🍋 Millionaire LinkedIn Influencers

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Good Morning and Happy Friday! The economy is starting to feel the impact of higher interest rates. Lyft is laying off 13% of its workforce and Stripe is laying off 14% of workers, too. Amazon is also pausing hiring for its corporate workforce.

Everyone is drinking more coffee, though. Starbucks beat earnings as consumers spend more on pricey drinks. Tesla plans to start mass production of its cyber truck by the end of 2023.

Twitter plans to launch an OnlyFans-style platform where users can pay creators for premium content. Musk also plans to lay off 3,700 workers - almost half of the entire company. And Jeff Bezos may bid on the Washington Commanders, an NFL team, with Jay-Z. The football team could sell for over $6 billion.

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1. Story of the Day: Millionaire LinkedIn Influencers

If you’ve spent any time scrolling through your LinkedIn, you probably get sick of the self-congratulatory updates and toxically-positive posts after two minutes. But some influencers are embracing the cringe and making themselves the butt of LinkedIn jokes - and making millions in the process.

LinkedIn doesn’t just want to be a job board - the platform wants to become creator-focused like Instagram or Twitter. But the platform’s having a tough time escaping the self-aggrandizing virtue-signaling posts.

Some call this new style of LinkedIn posts ‘broetry’. From the CEO who posted a selfie of himself crying before laying off workers, to those who brag about taking less vacation to prove they’re #blessed and #builtdifferent, many LinkedIn posts start with a clickbait title, lack substance, and end with a cliché life lesson.

But some influencers are finding LinkedIn content creation to be lucrative, even if it’s cringy. Some are flipping the joke on its head as they rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars posting inspirational, conventional wisdom on a platform described as “a puffy Patagonia vest in website form.”

Some of the most successful LinkedIn content creators make up to $2 million dollars annually. The most successful even find brand and career coaching deals from successful engagement on the platform.

Takeaway: Content creators aren’t necessarily compensated for groundbreaking ideas or for being right - they get compensated when they’re interesting. As cringe as LinkedIn posts can be, they're getting views and clicks, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, for some.

2. Markets Rundown

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Stocks slid after Powell's rate cues worried investors.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Crocs ($CROX) +14% after the shoemaker lifted its profit outlook.

• (+) Zillow ($ZG) +10% because the company had a narrower Q3 loss.

• (–) Altice ($ATUS) -29% after tough third quarter earnings.

Private Dealmaking

• TouchBistro, a restaurant management platform, raised $150 million 

• HI-Bio, an immunology-focused biotech startup, raised $120 million

• Qwick, a temporary staffing startup, raised $40 million

• Money Fellows, an Egyptian fintech startup, raised $31 million

• Ionblox, a lithium-ion cell company, raised $24 million

• SwiftConnect, a flexible work software provider, raised $17 million

Top Reads

• How the Fed moved markets (Axios)

• First-time homebuyers shut out of the market like never before (CNN)

• Netflix ad tier emerges at a pivotal time for the industry (YF)

• Traders scramble for protection after Fed spooks markets (Reuters)

• Bank of England delivers big rate hike as UK braces for recession (Axios)

• Musk scrapped Twitter employees’ ‘day of rest’ from calendars (Fox)

• Pilot negotiations with airlines turn sour (CNBC)

• Private equity donations tilt towards the GOP (Axios)

• Why Apple is navigating the economic downturn better than other tech giants (CNN)

A Message from The Investing Journal

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4. Book of the Day: Chip War

You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil—the scarce resource on which the modern world depends.

Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything—from missiles to microwaves, smartphones to the stock market—runs on chips.

Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower. Now, America's edge is slipping, undermined by competitors in Taiwan, Korea, Europe, and, above all, China.

Today, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more money each year importing chips than it spends importing oil, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America's military superiority and economic prosperity.

Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War shows that, to make sense of the current state of politics, economics, and technology, we must first understand the vital role played by chips.

“America is in a Cold War with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• Tempted to take it easy on Friday’s? Do this instead

• 7 productivity hacks that will change your life

• How meditation literally changes your brain

• 14 rare habits that will transform your life

A Message from Metals Research Report

Lithium is an essential part of powering our technology - cell phones, laptops and electric vehicles.

Demand for lithium is expected to remain high for years to come as countries across the globe go bullish on EVs and work to phase out gas-powered cars.

One company could become a major player in the battery metals industry and hit the ground running ahead of 2023.

Click Here for the Complete Report.

6. Daily Visual: World's Biggest Employers

Employers with the most personnel worldwide (2022 or latest available)

Source: Statista

7. Daily Acumen: Little Things

“A big takeaway from economic history is that the past wasn’t as good as you remember, the present isn’t as bad as you think, and the future will be better than you anticipate.

Most assholes are going through something terrible in their life. People hide their skeletons, which requires blind forgiveness of their quirks and moods because you’re unaware of what they’re dealing with.

History is driven by surprising events but forecasting is driven by obvious ones.

Pessimism always sounds smarter than optimism because optimism sounds like a sales pitch while pessimism sounds like someone trying to help you.

Every past decline looks like an opportunity and every future decline looks like a risk.”

Source: Collaborative Fund

8. Crypto Corner

• Instagram jumps into NFTs with minting and selling feature

• Goldman Sachs unveils crypto classification system aimed at institutional investors

• Fidelity to open commission-free crypto trading to retail investors

• Coinbase reported positive user growth even though revenue fell

• Market royalties for NFT creators on their way out

• How Reddit defied the crypto winter

9. Memes of the Day

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