Brian Weiss

🚀Free NFT update 🚀 Are you really part of the #web3 avant-garde if you don't own at least one podcast NFT? Over on Farcaster, Lens and Zora, far from the web2 brands who still think it's 2022, NFTS are once again about art. Writing, music, film... podcasts. It's experimental, but it's working. Thousands of Podcast NFTs for shows such as UFO, Mint, Coop, Unchained, and Rehash are being minted daily. Is it going to bring down the walls of Spotify? No. Of course it isn't. It's never been a zero sum game; it's not about destroying the gatekeepers and tearing down the ivory towers. NFTs give you a choice. - Ownership - Distribution - Curation - Community If you want to experience how easy the process is, mint the latest episode of Thinking on Paper with Heale CEO Todd Haselhorst right here - https://lnkd.in/eBPrSzVn And you can get the answer to two blockchain solutions with one stone. Mint an NFT podcast, and learn how blockchain technology is revolutionizing logistics to be cheaper, faster, and smarter. #nfts #logistics #podcasts

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DULCEDO Management bought Node App for $13M. This marks Dulcedo’s 5th acquisition since 2016. Let's break it down... ---SELLER: Node--- • AI-powered influencer marketing platform • Mission = bridge gap between small businesses and micro-influencers • Founded 2019 by Armin Faraji, Mackenzie Dérival ✌🏾 • Initially focused on restaurants, expanded to ecom brands • Focuses on Instagram, TikTok campaigns • 2021 raised $1M seed round from Techstars, Alchemist, strategic angels ---TECH OVERVIEW: Node App--- • In 2022 selected for Google for Startups Accelerator program • Pioneered a machine-learning technology to revolutionize agency workflows by improving influencer discovery and data reporting • “Creators can participate in brand campaigns in 3 clicks via Node, as opposed to pitching/negotiating with brands” • “Brands can create a campaign and begin interacting with influencers within 5-10 min of landing on Node's website” ---PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS: Node App--- • Over 2,000 clients across North America • Generated “tens of millions of social media impressions” • Clients incl Kraft, Samsonite, Jarritos, St-Regis, Marriott • Has activated 5,000+ content creators in campaigns • Creators include A-list models, elite athletes, actors, social influencers • During pandemic scaled from 30 to 800 brands five months ---BUYER: Dulcedo Group--- • Global talent mgmt and digital marketing agency • 4 divisions – Models, Sports, Gaming, Influencer • Offices in Montreal and Toronto • Founded 2008 by CEO Karim Leduc • 3 co-owners incl founder • 70+ team members ---M&A HISTORY: Dulcedo Group--- • 2022 acquired C4G, a startup esports marketing agency • 2016 acquired 4249, an influencer relations agency • 2023 acquired Influence + All Management • 2023 acquired Sundae Creative Agency • 2024 acquired Node ---DEAL DETAILS--- • $13M purchase price • No other details were disclosed ---DEAL VALUE PROP--- • Give Node added funding, resources for growth • Access to Dulcedo's 300M network following  • Access to Dulcedo’s diverse creator roster to support IM campaigns across various industries • Accelerate development of AI-enabled tools to enhance the IM campaign lifecycle ---POST DEAL OPS--- • Dulcedo CEO will serve as interim Node CEO • Node co-founder Armin Faraji moves to COO • Node co-founder Mackenzie Dérival remains as CPO ---WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING--- I'll write more about the deal in my Friday newsletter. I'll estimate Node's revenue and EBITDA, and discuss valuation multiples and likely deal structure. Signup link in comments below 👇 -- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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Ziff Davis acquired CNET for over $100M. The new owner is betting on more digital M&A with its $670M warchest. That price is down from $1.8B