How to Become a Billionaire by 30 - Feb. 13th

and Why the Industry You Choose Matters

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, which means we get to see the most expensive commercials of 2022.

Companies will be forking over millions for 30 seconds of screen time.

But how much does a 30 Second Super Bowl ad cost this year? Find the answer at the end.

1. This Couple Stole $3.6 Billion Bitcoin… and Netflix is Already Planning the Documentary

This past week, the US Government seized $3.6 Billion in stolen Bitcoin from this couple: 

Yes.. really, this couple. 

Here’s a quick background on Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan:

Ilya Lichtenstein: 34 year old Tech Entrepreneur, got his start in Silicon Valley as the co-founder/CEO of MixRank. He then moved to Manhattan, and is listed as an Investor and Advisor to a few different tech companies. Here's his Linkedin.

Heather Morgan: 31 year old Tech CEO, Advisor and Writer for Forbes and Inc. Magazine. Most importantly, a TikToker and terrible Rapper going by the name of “Crocodile of Wall Street”. Check out her Music Video.

So how did this 31 year old and her husband get ahold of Billions in stolen Bitcoin? Here’s a quick series of events:

1. In 2016, a hacker stole 120K Bitcoin from the Bitfinex Crypto exchange.

2. Since the blockchain tracks every transaction, the hacker couldn’t just send the money to their wallet and sell, because everyone could track where it went.

3. People began tracking the stolen bitcoin, and saw small amounts being sent to random wallets, but nothing crazy.

4. Just recently, people tracked large amounts of the stolen Bitcoin being sent to this couple's wallet, and the Government went in for the arrest. 

So what was the Couples' plan to launder the stolen Bitcoin? Walmart and Playstation gift cards along with a few others, which were found in the seizure. 

That’s right, they were going to launder billions of stolen crypto through Walmart gift cards. 

So what’s next? A Netflix documentary of course. 

It only took 3 days after this story broke for Netflix to announce their plan to turn this into a documentary. 

Thanks for alway being there for us, Netflix. 

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2. Why the Industry You Choose Matters

Finding an industry you are truly interested in is important for longevity and keeping you focused…

But the industry you choose can be the deciding factor between a $1 million biz and a $1 billion biz.

Here are 3 things to think about when choosing an industry:

1. What is the total addressable market of the industry (TAM)?

2. What will this industry look like in 5 years / will it keep growing?

3. What are the average margins in this industry?

Industries that benefit from “build once, sell twice” typically have awesome profit margins.

For example, if I build a software tool, it may cost me $100k to make, but I can sell the same tool to 1,000 people for almost no additional cost.

If I sell shoes, I have to pay to make every new pair of shoes I sell.  

NYU put together this 2022 study on Margins by Sector (for US companies). 

You can access the SpreadSheet Data: Here

Quick Lesson: Gross Profit = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold

      Net Profit = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold - All Other Expenses

For example, if Apple sold $1 billion worth of iPhones, but is costed $500 million to make those phones and their payroll is $100 million 

Gross Profit: $1,000,000,000 - $500,000,000 = $500 million 

Net Profit: $1,000,000,000 - $500,000,000 - $100,000,000 = $400 million 

Now that we’ve got that out of the way…  let’s take a look at the margins of different sectors:

Highest Gross Margin: Bank/ Money Center at 100%

Highest Net Margin: Also, Bank/Money Center at 32.61%

Lowest Gross Margin: Air Transportation at 1.41% 

Lowest Net Margin: Hotel/Gaming at -28.56%

What does this mean if each of these industries had $100 in sales? 

Bank/Money Center = $100 Gross Profit & $32.61 Net Profit

Air Transportation = $1.41 Gross Profit & - $7.66 Net Profit 

Hotel/Gaming = $55.45 Gross Profit & - $28.56 Net Profit (yup.. they lose $28 for every $100 brought in)

Some other great margins:

Water Utilities = 55% Gross Margins & 18% Net Margins

Tobacco - 62% Gross Margins & 20% Net Margins

Transportation Railroads = 56% Gross Margins & 29% Net Margins

The lesson here: The industry you work in matters. It could mean the difference between making money every year, or losing money every year.

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Business Idea of the Week: Local Mentor

Have you ever wanted to learn something new that requires a coach or mentor?

Where is the best place to start, and what if it’s something niche and hard to find lessons for?

I’ve wanted to learn how to Kite Board for the last year, but I can’t find any lessons in my local area. I know there are a bunch of Kite Boarders in my area that would probably be happy to get paid to teach me, but how do I find and contact those people?

The Business Idea: Create a local marketplace to connect experts with people looking to learn a skill, sport, or subject. 

Customers can search the marketplace for a mentor in their local area, pay for a session with the mentor, and you keep a cut of the fee.

Want to learn how to fence? Connect with a local fencing expert.

Want to learn how to speak Dutch? Connect with a local Dutch speaker.

Want to learn how to Sew? Connect with a local Sewer. 

How I would build this: First you will need an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), or a basic marketplace app that will allow mentors to set up a profile, and allow customers to search for mentors in their area. 

Next, you need to find your mentors. This will require some old fashioned hard work and boots on the ground. Identify 5-10 subjects you would like to find experts for, and figure out how to get a hold of them. Allow them to set their own prices, and you can offer a higher revenue split to the early mentors.

This idea will take some hard work and will require getting out there and talking to people. Good old fashioned cold calls and sales. I think this idea has the potential to become a national brand and create additional income for thousands of people.

But let me know your thoughts… What do you think about this week's idea?

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Answer: $6.5 million for 30 seconds during the 2022 Super Bowl