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GME Short Squeeze and Ryan Cohen DD for Jim Cramer, The (Man)Child Who Wandered Into the Middle of the GME-Cohen Movie 🚀 🚀 🚀
The Dude:It's like what Lenin said…you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh... Donny:I am the walrus. The Dude:You know what I'm trying to say... Donny:I am the walrus. Walter Sobchak:Shut the fuck up, Donny!V.I. Lenin!Vladimir Illanich Uleninov! Donny:What the fuck is he talking about, Dude? Hello again, GME Gang. What a fun day we had yesterday! Could it continue today? Only Melvin Capital (and maybe Ryan Cohen) knows! And an extra special hello today to our newest WSB lookie-loo, Mr. Cramer (Can I call you Jim? I’m gonna call you Jim). Now Jim, from what I’ve been able to gather, you and your Boomer stocks and your Hot Manic Takes don’t always get a lot of love around here. But that’s not all your fault, Jim. The Paste-Eating Rocket Kids are often good for a solid meme (FYI: it’s pronounced “Mee-Mee.” Feel free to use that on air without verifying). But the Rocket Kids can be a dense bunch and they’re also often one click away from Total Financial Ruin (Quick shout out to SPCE: Pleas fly again). So you have to dig a bit in here to separate the wheat from the chaff, as someone like you actually says in real life. What the fuck even is chaff, Jim? And why do all Boomers seem to think that folksy farm-based idioms are the perfect way to conclude a thought? Anyway. Those of us who watched your teevee clips last week where you reference your interest in WSB know that you, Jim Cramer, might be one of the Olds, but that you also Think Young(TM). https://www.thestreet.com/jim-cramestock-market-advice-moderna-boeing-fed-ftc-dec-15. So we’re going to do our best to help your young-thinkin’ brain find the Needle In the Haystack here so you can get All Your Ducks In a Row on GME. Because we know that you’re a long way from being Put Out to Pasture, and though you may be an out-of-touch millionaire prone to facile yammering, we now like you here, Jim—simply because you mentioned us and that made us blush a bit since we’re needy Millennials who just want our Boomer mommies and daddies to Tell Us They’re Proud of Us. So even though the Paste-Eating Rocket Kids here are often Buying A Pig in a Poke (Christ, please do not ever say that or the kids’ Mee-Mees are gonna fuck you up), we appreciate you recognizing that, every now and then, there’s something worth paying attention to over in this weird little pocket of the Interwebs. And since you’re actually telling your loyal single-finger-typin’ viewers to check out this WSB shitshow, and “if they’re running GME, then do some work on GME,” we assume you might actually be checking this shit out too, since all true Young Thinkers know that What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander. Now, is the GME play as solid as your recent recommendation to buy Bed Bath and Beyond? Who knows? That seems pretty stupid, and I would look it up myself this weekend but my nice little Saturday is already pretty full so I don’t know—I don’t know if I’ll have enough time. But I’ll tell you one thing: the GME play is a lot more fucking fun. Life in a pandemic is boring, but here in this weird WSB place, these kids like fun. And for all your Boomer weirdness, you seem like you still like to have a little fun in this Mad, Mad world of ours. So consider joining us here more often. A word of warning, though: if you don’t like all the dern cuss words we use around here, Jim, well that’s just, like, your opinion man, and we’ll have you know that the Supreme Court has roundly rejected Prior Restraint. First thing’s first: we have a bit of a bone to pick with you (now there I go). The stuff you said last week about GME as the next Blockbuster was D-U-M dumb, Jim. You were a bit out of your fucking element with that. You even made our largest shareholder and conqueror-in-waiting, Mr. Ryan Cohen, send an emoji-only tweet in response, which if you know the super nice-guy Ryan Cohen like all of us do (we actually know nothing), that is pretty much the equivalent of him bringing his dog over to micturate on your and George Sherman’s rug. Now, I myself have never been into the whole brevity thing, but I wanted to take this opportunity to get you up to speed on the GME movie you’ve wandered into. And I know you’re down with this because you told all your viewers that if WSB is talking about GME, then “make sure you know GME.” So before you say something Absolutely Mad again and Cohen sends a tweet with an even less ambiguous emoji, it’s high time that you start Making the Sure here, Jim. Just consider this to be CPT Hubbard delivering you some Orange Sunshine and turning you on to some of that Sweet, Delicious Non-Chaff Wheat you love so goddamn much. Part 1: GME’s Bonkers-Ass Short Interest Now, I’m going to lead with the most crowd-pleasing part of the story here (Get ready, Rocket Kids!), and it’s the one that you did not even seem remotely familiar with in your “Stay out of GameStop, Deadbeat!” rant last week. Maybe that was by design or maybe not. We’ll return to that, Jim. But the point here is: the short interest here is batshit insane. And not just your garden variety Boomer in Rolled Up Sleeves Ranting About Buying Estee Lauder While Hitting Buttons On The Beep-Bop-Boop Machine kind of insanity. Really and truly fucking nuts. So to TL/DR this shit for you, Jim (to use the parlance of our times): GME is themost shorted stocktrading today—by far. https://financhill.com/most-heavily-shorted-stocks-today How shorted? Well, the value of shares short exceeds the market cap of the company; there are currently more shares short than the total number of shares outstanding. And when factoring in the institutional and insider ownership, the total short percentage of float is nearly 300%. https://www.gurufocus.com/term/FloatPercentageOfTSO/GME/Float-Percentage-Of-Total-Shares-Outstanding/GameStop-Corp Even higher, actually, now that Cohen’s interest is over 10%. Now, I’m not a numbers whiz like you, but that level of short interest and the small available float seems pretty fucked up to me. Like: “how is that even legal?” fucked up. And just for a frame of reference, the third most shorted security right now is your beloved Bed Bath and Beyond, with a short percentage of float at a nice and tidy 69%. Are you starting to gather why some of us in this weird little pocket of the Interwebs are a little excited about GME? You see, as u/Jeffamazon and RodAlzmann u/Uberkikz11 and others have explained in these here corners and on the twitter machine with their top-notch DD, and as I will translate to you in lingo you can dig, the short sellers got way over their skiis on this one expecting a bankruptcy in Spring of 2020 that never came. And yet, amazingly, the short interest has only increased since then—there has effectively been no covering in the aggregate and, in fact, the short percentage has only gone up. And now, on the threshold of 2021, we all sit atop a massive powder keg wondering what is going to be the thing that finally lights this shit up. And at the end of this little missive, I’m going to tell you what I think that thing might be (Spoiler: It’s Ryan Cohen! Better start getting used to seeing his name, Jim, because this dude does not fuck around and he’s not going anywhere). https://www.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/k4csaa/the_real_greatest_short_burn_of_the_century_part/ https://twitter.com/RodAlzmann https://thecollective.finance/2020/10/gamestop-gme-a-squeeze-to-44-from-14-can-be-justified-fundamentally-100-of-the-shares-are-short-watch-out/ Part 2: GameStop Isn’t Going Bankrupt and People Actually Want to Buy Shit There So, you foul mouthed little prick, a bonkers-ass short interest is neat and all, but why is Jim Cramer wrong when Jim Cramer compares GME to Blockbuster you might be asking yourself in the third person. First, the most obvious answer, Jim, which you should fucking know already: Blockbuster was nearly $1 Billion in debt and missing debt payments left and right when it was delisted way back in 2010. That was also when there was a bit of a credit crunch, if you recall, right after that whole Housing Crash Unpleasantness that you saw coming from a mile away and from which you made hundreds of millions of dollars due to your contrarian foresight—I’m sorry, I’m clearly confusing you with Christian Bale starring as Dr. Michael Burry, weirdo head of Scion Asset Management, which also holds about 1.4M shares of GME (You really gotta start looking into this stuff, Jim. This story is made for TV, man—and you Boomers were raised by TV and you turned out TV!). Also, in 2010 when Netflix is ripping and when Blockbuster was about to be delisted and bankrupt, an analyst noted the obvious fact that Blockbuster had “nothing on the horizon that makes it look like Blockbuster is going to be more profitable.