CBS paid for it in 2008. And $500M current owner Red Ventures paid for it in 2020. Let’s break it down👇 ---SELLER: CNET--- • Tech news and reviews site • Drives traffic via SEO • Monetizes via affiliate links • 38M visitors in Jun 2024 • Launched 1994 ---M&A HISTORY: CNET--- • 2002 CNET Networks acquired tech publisher Ziff-Davis Inc. (different co) and ZDNet for $1.6B • 2008 CBS acquired CNET Networks for $1.8B • 2020 Red Ventures acquired CNET for $500M ---SELLER OWNER: Red Ventures--- • PE-backed marketing-turned-media company • Provides client services, owns brands, makes investments • Portfolio incl Bankrate, Lonely Planet, Points Guy, others ---BUYER: Ziff Davis--- • Vertically focused digital media and internet company • Brands incl PCMag, Mashable, IGN, Retailmenot, Lifehacker • 2010 CEO led buyout of ZD w/ Great Hill Partners • 2012 ZD sold to J2 Global, went on M&A spree • Founded 1927 as mag publisher ---FINANCIALS: Ziff Davis--- Stock price as of 10:10AM ET on 8.12… • Stock price: $41.64 • Mkt Cap: $2B • Down 38% YTD • Down 39% YoY 1H 2024 financials as of 6.30.24... • Revenue: Up 0.3% to $635M • Adj EBITDA: Down 2% to $197M • Adj EBITDA margin: Down 0.7 pps to 31% • FCF: Down 27% to $73M • C&CE: $687M ---DEAL DETAILS--- • Undisclosed • Will close in 3Q 2024 ---DEAL VALUE PROP--- • Audience is attractive to tech advertisers • Target consumers/businesses navigating tech/telecom purchases • Part of ZD digital media rollup strategy ---WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING--- I'll write more about the deal in my newsetter this Friday. I'm curous to dig into financial performance trend of Ziff Davis, which we can see in public filings. Of note, its 1H 2024 performance has declined VS 1H 2023. Wonder what the key macro VS micro drivers are. I want to better understand viability of its digital media rollup strategy, and future M&A strategy, particuarly since it has $670M of cash on hand and CEO Vivek Shah said he wants to keep doing deals. --- I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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Below are 3 deal insights on Node App's $13M sale to DULCEDO Management. This is critical info for any creator x media biz owner. 📈 GROWING INFLUENCER M&A There's been many influencer marketing M&A deals in last couple years, ranging from Publicis Groupe buying Influential to Stagwell buying Movers+Shakers. Through these deals, we've observed a premium for platforms that can bring together thousands of brands and thousands of creators, and do campaigns at scale. 🤝 DULCEDO'S 5TH ACQUISITION This is Dulcedo's 5th acquisition over past 6 to 7 years. They've acquired different talent representation, PR, and digital agencies like Sundae Creative Agency and Influence + All Management. There's been no press about Dulcedo having PE-backing, so they're likely doing these deals off their balance sheet and getting creative in deal structuring. 📊 ESTIMATED 31X EBITDA MULTIPLE I estimate run-rate revenue around $1.2M, and EBITDA around $420k. At $13M purchase price, that's a 31X EBITDA multiple. Assuming my math is directionally right, this is significantly higher than other deals like Influential, which I estimated was sold to Publicis for around 11x forward EBITDA. You can read more about the deal on my blog: https://lnkd.in/gsCaH6eM — I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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#Triller’s merger partner AGBA is up over 400% in the 4 days since the merger was announced. Finally, seeing the value in this little company unlocked. With the Tik Tok ban moving forward, Triller offers a lot to creators not available on Tik Tok including the ability to set up subscriptions or pay per views available on the TV deck (Triller TV), text based marketing (Cliqz) and music specific marketing tools (Fangage). The deal implies a stock price of $10.75 and it seems the market is moving it towards that number.

