🍋 Link-in-Bio Goes Unicorn

Together With

Good morning! Happy St. Paddy's Day to those who celebrate and will partake in the guzzling down ~13,000,0000 pints of Guinness today. Fed did what everyone expected and hiked the interest rate by 0.25%, first increase in more than three years. Citi made an OG move and announced they'll cover travel expenses out of state for US employees seeking an abortion. Starbucks is looking for its next CEO after Kevin Johnson announced he'll retire after 13 years. Howard Schultz (Steve Jobs of Starbucks) will take over while they try to find a permanent replacement. Airlines are feeling the effects of rising fuel costs and Delta says they'll be increasing ticket prices by ~10%. Santa Barbara is about to declare one of its most popular Chick-Fil-A's a "public nuisance" over its long drive-thru lines.

For y'all looking to manage your deal-flow, check out today's sponsor, Affinity, and save time, work smarter, and close more deals.

1. Story of the Day: Link-in-Bio Goes Unicorn

Australian startup Linktree, which provides popular "link-in-bio" services, raised $110 million to reach a $1.3 billion valuation. The fundraising round was led by Index Ventures and Coatue Management, featuring AirTree Ventures, Insight Partners, and Greenoaks.

Linktree and its investors are hoping to become a uniform "digital business card" which is great considering no one ever took vCards seriously. The company founded by brothers Alex and Anthony Zaccaria, and Nick Humphreys, was created in 2016 after their experience from running a digital agency led to the realization that they needed an easier way to manage all of their clients' social media links.

The company currently boasts 24 million users, which is significant, even if most of them aren't paying for premium services. They were able to catch they eye of former Twitch exec Mike Olson, who is joining Linktree as its new CEO.

In the 15 years since Facebook came on the scene, acting as more of a directory than anything, digital presence has become more fragmented. Individual apps are battling the fragmentation on their own by adding their own functions that are similar to Linktree. The competition there, and from other similar tools, doesn't scare Linktree, as they believe they'll be able to adapt and overcome.

Short Squeez Takeaway: I'm almost embarrassed of how often I click on a link-in-bio link to get my daily fix of clickbait. Linktree can surely be successful as it's one of the more recognizable brands in the space, but considering they currently only make money from the scarcely used premium service, they'll have to figure out other ways to monetize their tool. Some plans include teaming up with Spotify, and allowing third-party developers to add on to their current offering. The dream would be to click a link-in-bio and have it somehow magically email my boss all of my deliverables for the day.

Source: Axios

2. Markets Rundown

All markets were up for the second day in a row after multiple pieces of good news including the rate hike going as expected, China announcing measures to support its economy and markets, and hopes for a resolution in Ukraine.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Kingsoft Cloud ($KC) +72% after China announced they would work to stabilize financial markets.

• (+) Bilibili ($BILI) +48% because the video and gaming company approved a voluntary conversion to dual-primary listing on the SEHK.

• (–) NortonLifeLock ($NLOK) -13% on news that UK regulators are investigating the company's proposed merger with cybersecurity firm Avast.

3. Top Reads

• There's never been a better time to start a business (Axios)

• Elon Musk's Starlink brought internet to Ukraine, and revived the Space Race (BB)

• More startups will begin slashing their valuations (TII)

• The benefits of having VCs on your side (AVC)

• Reddit's gearing up to go public through a $15 billion IPO (BoB)

• People are quitting their jobs for six figure contract work (WSJ)

• To combat the quitting, companies are using sabbaticals (Fortune)

• Russian professionals flee the country (BB)

• Despite all that's going on, homebuilder confidence is still high (CR)

A Message from Affinity: The Relationship Intelligence Platform for Dealmakers

No deal-maker should have to spend half their week creating contacts or logging interactions in a CRM. 

Automation will instantly give you hours of your life back. Every contact, call, email, meeting, etc. is automatically logged and shared with your team.

But getting hours of your life back doesn't necessarily help you close deals. For that, Affinity has done something special with its CRM. Your team's automated interactions, combined with data enrichment from industry-leading sources, feed a relationship-intelligence engine that will help you master your outreach to external firms. You'll know who to contact and when to do it. The rest is up to you.