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blockbusteblockbuster-wins-debt-reprieve-forced-to-delist-idUSTRE66052720100702 But Jim, if your Blockbuster comparison has any plausibility, GameStop must have a major debt problem then, right? And yet just last month GameStop repaid $125M in debt several months ahead of time. It’s also really weird that over the past year management bought back a ton of shares, taking the OS from 102M down to just under 70M (making a short squeeze even more likely, my Rocket Children). The weirdness continues with a soon-to-be-bankrupt company holding almost $500M in cash on hand. And according to George Sherman’s “Thine Omnichannel Shalt Be The Omni-est Channel of Them All” Conference Call following Q3, by March 2021 GME will have retired a total of $500M in debt and returned $200M to shareholders through stock buy backs. I’m no expert here, and I do not presently own a Beep-Bop-Boop Machine, but that’s all pretty weird shit to be doing if you’re about to go bankrupt. No, no – I get it: who the fuck actually looks at balance sheets anyway before spouting off about what a stock is going to do? I sure as hell don’t. That’s why I follow my man u/Uberkikz11, since that dude is a GME DD Encyclopedia and was born to crunch numbers. No, when Really Smart People make the Blockbuster comparison, it’s usually just Mouth Sounds for: A B&M Store That Used to Be Popular But Now Is Not Because Technology, QED. But here even the Really Smart People might be missing something as well. They’re right in the sense that GME must use this new console cycle window and cash influx to quickly pivot to a tech-first gaming company (more on that and our boy RC shortly!), but they’re wrong on the timing and relevance of this Super Smart Insight. So fine, they’re doing ok on debt and cash. But who even goes to that 90s-Ass-Looking Cluttered Mall Geekery anymore anyways? I confess: in my darkest moments, as the short sellers manipulate the fuck out of this stock and I curse the names Bell and Sherman, I too have wondered this. But it turns out that, just like I have no idea why anyone listens to Maroon 5 or eats at Applebee’s, apparently a lot of people in America do shit that I do not. Crazy huh? So here is some pretty neat data showing us how out of touch we might be here, Jim: First, when a pretty large sample size of people were recently asked the question: which of the following stores or websites do you plan to buy holiday gifts from? The #5 response from United States Americans was none other than GameStop (Ticker, Jim: GME). Only Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Dollar Store (poor people buy gifts too, Jim) were ahead of little old GameStop. That’s higher than Nike, Macy’s, the Apple Store—and double the response of Bed Bath and Fucking Beyond in every category they surveyed. Check it: (h/t to my man u/snowk88) https://stocktwits.com/snowk88/message/260983915 That’s kinda crazy huh? See Jim, when you Think Young(TM), you really can learn something new every day. And by following our man u/snowk88 (@snowk88 over at stocktwits), I learn lots of cool shit. But guess who already knew that? The guy that wrote this bad-ass letter that identifies GME’s brand and customer data as being one of the most valuable things GME has going for it. https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/RC_Ventures_Letter_to_GameStop.pdf So now we know that Real Life People actually buy shit at GameStop here in the year of our lord 2020. But like that analyst from 2010 said about Blockbuster, there must not be anything on the horizon for GameStop to be more profitable in 2021, right? Now, I will admit that being a bit bearish on GME in December of 2020 would make more sense if, say, GameStop were the nation’s largest purveyor of limp and half-lit pumpkin spice-scented candles and we were exiting the apogee of Shitty Candle Season. But as it turns out, GameStop is currently selling basically the most sought-after items that exist in the marketplace right now—where demand for the Xbox and Ps5 is far outpacing supply and is projected to continue well into 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-11-17-microsoft-expects-xbox-series-x-s-shortages-until-q2-2021 I don’t really need to get into the details on that here, because it’s pretty goddamn obvious, but I think 2020 GameStop at the precipice of a new console cycle might be in a bit of a better position than, say, 2010 Blockbuster relying on the latest Adam Sandler release to lift its sagging rental numbers. But I don’t know. Millions of people don’t watch my show looking for Candid Analysis from me and my folksy man-of-the-people-lookin’ rolled-up sleeves. Part 3:Ryan Cohen is the Sword of Damocles Hanging Over the Short Sellers’ Dumbass Heads And now we’ve gotten to the best part. It’s my favorite part of all of this, Jim, and if you give this a little time, I think it will be yours too. You see, all that corporate bla bla bla about balance sheets and console cycles and early debt repayment and overleveraged short sellers and brand recognition is neat and all—and definitely worth a second look by itself. Maybe even a little Beep-Bop-Boop on the ol’ sound machine—I don’t know your methods. But the real thing that’s about to rip all our faces off here is the business and investment decisions of a mild-mannered wunderkind named Ryan Cohen. Now you can revisit my prior epistle if you want to know a bit more about the involvement of Mr. Ryan Cohen in Le AffairGameStop. https://www.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/kakxrm/gme_tribe_a_story_about_how_ryan_cohen_is_about/. My fly-by-night theory of his lawyer’s possible use of the consent solicitation could have probably marinated for another day, but the thrust of my argument there was that Cohen and his attorney have been laying the groundwork to come after GameStop for a while now. And that Cohen was likely emboldened by the humiliating, lame-ass CC performance by some dude with a mid-century comic-strip sounding name that we’ll all soon know only as: The Guy With the Punchable Face Who Used to Be CEO of GameStop. But here is where things get really interesting. This is a story in the making, Jim, for fucks sake - take notes! This Monday, on December 21, Mr. Ryan Cohen filed a revised 13D showing that last week he started buying a shit-ton of shares—starting on Tuesday December 15th—which is the day after the stock price inexplicably plunged on Monday the 14th and the very same day you were yammering on the teevee about GME being Blockbuster! Instead of listening to you, however, Cohen started buying more GME shares (super-sleuth dark pool watchers u/rgrAi and u/snowk88 noticed in real-time that there was some very large accumulation taking place), which culminated in the big reveal that Cohen purchased a total of 2,501,000 additional shares last week—500,000 of which were purchased on Friday December 18, 2020 at the price of $16.02 a share. Ryan Cohen is still the single largest shareholder of GME with 9,001,000 shares in total, taking his ownership of GME above the 10% threshold from 9.98% to 12.9%. And so he apparently thinks that the floor for his investment is $16.02 per share. Is he still buying? We’ll know soon. But yesterday seemed like a little taste of what it might look like if a large buyer steps in to prevent short sellers from manipulating all of my nervous little Rocket Children here and their delicate little paper hands. There was another thing we learned from this 13D filing: Ryan Cohen has apparently hired a new attorney and law firm. Instead of the great Christopher Davis of Kline Kaplan, now Ryan Cohen is represented by Ryan P. Nebel, a partner with Olshan Frome Wolosky, LLP. Now, if you’re familiar with my prior ramblings, you might wonder if I was a bit confused, and maybe even a little sad, at this sudden change from my man C. Davis. And you might be a little right. But then the wonder of the internet allowed me to learn a bit about these new lawyers. And holy shit, things are about to get fun. Now, I liked what I knew about Chris Davis and he seems like a genuine bad ass activist attorney. But the folks at Olshan Frome and Wolosky, LLP are Next Level Players and really seem tailor-made for this exact situation. First off, Olshan is ranked as the top global lawfirm for Activist Attorneys. https://www.olshanlaw.com/assets/htmldocuments/Bloomberg%20Activism%20League%20Tables%20H12020.pdf (H/t @flummoxed at stocktwits). They seem to be the go-to law firm for major proxy battles initiated by activist investors. But possibly even more important is that Olshan is the same firm that represented Hestia and Permit in their successful proxy battle earlier this year to appoint two new directors to the GME Board. I’m not going into the fine details of that, because this is already a bit of a long-form Idiot’s New Yorker article, but GameStop just went through a proxy fight last year with Activist Investors Hestia Capital and Permit Capital, which resulted in two Board seats for our shareholder buds from Hestia and Permit. So, it’s reasonable to assume that the attorneys at Olshan might know their way around GameStop at this point and where the pressure points are