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SiriusXM shared their Q2 earnings earlier today... Let's dive in! First, the company continued to lose subscribers, but the loss of 173k was nothing compared to the Q1 loss of 500k... so that's good. They barely missed revenue projections ($2.18b vs. $2.19b), which is still down 3% YoY. Now, SXM doesn't break out podcast revenue; they bundle it with "off-platform," which includes Pandora and podcasting, which generated $528m, up 2% YoY. But how much of that is podcasting? First, let's take a look at Pandora. In Q2, they lost 41,000 paying subscribers (64k last quarter) and now report 6 million paying subscribers (compared to Spotify's 246 million). I have to ask: What the hell is Pandora, anyway? There was a time when Pandora could have owned the podcast space. In 2015, Pandora was the biggest music app & did a huge deal with Serial. Had they had any strategy for podcasts other than waste money on Serial, the landscape would look entirely different today. I digress. Back to pod revenue: iHeartMedia reported nearly $100m of podcast revenue in Q1. If you look at weekly downloads on the Triton Digital ranker, iHeart has about 34% more weekly downloads than SXM. So, we can estimate that SXM is seeing $65-75m of ad revenue on podcasts per quarter, but it's a total guess. Another interesting bit: SXM is launching SiriusXM Podcasts+, a subscription offering on Apple Podcasts that will include ad-free and exclusive content from its top shows like SmartLess. This is a total departure from the walled garden of SXM's past, but it's a smart play. I wonder if any Howard Stern content will also be included on Apple...? Finally, when asked about the most significant growth areas, CCO Scott Greenstein said, “Obviously, it's in podcasting." SXM knows the sub business for satellite, and Pandora is declining, and their push into podcasting is an effort to replace those offerings - no longer just as a companion offering. And while ad revenue is growing, they want to stay in the subscriber business, so I expect to see a big push with subscriber-only content, live events, etc. In January, I predicted the podcast industry would 1) do more big licensing deals and 2) make a major push into subscriptions. SXM is going all-in on these. The good news for SXM is that their subscription business is still a cash cow despite declining revenue, so they have the time to figure it out. -- I'm the founder of DWNLOAD Media, a fund that invests in the audio space. If you'd like to learn why now is the time to invest in podcasting, DM me! I'll also recap all of the Q2 earnings via email. Sign up: https://lnkd.in/eysH5x5C Read the Q1 Recap: https://lnkd.in/etkGMXa7 Read the 2022 Outlook: https://lnkd.in/eW9nPCZQ #podcasting #audio #sxm #siriusxm #investing

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TikTok ban is jet fuel for $4B Triller / AGBA reverse merger. But this is financial engineering to salvage 2 struggling companies. Retail investors, be wary! Let’s break it down… TARGET: Triller • “AI-powered” music-focused social video platform • Founded 2015 by Bobby Sarnevesht and Ryan Kavanagh • Owns Bare Knuckle league, Amplify.ai, Julius, Thuzio, FITE • Raised $218M+ and TBD debt • Biz model = rev share, ticket sales / PPV / subs / merch, advertising, platform fees • Rapid US and int'l growth via TikTok bans (e.g. India) • 200 est employees PERFORMANCE • 2.2M creators, 450M+ user accounts • 2023 revenue of $45M, down from $54M in 2022 • Q3 YTD showed $104M loss, $378M in debt / liabilities vs $6M current assets • $1M cash & equivalents CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY • 2022 Sony sued for unauthorized music use • 2023 UMG sued for same reason  • Owes music rightsholders $23.6M in unpaid fees • 2022 called off $5B reverse merger with video ad platform SeaChange • 2022 missed M&A payment to Verzuz owners • Filed for NASDAQ IPO in Aug 2023 and Jan 2024 • Reputation for inflating users and usage TARGET: AGBA • Tech-driven wealth mgmt and financial services • 4 biz lines: Platform, Distribution, Healthcare, Fintech  • Founded 1993 by TBD • Focuses on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area • Biz model: interest income, commissions, asset mgmt fees • Publicly listed on NASDAQ, holding co registered in BVI, operates in HK  PERFORMANCE • Stock fell 80% 4Q 2022, has traded < $1 since July • $140M market cap, $19M of cash ($17M is restricted), $18M debt • 400k individual and corp customers • 2023 revenue of $54M, up 74% YoY, but a loss of $43M • 176 est employees DEAL DETAILS • All stock deal, AGBA acquiring Triller in reverse merger • New combined AGBA will be 80% owned by current Triller stockholders and RSU holders • Current AGBA shareholders will own 20% of new combined co • Expected May close VALUATION • Triller at $3.2B and AGBA at $800M, for $4B total • …BUT seeking alpha estimates as of 4.23 AM stock price, Triller’s real valuation is $1.3B •….and based on TikTok share repurchase valuation of 17x revenue, implies $765M Triller valuation • As of 4.23 AM stock trading at $2.40, up 500% from $0.40 the day pre announcement DEAL RATIONALE / SYNERGY • Leverage Triller’s large social audience to drive traffic to AGBA’s financial services and create more engagement via live events, webinars, etc  • Create personalized AGBA financial services via Triller user analytics and insights • But IMO here’s the real angle… • “access public capital markets and secure the liquidity needed for rapid growth” – aka a cash grab from retail investors • Triller is being aggressive when competitor TikTok faces US regulatory challenges (senate vote is today, Tuesday!) More analysis to come in my Friday newsletter! --- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do m&a and strategy advisory for #media #agency #creatoreconomy. DMs are open.