Save time, work smarter, and close deals with Affinity.

4. Book of the Day: The Science and Technology of Growing Young: An Insider's Guide to the Breakthroughs that Will Dramatically Extend Our Lifespan

The prospect of living to 200 years old isn’t science fiction anymore. A leader in the emerging field of longevity offers his perspective on what cutting-edge breakthroughs are on the horizon, as well as the practical steps we can take now to live healthily to 100 and beyond.

By viewing aging as a condition that can be cured, we can dramatically revolutionize the field of longevity and make it accessible for everyone. Join Sergey as he gathers insights from world-leading health entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, and inventors, providing a comprehensive look into the future of longevity in two horizons: 

 • The Near Horizon of Longevity identifies the technological developments that will allow us to live to 150—some of which are already in use—from AI-based diagnostics to gene editing and organ regeneration.

 • The Far Horizon of Longevity offers a tour of the future of age reversal, and the exciting technologies that will allow us to live healthily to 200, from Internet of Bodies to digital avatars to AI-brain integration.

Sergey also showcases 10 longevity choices that we already know and can easily implement to live to 100, distilling the science behind diet, exercise, sleep, mental health, and our environments into attainable habits and lifestyle hacks that anyone can adopt to vastly improve their lives and workplaces. 

Combining practical advice with an incredible overview of the brave new world to come, The Science and Technology of Growing Young redefines what it means to be human and to grow young.

“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• Gemini – the one stop shop for all your crypto needs. Buy, sell, store, and earn bitcoin, ether, and over 70+ other cryptocurrencies with Gemini. You can also earn up to 8.05% APY on your cryptocurrency portfolio every day. Use code WALLST20 and get $20 of bitcoin after you trade $100 or more within 30 days

• Predicting the next recession

• St. Paddy's Day Penthouse NFT – 1 of 1

• Putin has fallen into the dictator trap

• Will stagflation make a comeback?

6. Daily Visual: Pay Student Athletes!

Breakdown of 1,264 surveyed adults who say colleges should pay their athletes

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen: Have No Shame

Adolf Merckle was a leading German entrepreneur who, in the early 1970s, founded Germany’s first generic drug manufacturer, Ratiopharm. For several decades he also held large parts of the cement company HeidelbergCement as well as vehicle manufacturer Kässbohrer.

In 2007, he was worth US$ 12.8 billion, and among the five richest people in Germany.

However, near the end of 2008, Merckle’s investment company VEM faced a liquidity shortage, and he also faced huge losses on speculation in Volkswagen shares, which he bet would fall but instead surged.

It is believed that he lost as much as $700 million on this speculative bet. His trouble was made worse by the spreading financial crunch, which hit his corporate empire hard. 

Crushed by watching his life’s work slip through his fingers, in 2009, Merckle walked out into the bitter cold night and threw himself under a speeding train.

“An industrialist losing a fortune on the stock market has different motives for killing himself than a father with six children who loses his job,” said Detlev Liepmann, professor of economic psychology at Berlin’s Free University.

He added, “Merckle’s livelihood was certainly not threatened by his risky investments but he was threatened by shame, a loss of face in society, and a loss of honor.”

A man who spent a life working hard to do good, built a billion-dollar wealth, then lost a part of it due to wrong bets and collapse of world markets, died of guilt and shame seemingly because he equated his financial failure with failure in life.

There is no shame in losing money on a stock or any investment. Everyone loses at some point in time, and there is not a single investor who has never made a mistake.

Markets change, cycles turn, everything passes, and there are numerous opportunities one gets to rise after a fall, clean the dust, give up any guilt or shame of falling, and start walking again.

8. Crypto Corner

• Internet Computer founder has a $250 million plan to end war in Ukraine

• Congress is concerned the SEC is stifling crypto innovation

• Bored Apes founders reject pitch deck plans

• Zuckerberg announced at SXSW that Instagram is launching NFTs

• Crypto exchange revenue grew 600%, surpassing traditional exchanges

• Elon Musk is doubling down on crypto, says he won't sell holdings

9. Memes of the Day

Advertise | Wall Street Shop