here. http://www.globallegalchronicle.com/hestia-capital-and-permit-capitals-two-new-directors-to-the-gamestop-board/ https://www.olshanlaw.com/resources-mentions-HestiaCapital-PermitCapital-GameStop-BoardofDirectors-ShareholderActivism.html And if you follow u/snowk88 over at stocktwits (@snowk88)— you’d also find a wealth of DD on how Olshan rolls when entering these activist-investor-replaces-dumbass-boards-and-CEOs type disputes. To bottom line it: they get it fucking done. https://stocktwits.com/snowk88/message/266158534 https://stocktwits.com/snowk88/message/266155112 https://stocktwits.com/snowk88/message/266153175 But what else did we learn from the 13D? We learned that Ryan Cohen is definitely not going anywhere any time soon. Specifically, the filing notes that RC Ventures intends to continue to engage in discussions with GameStop’s board “regarding means to drive stockholder value, including through changes to the composition of the board and other corporate governance enhancements." And while RC Ventures “desires to come to an amicable resolution with [GameStop, it] will not hesitate to take any actions that it believes are necessary to protect the best interests of all stockholders.” I really like that last part, don’t you? And although I thought his November 16th letter was pretty goddamn clear, this 13D just ratcheted up the transparency level here. In sum, Ryan Cohen has all of our backs and he’s going to replace this Board and Sherman with people that are on the level and that will help implement his vision. And now seems like a good time to return to those “Ryan Cohen: Boy Genius” articles that were definitely NOT part of a well-coordinated pre-hostile takeover media campaign initiated earlier this year. I think there might be a few things in those articles that Mr. Cohen wanted all of us shareholders (as well as the short sellers and the Board he’s about to replace) to really and truly understand. Recall also that Cohen is not one for diversification or for playing it safe. So here’s a few choice nuggets for you to ponder: *** Bloomberg, June 2020: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-05/chewy-founder-cashes-out-bets-on-apple-wells-fargo · "It's too hard to find, at least for me, what I consider great ideas," he says. "When I find things I have a lot of conviction in, I go all-in." · Cohen uses the word “conviction” a lot. He says it’s something he learned from his father, who ran a glassware importing business in Montreal where Cohen grew up. “He taught me how to block the noise from the masses,” says Cohen. “To have a point of view and have conviction and not waver.” · He wouldn’t, however, recommend his [non-diversified] investment approach to everyone. “You need to have the temperament to block the noise,” he says. “Sometimes it feels like a roller coaster.” · He likens his obsessive focus on building Chewy to his approach to stock picking. "I don't want to swing for a single," he says. *** You hear that, Jim? Our man Cohen likes idioms too! But fuck those farm idioms, Jim – we’re upgrading to the Sportsball kind now. So what’s the takeaway here? I’d say that Cohen has his Eye On The Ball and that it’s time for all short sellers and the Board to Throw in The Towel because Ryan Goddamn Cohen likes to Take the Bull By The Horns and will ensure that he Hits a Homerun for shareholders that believe in his vision. Here’s a few more things Mr. Cohen wants all of us to know: *** Forbes, August 2020: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/08/16/entrepreneur-chewy-founder-ryan-cohen-shares-his-best-advice/?sh=41e1370e5840 · “For me, each no sounded like they just didn’t understand my vision. It was frustrating at times, but never discouraging. Those ‘no’s never made me doubt my strategy – it was the opposite. I was motivated by all the rejections and they just got me fired up.” · “I understood that thinking big was likely going to be misunderstood along the way. I’m contrarian by nature, so being misunderstood often validates what I’m doing. It wasn’t until Chewy boxes were on doorsteps across the country that the bulk of investors started to recognize our formula.” · “[M]y biggest risk would have been not taking risk. The risk of going head-to-head against Amazon. The risk of insourcing fulfillment. The risk of building a company in Florida rather than a popular tech hub. The risk of spending $3 million a month on TV ads, more than Home Depot HD -0.1%'s budget. The risk of hiring expensive executives even though we weren’t profitable. These decisions were some of the most controversial and required me being comfortable betting against conventional wisdom, and were often contrary to the advice of my board. Suffice it to say, I was not the most popular board member.” · “Dad never swayed when he believed in something. I never compromised my vision, regardless how many investors turned me down I was not going to give up on building Chewy into the world’s biggest online pet retailer. I love to be challenged, and I’m flexible on details, but I’m never willing to give up.” *** Goddamn it, Ryan. I was done having children but now you’ve forced me into getting back on that train just so I can name this future child Ryan Fucking Cohen. Thanks a lot, asshole. But to return to my point: are those the statements of a man that seems likely to walk away at this point? Or is Cohen trying to tell us all to get ready because he is going All In on this shit? So where does this leave us? After a huge week where Cohen buys 2.5M more shares and then the SP skyrockets to $20 yesterday on that news? Well, this is where I want to tip my cap to my man Justin Dopierala over at Seeking Alpha and allow him to conclude this section. He, along with his pal Dmitriy Kozin have been pretty clear-eyed on all this shit for a while now and they both deserve some credit. And I know I gave my main man Justin a bit of a hard time in my last novella, but the dude is sharp as hell and helped a lot of us see the forest through the trees here. And you should also definitely invite him to join your poker nights (seriously: check out the dude’s tweet in response to our own Rod Alzmann’s introduction of the #WeWantCohen hashtag right after the Q3 call debacle). https://twitter.com/DOMOCAPITAL/status/1336446055685230592. You have no comment on a potential takeover involving Ryan Cohen, Justin after your hour-long googly-eyed call together? Can’t believe you’re just preemptively leaving the WSJ and Bloomberg hanging like that. Justin, I love you dude, but if I’m holding pocket Kings I’m folding after that tweet because that twinkle in your eye lets me know you’re about to drop two Aces on my ass. Anyway. Here is what our man Dopierala thinks might happen here soon (and he called this way back on November 17th- and sorry - no links here, per the mods, as apparently no Alpha must ever be Sought from these parts): I think a very likely outcome at this point is a majority slate next shareholder meeting where Cohen takes over BOD and then makes himself CEO. A majority slate proxy battle would require all institutions to call in shares and would force a squeeze. We’re intrigued, Justin. Please continue: If Ryan Cohen successfully negotiates a purchase price with the Board then the shareholders will have to vote on it. Unlike the proxy battle where Hestia and Permit were running a minority slate of directors, an offer to purchase GameStop would force institutions like Vanguard and Blackrock to call in their shares. By doing so, the shorts would be forced to close out their positions and GameStop would finally have the greatest short squeeze of all-time. Ironically, Cohen could use this opportunity to sell all of his shares and use the proceeds to entirely fund the acquisition of GameStop going down as the first person in history to acquire a billion dollar company... for absolutely nothing. In fact, his acquisition price would be less than zero. And now is when I get to speculate on what I think is going to happen here. But I do not necessarily think Cohen is going to put an offer to buy GME to take private. That would definitely trigger a MOASS, but I’m not sure I see it given the attorneys he’s hired and his recent buys up to $16 and the amount of cash that would take. Like Dopierala’s first comment, though, I think Cohen is going to nominate directors to replace nearly the entire Board of Directors with a vote happening at the annual meeting and once that Board is in place, they’ll appoint Cohen as CEO. And as Justin notes, if he nominates a majority slate of directors, shares will have to be called in to vote. And this vote and proxy battle will make the prior minority slate Hesita/Permit battle, and the tiny short squeeze that took place when that happened, look tame by comparison. Now everyone: get your calendars out. Because the date to nominate directors here is in Mid-March, and my super-smart corporate lawyer buds inform me that it’s standard practice to file about 7-10 days prior. So, if this actually happening, we should be seeing something on this by early March. But even though early March is now the mark on the wall, today’s