (for 🚬)

In 2011, @antoniogm sold a company to Twitter.

Now he's taking on AdTech in web3.

Here's why @SpindlXyz will change web3 forever: Currently, web3 teams know which wallets bought NFTs.

But, they have no idea how users found the project.

In AdTech, this knowledge is called Attribution.

It's how companies know if you're coming from Twitter or Google.

Attribution is nonexistent in web3 — until now.

Hello anon.

How/why do you build a pseudonymous brand?

Let's take a look at lessons from @BoredElonMusk.

🧵👇 Pseudonyms have 3 advantages:

Creative Experiment: ability to take creative risks

Reputation Firewall: no fear of getting canceled

No Bias: judged on merit — not degree/looks

"The pseudonymous economy is our best bet to combat both discrimination and cancellation" - @balajis

I dropped out of my English degree.

Now I make $100,000+ writing online.

11 online writers that will teach you more than any English professor:

[🧵 thread] 1/ I wrote threads for @Gregisenberg’s company @latecheckoutplz.

His google doc comments were more valuable than any English teacher.

What I learned:
- Make it personal
- Make the hook pop
- Keep shouting your truth

Subscribe to Greg: latecheckout.substack.com

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary said "Business is war."

He's right — Silicon Valley startups are fiercely competitive.

Here's 6 war strategies that tech companies frequently use (and that you should watch out for). Note: I'm not advocating for these strategies.

But, they're used in competitions from business to chess.

Peter Thiel said, "It's competition, not business, that is like war."

If you're competing, you should know your opponent's moves.

Thiel would like number 1.

What is the future of social media?

It's not Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok.

It's decentralized social media: an emerging form of social media built on blockchains.

[🧵 THREAD] Decentralized social media (DeSoc) is built using blockchain data.

Imagine using Twitter with a different algorithm or UI.

With DeSoc, you use the same social graph with different front-ends.

You could basically use a TikTok-like UX with all your Twitter followers and data.

Will crypto disrupt your career?

This is how crypto disrupts 7 job departments (including yours).

For each job department, I've linked to 3 FREE-ish resources to upgrade your career.

[🧵 THREAD] MEDIA:

I'm a crypto-journalist and English major.

Here's what I learned.

Web2 media is run by old money and academia.

Web3 media is run by founders who want internet hustlers, not English PhDs.

Here's 3 things that helped me make it as a crypto-writer. 👇🏼

Bear markets are the best time to learn.

I'm a visual learner so I rely on visuals and diagrams to learn complex crypto topics.

Here's 7 crypto visuals that will help you understand tough topics (and explain them to your friends).

[🧵 THREAD] Traditional finance runs on guarded fragmented data.

Decentralized finance runs on the public blockchain.

By connecting to blockchains, people can build apps on top of them without asking for permission.

Any builder gets a check of approval.

(via @visualizevalue)

Crypto is crashing.

NFT floor prices are falling.

@WARHODL is still making art.

He's been painting since he was a kid and the bear market isn't gonna stop him.

Full podcast in the next tweet. Great convo with the decentralized pop artist himself.

open.spotify.com/episode/6bQfVO…

You know how NFTs use the ERC-721 token standard?

Most people don't know there are 28 more ERC standards.

I asked Ethereum developers about the 5 most popular ERC standards (and a new NFT rental standard coming June 14).

[🧵 THREAD] First, what is ERC?

ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Comment.

Basically, ERC standards are just documents explaining technical info for Ethereum developers.

Ethereum aims to be composable worldwide so it's crucial everyone uses the same standards.

How are ERCs created?

How do stablecoins affect the "real" economy?

On May 7, a Yale PhD student published a paper showing how a run on stablecoins could destroy the market.

I read the 37-page paper and interviewed the author so you didn't have to.

[🧵 THREAD] Stablecoins like USDC and Tether keep commercial paper (CP) in their reserves.

CP is short-term debt plus interest offered by corporations.

When USDC and Tether are issued, the CP market is affected.

This means reserve-backed stablecoins affect corporations' profits.

How?

What is the future of Ethereum?

Last week, Vitalik Buterin co-published a paper predicting Ethereum's future.

I read the 37-page paper and interviewed its co-authors so you didn't have to.

[🧵 THREAD] The future according to @VitalikButerin revolves around soulbound tokens (SBTs).

SBTs are NFTs that can't be transferred after they are received.

Once you receive an SBT, you hold it in a Soul wallet forever.

2 professors analyzed 692 NFT collections and 300,000+ wallets' transactions.

They found 6 tricks experienced traders use to make ~10% more profit per sale.

I read their 40-page research paper and asked them questions so you don't have to.

[🧵 THREAD] A joint team from U. Chicago & Temple U. split 300,000+ wallets into experienced traders & new traders.

Experienced = wallet with at least 6 mints & 11 trades from generative collections

Research showed experienced traders get 10% higher returns per trade.

Here's their tricks: