Gm. If you spent the weekend crying about your missing legacy verified blue checkmark, this probably isn’t the publication for you. If you think Twitter is now a SaaS business with an incredible ROI, you’re in the right place!

POLLS

A very important question.

🏠 TWITTER

Twitter’s Checkmark Bonanza

This was a very dramatic week on Twitter. If you’re not terminally online and addicted to Twitter like me, let me give you the full breakdown.

On April 20th, Twitter removed legacy checkmarks for celebrities, entrepreneurs, and lots of annoyed journalists. This led to outrage across the Twittersphere — mostly around the issue of impersonation.

Twitter’s solution was Verified Organizations for $1,000/month. Theoretically celebs could join verified organizations like their management agencies or whatever. But this is a terrible solution best explained in an argument between David Sacks and Mark Cuban.

Mark Cuban then dropped a thread titled 100 ways Elon could’ve handled the legacy checkmarks better. There were really only 5 ways.

Time went on, people got angry, and then some weird stuff started happening. The entertaining outcome is always the most likely outcome, according to Elon. Pay close attention.

Wut is happening?

A few celebs in particular — LeBron James and Stephen King — were attacking the new Blue Check system, complaining about the removal of their checks and saying they don’t want to buy the checkmark because it looks bad.

So Elon bought their checkmarks and they have the blue badge of honor on their pages. Lol, the biggest troll on the internet goes to Elon again.

Why should I care? For whatever reason, there’s a whole sect of people who make fun of people for paying $8/mo for Twitter. Many people cannot seem to comprehend that the $8 features on Twitter can have a very high ROI when your business is run on Twitter. Editing tweets, expanded bookmarks, and expanded videos is worth it. If your business depends on Twitter, have the courage to look past judgements and learn more about Twitter Blue.

🏠 CRYPTO

The Crypto US Exit

When you look back at the history of crypto, each year typically comes with its own theme. 2021 was the year everyone printed paper generational wealth by minting monkey NFTs. 2022 was the year that the Do Kwon’s and SBF’s of the world displayed their prodigious talent in fraud. Now, 2023 is shaping up to be the year of the regulatory crackdown.

Unfortunately for crypto, this regulatory attack is happening on multiple fronts:

• Legislation, like the new stablecoin bill that would ban most decentralized offerings.

• By enforcement, as exemplified by basically everything that the SEC does pertaining to crypto.

• Through taxes, such as President Biden’s proposed 30% excise tax on crypto mining firms.

• And, lest we forget, through cutting off crypto companies’ access to banking in Operation Choke Point 2.0. 

In shocking news, US crypto companies are tired of getting repeatedly smacked in the face. The result is that the industry is beginning to move outside the borders of the stars and stripes to places where the regulators don’t throw darts at pictures of Satoshi Nakamoto, such as communist China. Yep, it is easier to do crypto business in Hong Kong than America. What a world.

Among those contemplating an exit include Coinbase, which is America’s preeminent crypto company. And who can blame them when the SEC is suing them for the very same things that they approved during Coinbase’s IPO process.

It’s a bad situation, and unfortunately, doesn’t look like one that will be resolved while Gary Gensler remains SEC Chair.

The Big Picture: Regardless of the bear market, crypto is a burgeoning industry that has the potential to change the world. If the regulators drive crypto out of the US, not only would it be a loss for consumers, but it’d be a geopolitical strategic blunder, especially if China picks up the pieces.

🏃‍♀️ QUICKIES

What else is going on?

• Tesla’s investors, understandably, want Elon to focus on Tesla. Good luck with that one.

• Apple’s MR headset is coming with only two hours of battery life.

• The A-Lab is showing how efficient it is to do research in the AI era.

• Who doesn’t love a good rocket-powered spaceplane?

Stat: Lyft is sending out 12,000 pink slips (emails?), reducing the size of their staff by 30%. If Lyft could build a time machine, do you think they’d go back and stop Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi from hopping behind the wheel?

Rabbit hole: The Military-Industrial Stock Buyback Complex (BIG)

🤩 MONDAY MOTIVATION

Derek Sivers — founder of CDBaby, author, entrepreneur, musician, and more — explains how to reinvent yourself to Tim Ferriss:

🛠️ FOUNDERS CORNER

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💉 DOPAMINE HIT

Lol Dan Toomey, the BizToker that never misses

@goodworkmb

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