insane price action caused me to think about all of this a bit harder and speculate a bit more. And a major h/t to my buds on the stocktwits board, especially u/rgrAi (@amarbar) for all the sharp analysis on this. But if you were Ryan Cohen and you knew this company was hugely undervalued and you had a high level of CONVICTION here and also knew you needed shareholder votes to sweep out these dumbasses and implement your vision—then how would you play this with the short interest here as crazy as it is? I’d keep buying. Why? Well, lots of reasons, you smart alecks. First, so I have more guaranteed votes (duh?). Second, so that when the building starts burning and short hedge funds run for the exits they find that a mild-mannered Millennial with super-good ideas has sealed off all the doors and windows. That’s gruesomely delicious, isn’t it? Why else, CPT? Well, finally, and maybe most importantly, because I would want to excite and delight all my fellow shareholders by triggering a slow-burn short squeeze, raising the SP significantly, so that I can once again make the point (as he did in the Nov 16 letter) that the incompetent management that caused a HUGE drop in SP following that utterly incompetent Q3 call and the shelf registration, had nothing to do with the SP increase that again happened once Cohen announced his intent and started buying. Not the console cycle, not the cost containment measures, not the buybacks and not the early debt reduction. Nope: rightly or wrongly, shareholders will see Ryan Cohen buying shares and the corresponding SP increase and everyone—especially all new buyers who are delighted at their good fortune and swept up by Ryan Cohen Fever 2021—will start getting #WeWantCohen tattoos on their ass they’ll be so happy. And all of us, newly enriched by Ryan Cohen’s Big Canadian Balls and tactical brilliance, will crawl over glass to vote for him over The Boomer Artist Formally Known As GameStop’s CEO. I could be very wrong on this last point in particular, but if we start seeing 13Ds drop here shortly, things should get very fun very quickly. Part 4: A Return to Our Short-Squeeze-to-Da-Moon Discussion: Who’s Side Are You Fucking On, Jim? Now, Jim, given the fast friendship we’re creating here, and all we’ve been through over the past 5000 words, I hesitate in bringing this up. But we’ve all seen the video, Jim. You know the one I’m talking about. Yes, the one where you actually tell the truth about how short selling hedge funds manipulate the market to knock down the price of perfectly good securities that many hard-working people invest in—many normal-ass people all assuming they wont ever have to Point Where On The Dolly The Invisible Hand of the Economy Touched Them. But that’s not life now is it Jim? And fuck those poor-ass rubes for not knowing how to play the game with you sophisticated Masters of the Universe, amirite? https://www.reddit.com/dashpay/comments/93evx4/jim_cramer_reveals_dirty_tricks_short_sellers_use/ https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/cramer-market-manipulato So where are you in this whole GME/Cohen story, Jim? You candidly (gleefully?) acknowledge that a prime strategy that shorts deploy is to spread negative rumors that are then amplified by Big Smart Trustworthy Financial Media Titans like yourself to shake out unsophisticated retail players like my Rocket Kids here—who because of their tiny paper hands and you mean short selling brutes often subsist on paste and paste alone. So for this particular security, are you the one helping with the manipulation and actively creating the “new truth” or are you just one of the Useful Idiots that these short sellers use to manipulate with an anodyne, TV media-ready comparison like: GameStop Is The Next Blockbuster? And how in the fuck does this fit into your Think Young(TM) project, Jim? Because if there is one thing that we over at WSB fucking hate, it’s a bunch of Manipulative Short Selling Boomer Fuckwads. Why on earth would a hip Young Thinker like you want to be included in that crew, Jim? And I know we’re all friends here now, Jim, but I need to push back a bit on some of what you said in that video in such a cavalier whatareyagonnado manner. So if I understand you, short and distort and fomenting negative reactions from retail players based on deliberately false narratives is illegal, but still easy as fuck to do "because the SEC doesn't understand it." But you fucking do understand it, Jim! So why are you helping those short and distorters break the law here? Why are you being such an obtuse dumbshit? Just check out what happens to the borrow rate and short selling every time there is any good news for GME: https://stocktwits.com/Slantedangles/message/264519950 (h/t @slantedangles). This manipulation isn't just happening with GME; it is happening everywhere. It’s baked into the cake. And that is pretty fucked up that we all just accept it because whatareyagonnado. I think that one thing that those of us who truly do Think Young(TM) have a hard time understanding is at what point in your lives do you Boomers all finally come to realize that it’s maybe time to stop playing the game like you have been? What point do you finally have enough where doing the right thing matters more than getting paid? Maybe start by telling the truth more often—and maybe don’t go out of your way to help those corrupt-ass hedge fund managers who continually fuck over average people merely because they were stupid enough to believe you all. What contempt you Masters of the Universe have for all of them—for all of us. There is a bigger story here on GME and this out-of-control short interest (naked shorting, counterfeit shares) http://counterfeitingstock.com/CS2.0/CounterfeitingStock.html than even Ryan Cohen and the inevitable short squeeze we’re about to witness here. And it begins and ends with people like you and Melvin Capital and Bank of America not giving a fuck about the rules while thinking you’re smarter than the rest of us who do—but who lack power to do anything about it. And you know what? Maybe you are smarter than us. You certainly know how to play this game pretty well, as that video shows. But if I know my old school 1980s movies like I think I do, this is usually the part of the story where the rag-tag kids from across the tracks come over to show you hubristic rich fuckheads what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass. Now I myself have never dabbled in pacifism, Jim, so this isn’t too much of a stretch for me, but seeing that video of yours and seeing the insane short interest and all the manipulation here makes me want to burn the whole corrupt system to the ground—while barricading the doors to trap in those arrogant-ass short sellers who lie and cheat and distort to profit off average people. And though I’m certain that this larger battle is not driving him, maybe that result is one that Ryan Cohen wouldn’t mind too. Though he’s a polite Canadian and would probably just let everyone know that he’s not really mad, just disappointed. But me? I’m an Angry American and I say: Block the fucking doors and windows and light that shit up. So maybe this epistle will be useful for your Think Young(TM) project and cause you to reflect a bit more on what’s really going on out there with this whole GME thing and the likely illegal shorting that has driven the short percentage of float to these insane levels, drawing in new retail shorts too stupid to know what’s even happening. Or maybe it wont cause you to reflect in the slightest (count me as one of those cynical types that see your overtures to WSB as a transparent play for greater market share from the Young Crowd since your old-ass audience is dying and/or switching to bonds). But in a few months when all the Billy Ray Valentines and Louis Winthorpes assembled here are toasting each other in stupid shirts on a white-sand beach somewhere, we do not want you to look back on your knee-jerk boomer-ass dismissal of GME and your Useful Idiot blathering with that same tinge of regret and longing you feel when you look at a pre-Client 9 picture of you and your old roomie: warm-toes-and-hosiery-enthusiast E. Spitzer, Esq. In conclusion: GME = Blockbuster comparisons are for Simps and Corrupt Short-and-Distorters. Don’t be like them, Jim. And to my Rocket Children: the only weapon we wield in this stupid game is Diamond Hands with a float like this. Toughen the fuck up. And Happy Holidays everyone. --CPT Hubbard TL/DR: Jim Cramer likes farm-based idioms and apparently being a useful idiot to scummy short selling hedge funds. DD on the GME turnaround is solid and overleveraged short sellers should be shitting themselves. Ryan Cohen, our polite, hard-working Canadian benefactor is about to rip all our fucking faces off and trigger a MOASS. Probably even by early March, if that time is good for you (he’ll text before he comes). And fuck infinite regress: It’s rockets all the way down here. 🚀🚀🚀 Now: diamond hands, motherfuckers. **This is a shitpost and is only to be used as investment and life advice for Mr. Jim Cramer, Esq.
Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1. https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%) NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar. https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866 NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis !!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should. In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase. Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below: https://www.playboy.com/ https://www.playboytv.com/ https://www.playboyplus.com/ https://www.iplayboy.com/ Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success. “Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.” https://www.scientificgames.com/ https://www.microgaming.co.uk/ “This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.” https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/ As per their SEC filing: “Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1 They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon. https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again: https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea “Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.” “According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently: https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress. Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait. https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/ Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05 Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing: “For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.” “In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.” They are profitable across all three of their current business segments. “Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world. "Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.” Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame: “As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn. The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :( He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :) Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw. I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003 Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this: “Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy. “Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative. https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html Y’all like that China money? “Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.” Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose. I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing “Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.” “Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.” Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong. Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will. Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way. Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains. TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here: WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf Or here: https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.” STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon. Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.
Thanks again to the kind folks who gifted me more Reddit Awards last week, much appreciated! Onto the games! Another new week is upon us, here's what's new this week in the world of gaming on iOS. Here's also a link to TouchArcade for the source, and for those who just want links without having to visit an external site the list is down below. Enjoy, and have fun gaming.
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Thanks for coming on here and answering our questions. I have two questions 1. Do you think aspiring writers should have to read or study other authors or their books in order to get better at their craft?
I think there's a limit to how much you can improve your writing without reading. Think of it like a compost heap: you want to be adding lots of stuff to it. Without input, your soil won't be as rich. (I have never maintained a compost heap, so, uh, my metaphor may not be literally accurate.) Or think of it like feeding a young animal so it can grow. I won't say you have to study other authors in a formal sense, though that works for some people; you just need to open yourself up to new input, rather than going around in circles in your own head forever. And that input can also come from comics/games/movies/TV, though those won't teach you the specific craft techniques of prose -- I've seen some pretty terrible writing from people who don't realize that movies and prose fiction aren't the same thing.
2. Who are some of your favorite lesser known authors?
I'm a huge fan of Dorothy Dunnett, a historical fiction writer from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly her Lymond Chronicles. She's the only writer who's ever made me feel just abjectly inferior about my own work. :-P I also highly recommend Lord Dunsany, one of the fantasists from the early 20th century, especially The King of Elfland's Daughter, and Hope Mirrlees, author of Lud-in-the-Mist. (If you've read Susanna Clark's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I think of that book as "what the fantasy genre would look like if its founding text were Lud-in-the-Mist instead of Lord of the Rings.)
So, I read the First Lady Trent book a couple of years back and absolutely loved it, because I’m a sucker for that kind of voice. Got the rest of the books on my TBR and plan to tackle them in ‘21. My question is: did you find people in the publishing world initially pushing back against the series’ distinct voice, or were they all on board for it? This is probably the number one thing I look for in any fiction I read, and I want to see more of it in fantasy, which is why LT was such a breath of fresh air.
No pushback at all! In fact, I think it was a selling point. As you say, it contributes so much to the story -- and like you, editors are often looking for that kind of distinctive voice.
Thank you so much for answering questions and thank you even more for your books. I never know whether that’s a weird thing to do - thank an author for their work - but I can’t help myself. They mean a lot to me. I absolutely adore the Memoirs of Lady Trent. I'm an evolutionary biologist myself and reading about Isabella's passion for her field of study was such a joy! I rarely see biologists as main protagonists in fantasy and it was simply perfect. I haven’t had the time yet but I’m also very much looking forward to Driftwood, it sounds like such a great concept and I can't wait to read it. I have to admit, I mainly wanted to tell you how much I love your books. But in the end, I still came up with one (or 2?) questions. As a writer, how easy is it for you to look back at your own finished and published novels? Are they exactly as you want them to be, or are there things that you would do differently now? Or similarly, how easy is it to accept something as finished and not wanting to change it again and again? When do you decide that you’re done with a story? (Though I suspect your editorwill also have a say in that ;)).
The day I get tired of being thanked for my work is the day somebody should punch me, because I've become an insufferable git. :-)
Some writers can't bear to look back at their own work because all they see are things they want to change and can't. I actually like doing it; sure, there are often things I would do differently now (because I should hope I've grown as a writer over the fifteen or so years I've been publishing), but I'm also capable of getting sucked into what I enjoyed about the story in the first place. That's why when I gather my short stories into ebook collections, the only changes I make are to fix typos, or to revise out offensive elements (like the use of "gypsy" in one story). The latter are the one exception to my "let it stand" rule, because that's not just about me growing as a writer; it's about not saying something hurtful if I can avoid it.
As for deciding I'm done, heh. Yeah, when it comes to novels at least, the answer is "I'm done when my deadline arrives." :-) With short stories I have more leeway; they don't go out until I'm done with them. It's just developed instinct? If I hit a point where I can't see anything significant that needs fixing, then it's time to send it out. Otherwise I could wind up polishing the life out of i.
Oh my god! I’m reading the tropic of serpents now. Small world 😂 I guess my question is how confident do you have to be to be a published author? I love writing, I’m doing a creative writing degree at university, but I am petrified of public speaking. Is that something you had to overcome?
Writers don't have to do public speaking, so if that part really does paralyze you with fear, you can always skip it! Me, I really enjoy reading out loud -- but it helps that I got warmed up to that by "Milk and Cookies," which is a social thing where people get together (ideally by a fire) to drink milk, eat cookies, and read stories out loud to each other. It's really lovely, and it gave me practice with public reading before I had to do that with my own work. So you might try things like that to help get you past your fear, since it can be helpful to do public readings, interviews, that sort of thing.
There are other types of confidence you definitely need, though. Traditional publishing involves a lot of beating yourself against a wall until the wall gives up; you've got to be persistent, which means having a healthy enough dose of ego not to quit in the face of rejection.
What was the writing process like and how did u not go mentally insane from the stress u must have felt. :)
I've been publishing for over fifteen years and full-time for nearly twelve, so at this point I think I'm used to it. :-) But for Driftwood it was definitely a bit of a different game, because this book is what's called a "fix-up": it's built partially out of short stories I previously published, plus new material. So in this case I printed out teeny-tiny copies of each story and then sat on the floor rearranging them until I had a good sequence, then had to build the rest of the book around that. It's nice to get a new challenge sometimes!
Hi Marie! I don’t have a question because I read through them all and everything I would have asked has already been answered. But I just want to say I love your Lady Trent books! They are amazing! I love what you do with the different types of dragons and I love the research Lady Trent does in Akhia when she learns about dragons hatching with different traits depending on how their eggs are handled. I just think that is so cool! And your dragons have inspired some of the dragons in my writing. (I’m not copying you I swear).
In Voyage of The Basilisk you describe the concept of mana as a complicated system which determines social ranking. Were you inspired by any particular sources for this story element?
That comes directly from Polynesian beliefs (which are markedly different from "mana" as a spendable magic resource in fantasy games). All of Keonga is based on Polynesian cultural elements, with the exception of the "dragon-spirited" third gender.