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Processing AP weekly gives us a clear snapshot of our agency’s impact on brand services, as our payments to creator partners directly reflect the quality and type of talent involved in our unique programs. Lately, we've seen a high concentration of new creators joining us, particularly in areas like: 1️⃣ UGC content creation 2️⃣ Short-form video across Instagram Reels, TikTok Shop, and YouTube Shorts (social commerce is a major driver) 3️⃣ Affiliate-focused creators While the average deal value is smaller, the performance impact is significantly higher. Some insights from over $1.1M in transactions processed this week: - 500 unique creator payments - 150 first-time creator partners (30% are new to our programs) Investing in creator incubation, discovery, and retention is a challenge many brands and agencies face. Finding consistent, high-performing creators who drive value is no easy feat. Have you also seen a surge in content creators as valuable partners, and how is it shaping your business? #CreatorEconomy #InfluencerMarketing #ContentCreation #SocialCommerce #APProcessing #CreatorPartnerships

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TIME TO PANIC. WE MUST GET THE VOTE OUT. We need volunteers! Betting Market has Trump ahead. Trade the Markets Former President Trump is a 53¢ to 49¢ favorite over Vice President Harris with just over three weeks to go in the 2024 US presidential election after closing for a fourth straight day ahead and setting a new 30-day high over the weekend. While Trump’s odds were boosted by a 3-day 5¢ gain prior to Sunday’s 2¢ drop, Harris’ contract has closed at 49¢ for three straight days after falling 3¢ between Oct. 10 and 11. Overall, Harris is down 9¢ from her 30-day high, last achieved on Sept. 25. Trump, meanwhile, rose 10¢ between his 30-day low, set on Sept. 20, and Saturday’s high of 55¢. The generic party winner market sees Republicans enter the week with a slightly healthier lead of 54¢ to 48¢. Elsewhere, the Electoral College margin of victory market saw the top Republican contract hit a 90-day peak on Saturday at 24¢, before falling a penny on Sunday. The improvement meant the contract for a GOP victory by 65 to 104 votes opened up a 10¢ gap over the second placed contract predicting the same sized victory, but this time by Democrats. Sunday trading saw a slight closing of the margin, with the top two Democrat contracts gaining a penny each and the Republican contract dropping to 23¢.

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20+ of you hmu about the 10 kids and family YouTube channels for sale. There's still time to get involved. DM me if interested. OVERVIEW • $860,000 TTM Revenue • 80% YouTube AdSense / 20% Off-Platform • $140,000 TTM EBITDA, 17% margin • Focus on science, education, toy reviews, arts & crafts • Small prod and editing team • 10 total YT channels GROWTH OPPS • Consistent posting schedule • Intro new content formats • Launch kids product lines • Localize content for new geos It's hard to build media brands and audience from scratch. Social channel acquisitions are a way to get a head start. Explains why many entrepreneurs and funds are doing media rollups. Just check my blog for recent examples: https://lnkd.in/gnDyb3cy --- I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for media, agencies, and creator economy. My DMs are open.

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I had the pleasure of speaking with Andrea Rosen, Portfolio Manager at Best Nights VC and a DJ with 20+ years of experience in music and nightlife. We talked about: - Why nightlife matters more than people think. - The real reason music startups struggle to scale. - How Best Nights VC is backing startups that bring people together. One line from Andrea that stuck with me: "Nightlife isn't just about parties — it's a strategic asset for cities, driving culture, innovation, and community."If you care about the future of music, culture, and social connection, this one’s worth a listen. Watch here: https://lnkd.in/d4i5nheQ Big thanks to Andrea Rosen and Best Nights VC for an insightful conversation.

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