Is the "Dragon-Spirited" not based on the Fa'afafine?
Ish, in the sense that it is likewise a third gender. But it doesn't operate in quite the same way as fa'afafine, in terms of either who falls into that category (ke'anaka'i can be assigned either male or female at birth, not just male), the expectations for their behavior, or the ideology behind the concept. It's certainly inspired by various real-world third genders, that one included, but the specifics of it are very much tailored to this specific world and story.
I realized that they weren't quite one-to-one comparisons. I hadn't really given much thought to other cultures perhaps having a third gender as well. As a Samoan it was the first thing that popped in my head while reading about the "Dragon-Spirited". Seeing as how the rest of Keonga seemed to match rather well to Polynesia, it was kind of nice thinking that this aspect of our culture was also included. edit: Thank you for answering, btw! I did enjoy the whole series and look forward to your future books.
Oh, I'm sorry if that disappointed you! From my perspective it's an issue of not wanting to be all, "yeah, I totally based it on that (but then got a bunch of things wrong)!" -- since, y'know, white writers doing that sort of thing is kind of a problem. Better for me to acknowledge that something influenced the idea, but not to claim it's directly based on X. I do mean it when I say that fa'afafine were part of the inspiration for ke'anaka'i, though -- in fact, it's probable (though I can't say for sure, this many years on) that fa'afafine were the reason I decided that book was the one where I should include third gender, which had been on my mental list of "interesting things I should try to work into the story at some point."
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I loved the Memoirs of Lady Trent a lot, the science, the world building, the story! Not to mention that Lady Trent herself is a very likable character and I want to congratulate you for creating such amazing story. I also loved the nods to real cultures and the time system (with the names for the days of the week and months). I loved "code breaking" those and I even sent you an email about those and I'm thankful that you replied to that. Now since this an AMA I have 2 questions for you: * How do you keep being motivated? I love writing and while I'm never short on ideas, I struggle to keep writing the same story and sometimes to write all together even if I know what I want to write. Do you deal with something like this?
Motivation is definitely a challenge sometimes, but how to approach it varies from person to person. For some people, deadlines are motivating; if you aren't locked into one with a publisher, maybe set one with a friend who will hold you accountable. For some people it can help to choose an external reward. For others, it's all about habit; if you make yourself write every day, then it gets easier. (Are you aware of 4thewords?) I'd experiment with different things and see what works for you. But that leads to the next question . . .
• Do you listen to music while writing or have something else on the side? I often find myself playing with a blob of modeling clay while writing and listening to music while drawing. Sounds counterproductive but doing multiple things at the same time actually helps me focus. Thank you!
I do listen to music while writing, and in fact, that's part of how I handle motivation! Quite by accident, I rediscovered the principle of Pavlovian conditioning: I'd gotten obsessed with this one song, so I listened to it while writing what eventually became my first finished novel, and after a while I realized that when I heard that song, it made me think of the story. So I regularly use a song (or these days, more often a playlist) in that way, because it's easier to hit "play" than it is to start typing, and the former winds up helping with the latter. Other people use tea, or lighting a candle, or some other small ritual they can associate with the work. Plus the mood of a playlist can help me get into the headspace of a scene, e.g. if it's dark and creepy or a battle (those being two common types of playlist I make for a book). And yeah, I find it helps me focus, by drowning out any sounds like the TV or my husband on the phone.
Thank you for your advice! I have a similar thing with music and drawing, there's a playlist I saved that no matter where I listen to it I end up sketching something. One more thing I find inspiring to me is nature, among trees I get so many interesting ideas :) Nice photo! Would you like to share some songs you listen to while writing?
I can do you one better: if you check the novel pages on my site, on the right-hand side (on desktop) or at the bottom (on mobile) most of them will have a link saying "Music," which will take you to the soundtrack (i.e. mix) I created for each book! And some of them also have links to Spotify playlists. Those are usually incomplete because a lot of the music I use isn't on Spotify, but I pull together what I can.
I'm a huge fan of yours from way back! :D What advice would you give to a writer who is having a hard time with the world at the moment, thanks to the pandemic and well... everything else?
Hoo boy. That's a tough one, in part because what works for some people won't work for others. Me, for example, one of my main coping mechanisms is to ignore as much of the news as I possibly can, because I know it will just suck me down into a cycle of anxiety and depression, without any productive result. But I have friends who cope much better if they feel like they're well-informed, and it's not knowing that freaks them out.
But if there's anything I can say that might be universal, it's this: be kind. To yourself, and to others. We need kindness. We need consideration for others. We need to feel like we're not each in this alone; we're in it together. Find ways to help other people (safely!), to make somebody else's day a little brighter. That will also brighten your day, and the more of us who do that, the more the light will grow.
Besides the basics, reading and writing, what advice would you most recommend for an aspiring fantasy author?
Hobbies! There are so many random things that can feed into your writing -- Robin McKinley has a whole book that's basically about magic honey. Being able to work in some first-hand experience with painting or folk dancing or baking or gardening or whatever can add some vivid and unexpected depth to a story.
Hi Marie, what's your favorite non-spoilery piece of world building in The Mask of Mirrors? Or, what's a piece of world building that you really loved in one of your books, but couldn't find a way to incorporate into the story?
I kiiiiiiiinda have to brag about the pattern deck. :-D We knew we wanted our main protagonist to be essentially a tarot reader, but we didn't want the deck to be the tarot with some new names slapped on, so we (and I mean mostly me, because I was busy designing this while Alyc was busy making up numinatria, a magic system based on sacred geometry) came up with the pattern deck, which has a short introduction here. In fact, the title for The Mask of Mirrors is one of the cards from the deck, and all the chapters are titled with cards, too. But we didn't just stop at the divination: there are also two card games referenced in the story that can be played with a pattern deck -- and yes, I know what the rules for them are, and if we ever manage to crowdfund the creation of the actual deck like we hope to do, rules for both nytsa (based on koi-koi) and sixes (a form of poker) will be included as part of that. And I have rules for "pattern dice," which are a bit like cee-lo; that's basically a simple bidding dice game riffing off of the three threads (suits) of the pattern deck. There are lots of other little touches worked into the story, which I love because it makes it feel real rather than like a plot device -- like in a recent scene we wrote, one of the cards that comes up is The Laughing Crow, and a character in the scene says "Isn't that a tavern?" Because of course you'd wind up with taverns named after cards, too.
I love this so much already. I really want a deck now!
We really, really hope we get to make one someday! I bought blank cards I wrote the names on, but it would be so much more awesome with art. That kind of thing is a massive undertaking, though.
Not a question, just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed ‘A Natural History of Dragons’. I received my copy from a Reddit Secret Santa. I finished my copy while on holiday and passed it along to a fellow lady traveler I met in Hong Kong. My hope is Lady Trent, wherever she is now, is thoroughly enjoying her new adventure somewhere around the world. Thanks again!!
Do you see Driftwood as part of a series? And, if so, do you see it as a series of short stories or will there be Driftwood novels?
In a sense Driftwood has always been a series, because it started out as short stories, which then got linked together into the book. I doubt I'll ever write a full-blown novel there, in part because I feel like that's antithetical to the setting: Driftwood is a place of fragments, not coherent wholes, and a novel is a big coherent whole. But I may very well write more short stories, plus I have a half-baked notion for a novella in the setting, so there may indeed be more in the future, even if it isn't a conventional novel.
Hi Marie! I'd really appreciate it if you could talk a bit about your research process and approach to artistic licence specifically in relation to the Onyx Court series. It's so heavily caught up in scientific discovery and political intrigue that it seems like a difficult balance to strike between finding ways to make the story work and establishing the real world and history you're working with. Thanks for all your work and for any thoughts you have!
That's a particularly interesting case to look at because what I wound up writing was secret history: I tried to hew as close as possibly to the known facts of the past, while slipping my own additions into the cracks. So in that instance, a lot of it involved reading about the period with a constant question in my mind of "how can I use this?," which meant that "establishing the real world and history" went hand in hand with "making the story work." By far the hardest round of that was In Ashes Lie, because the history I'd decided to grapple with there was SO complex; it was much easier in the other books where real-world events weren't driving the plot quite so closely. But my approach meant I had countless instances where I discovered really cool things, then found ways to work them into the plot. It's a fun game, but also an exhausting one; it contributed heavily to my decision to set the Memoirs in a "not quite our world" setting rather than real history, so I wouldn't remain stuck in that gear.
Hi Marie! I love the conflicting legends of Last in Driftwood. I am wondering what some of your inspirations were for telling his story from multiple viewpoints.
It has to do with the order of composition for the stories. The first one I wrote was "Driftwood," which opens the book, and which alternates between Last in first person and Alsanit in third; the second one was "A Heretic by Degrees," and when I set out to write that one, I had to make a decision. Was I going to continue with that alternating structure? I decided that no, Last would be more interesting if we saw him through Qoress' eyes -- and that wound up setting the pattern for the rest of the stories, that apart from that first story (and "Smiling at the End of the World," which I originally wrote as just a flash bonus for my website), you wouldn't get Last's perspective directly. Any time you want a character to be enigmatic, it's way more interesting to view that enigma from the outside!
Hi Marie, What was the last place you visited pre-pandemic?
My answer to that is sadly uninteresting: Walnut Creek, a town to the east of the Bay Area that hosts the FOGcon convention. And prior to that, Boston for Christmas. I was slated to attend a convention in Toulouse in the spring, but that wound up being canceled.
Hello! Not a question, but I just wanted to say that I have been looking for a new fantasy series to read for such a long time now and no dice... however after seeing your post today I downloaded A Natural History of Dragons and so far it really is fantastic and I’m really excited to read the rest of your work. So I guess what I’m trying to say is - THANK YOU! You are awesome :)
I'm delighted that this inspired you to pick it up, and that you're enjoying it so much!
Hi Marie! Good to see you here! Do you think you'll ever branch out into another genre? If so, what sub-genre or special section of that genre?
I definitely like the idea of not pigeonholing myself too narrowly -- that's why I'm writing everything from urban fantasy to epic fantasy to historical fantasy to (in short fiction) even some dark fantasy/horror. Probably the most likely direction to go in would be straight historical fiction, since I've already done a few short stories of that type, and it isn't too far afield from my usual work. I've got a couple of SF ideas, but wouldn't bet on them ever going anywhere. I think I'm unlikely to ever write mystery in the genre sense (though some of my plots are quasi-mysteries, like Turning Darkness Into Light or the upcoming Night Parade of a Hundred Demons), and since I find romantic plotlines more compelling when they're the B plot rather than the A plot, I doubt I'll ever write a genre romance.
Memoirs of Lady Trent is something that has been recommend to me and other people before on here and I immediately went to buy it because it was such an interesting and refreshing concept for a fantasy novel. And driftwood looks so interesting too that I can’t wait to get a hold on it (assuming college doesn’t try to take all my time). But this is an AMA so I guess I’ll ask a question, what is your favorite color and why?
Green! For the very simple reason that when I was about ten I got contact lenses, and was offered a choice between a blue tint or a green tint. This was in the days before significant color effects from lenses; the ophthalmologist told me it was really just so I could find the lens more easily if I dropped it, and wouldn't change the color of my eyes. I chose green, and when I popped the first one in . . . my eye was EMERALD GREEN. It basically took the hints of green that are already there, and magnified them to the point where total strangers would comment on it. Green became my favorite color on the spot.
Tragically, at this point my vision is bad enough that only a few companies make lenses in my prescription, and they don't offer tints. So my days of emerald green eyes are behind me.
Sorry if this has been asked, but how much did your "past" life influence how you write fantasy and how you create your worlds? As a fan of the Lady Trent novels and the Malazan novels of Steven Erikson, it feels like there's a deeper understanding of worldbuilding for those authors with an academic knowledge of the myths and stories that inform and shape societies/civilizations.
Oh, it influenced me enormously! I mean, literally my entire Patreon is about leveraging that. (Well, it's about me going "I'd like to write a book about worldbuilding!" followed by "but I have no idea how to organize a book about worldbuilding!" followed by "huh, if I did it as a Patreon I could just write it in whatever order I like and worry about organization later" -- followed by three and a half years of me writing about worldbuilding every week. But hey, I've gotten three books out of it so far.)
Honestly, what I say to people is that I didn't choose my majors in college by asking "what would be most useful to me as a fantasy writer?" . . . but that's more or less what I ended up with. It's absolutely integral to how I work now.
Well, now that I know you have a Patreon, you have a new subscriber! It's really cool to hear that it's integral - there's a bit of a difference between "knowing" and knowing, ya know?
Thank you so much!
Hi, - obligatiory first of all - I really love your works, especially the Lady Trents Memoirs Series. Despite the tons of books I've read, it remains among my top favorites. I really like the characters and one of them in particular stands out to me: Natalie. Her statements about not "liking" men, but neither "liking" women, reminded me a lot of my own thoughts I had, before finding out that it wasn't about "liking", it was sexual attraction, and I'm simply asexual. So I wanted to ask wether Natalie is asexual too, or if she's simply very introverted or something similar. (I'm sorry for being a bit late, I've been traveling for weeks and don't always have access to the internet)
No worries about being late! And yes, Natalie is ace -- but that's not a term that feels like it would fit into the period/the propriety of a Victorian lady, which is why she speaks of it merely in terms of "liking."
This is one of the best AMAs I've seen on the internet, thank you very much! I've already asked a question, but I'm really loving your pictures (you've got a great eye for framing) so I'm curious: What kind of camera do you use?
A Leica V-Lux Typ 114, and before that, a Leica V-Lux . . . 2, I think? It's actually not a system camera (i.e. interchangeable lenses -- what people usually call an SLR, though those don't actually mean the same thing), so it has distinct limitations compared to being able to swap in a macro lens or whatever. But I don't want to carry the extra weight of lenses when I travel, nor make my husband be even more patient than he already is so I can swap things out. Also, I love that these models have their screens on a full-swivel hinge, so I can do things like place the camera on the ground aiming upward and still see what the viewfinder is showing.
I don't have a question, I just wanted to say how much I truly loved your Lady Trent series. I am an avid fantasy reader and particularly love a story with thoughtful world building. I massively look forward to reading your future books!
I just wanted to say you are wonderful. I resonate with you, your career, and entertainment choices. My undergrad is in anthropology, and will forever have portion of my heart, but when I went for my MA, I went for English literature. I haven’t done LARP but ♥️ RPG. Thank you for taking the time to answer questions. We appreciate you.
I found the Lady Trent series just at the start of the pandemic and it was exactly the kind of book I needed at the time. We even read it for my book club (where it got glowing reviews). Thank you so much for an excellent series! I look forward to reading more work by you :-)
I don't have a question per se. As a conservation biologist who wishes she were a naturalist, thank you for your Lady Trent books. I've only read the first one so far but I've absolutely loved it and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
Is it too late to ask questions? Just read your blog post about finishing #2 in R&R. WAs curious how long the breaks you take between books are and how long you write per day/week (including writing for short stories).
You managed to catch me before I drifted away from Reddit again! :-)
Breaks between books vary wildly. I had basically none this year between finishing the draft of Night Parade and the second Rook and Rose book, because my deadlines said I couldn't afford one. But when I'm writing just one book a year, I regularly have six months or so between the end of one draft and the beginning of the next -- during which time I'm doing revisions and such, of course, but for me that's a different mental burden from writing the initial draft.
As for time per day or week, it varies even more, and I'm bad at tracking it. I usually measure my progress by wordcount rather than time, and my default is to aim for 1K a day during novel drafting. Which used to mean seven days a week, but these days it's often more irregular; I might write more like 1500-2K, then take a day off, etc. On a good day I can probably do 1K in an hour or so; on a bad day, it takes longer. Short stories tend to come out in bursts, so that it rarely takes me more than maybe 3-4 sittings to polish one off, and often less. But of course none of that factors in the time spent just kind of mulling stuff over while I'm washing the dishes or whatever. If I were a more data-driven person, I'd actually track this and know what the real numbers are!
Hi! For the first of your questions, I went into that here; I'm just linking rather than re-answering because it turns out I've written more than 7K words of answers to things in this AMA, and my wrists need a break. :-)
Historical period . . . I don't know that I would visit any period just for the sake of being there. Without attempting to claim that our modern age is perfect, historical periods generally have much worse sexism, racism, and classism, not to mention horrible diseases, food scarcity, general lack of indoor plumbing, and so forth. (I know, what a romantic answer!) BUT -- I would totally visit any number of time periods if it would let me find the answer to a question. What was {insert New Worlds society of your choice} like before European contact? How did people make {insert forgotten substance of your choice}? Who was Jack the Ripper? (I just finished reading Katherine Addison's Angel of the Crows, so that's on my mind.) I don't know what question I would most want to answer, but that would definitely be my motivation for time travel.
If the characters lived in 2020, what would their lives be like?
From the Memoirs? Easier in some ways, harder in others. The social barriers of gender and class wouldn't be as significant, but on the other hand -- as Isabella says at one point -- back in her day, the field of dragon naturalism was so new, all you had to do was hold your hand out for new data to fall into it. At this point it would be far more advanced, and they'd have to learn a lot more before being ready to go study a much more fine-grained topic.
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What Is GamStop Self Exclusion and Can You Cancel GamStop?
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Non GamStop Casinos UK
Just like already said, gambling is a big part of the entertainment world in the UK. But the problem arises when some players start to lose control over their gambling habits. This is why organizations that fight against gambling addiction are introduced. GamStop is one of them and probably the biggest one. Mainly, the UK Gambling Commission has brought the requirement stating that all UK casinos that hold their license must be registered at GamStop, the self-exclusion programme. This means that all players that have excluded themselves with GamStop, won’t be able to access any of the UKGC licensed casinos or play slots not on gamstop. Therefore, there will not be any non GamStop UK casinos. But luckily for some players, there is a way to get around this programme which means that even those who have self-excluded themselves will be able to play again. The go-to place is casinos not on GamStop.
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First of all, if you are dealing with gambling addiction, cannot control your gambling, and have self-excluded yourself for the same reasons, then don’t try to gamble again, be strong, and don’t keep reading. On the other hand, we know that there are players who have self-excluded impulsively or out of anger due to some bad betting streak and now are not able to play. Well, for those kinds of players there is a way to spin those slot reels again or play poker or whatever casino game is their favourite. The key answer to this trouble lies in casinos not signed up to GamStop. What are these casinos, you wonder. Well, the answer is simple. Online casino not on GamStop is simply an online casino that holds a different license than UKGC license. These casinos, since not licensed by UKGC, are not registered with GamStop such as Malta casinos not on GamStop. What does this mean? Most of these casinos have licenses issued by other authorities such as the mentioned Malta Gaming Authority, then Curacao eGaming License, or Gibraltar Gaming Commission. Practically, these casinos are just regular online casinos available for players all across Europe and the rest of the world, meaning that casino not on GamStop licensed by any of the previously-mentioned authorities is a trustworthy and reliable place to play casino games just like any other UK online casino you are used to playing at.
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The UK Gambling Commission has set on a mission of gambling harm prevention by implementing stricter laws and regulations. GamStop is a part of its mission which is why all UK online casinos will have to be registered at GamStop preventing many players who have self-excluded themselves to get access to gambling sites in the UK. The great side of this regulation is that those players who have lost control of their gaming can easily exclude themselves from all UK casinos at once with just registering at GamStop. On the other hand, some players who have made a mistake by joining GamStop are now not able to get back to gaming as GamStop cannot be reversed.However, the great side is that there is a way to get back to playing casino games: sites not covered by GamStop, that is, international online casinos that accept UK players. Again, this is by no means a call for players who are dealing with gambling addiction. If you belong to that group, please disregard this text, and try to contact some of the organizations working on the prevention of gambling harm. Some of those are GamCare, BeGambleAware, or Gamblers Anonymous. These charities are doing a great job at providing players with useful information about gambling, and most importantly help, support, and advice.
$5,000/month creating the 'perfect day' for random strangers.
Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview. Today's interview is with Chris waters of Constructed Adventures, a brand that sells seemingly serendipitous perfect days. Some stats:
Product: Seemingly serendipitous perfect days.
Revenue/mo: $5,000
Started: December 2015
Location: International
Founders: 2
Employees: 1
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is Chris Waters, I go by “The Architect, and I started Constructed Adventures. Simply put, the goal of Constructed adventures is to create a seemingly serendipitous perfect day for someone. Often times, these days are for special occasions like milestone birthdays or marriage proposals. They usually involve challenges and puzzles (think “escape room around the city”) but they’re always custom tailored to a specific person and location. I charge a flat rate for adventures. Between the adventures I run and the consultation clients I’ve added, my profit should be around 60k in 2019. It’s easy to gauge because I’m already completely booked for the rest of the year and into early 2020! The most important thing for me is the freedom and flexibility. I don’t have a home and travel from one adventure location to the next. With all the money saved, I spend my downtime traveling to amazing locations or visiting friends and family! image
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I was always that guy trying to create a fun experience for people. I hated the idea of waking up and knowing EXACTLY how the day is going to pan out (drive to work, meeting, lunch, get yelled at by clients, drive home, watch tv, go to bed. Rinse and repeat every day for the rest of your life) So I would be the one kidnapping people on their birthdays, putting googly eyes on every picture in the office, etc. “I hated the idea of waking up and knowing EXACTLY how the day is going to pan out (drive to work, meeting, lunch, get yelled at by clients, drive home, watch tv, go to bed. Rinse and repeat every day for the rest of your life)” The business kind of happened by accident. It all started with the Reddit Secret santa gift exchange. (here’s the wikipedia) In short, 100k people sign up, get matched with someone, and send them a gift for the holidays! I’d been participating for years. I’d sent and received some really incredible gifts. Then 2015 rolled around. I got matched with my giftee. I immediately looked at his location. It was literally 21 minutes away. I had this grand opportunity to do something really fucking cool for an internet stranger. So I started planning. The recommended amount for reddit secret santa is always $20. Some people send $20 gifts. Some people don’t send anything. Some people spend wayyyyyy more. I was one of those people. Frankly, I just kept coming up with cooler and cooler ideas. “What if they open an envelope here and there’s two tickets to the zoo and they need to decode messages on the plaques on animal pens! Then they’ll go to a restaurant where everything has been covered!” It continued like that. image Luckily at the time, I was making good money as an account manager for a software company and hosting a weekly poker game. I’m not a spectacular poker player, but I’d somehow taken down the game 4-5 weeks in a row. I still joke with my buddies that they financed the start of my business. Anyway, the day of the adventure, I had a bunch of people willing to help put on a big production for an internet stranger. One of them was the boyfriend of a coworker. He was willing to hand deliver the century old suitcase at 8:00am to my giftee. Once my giftee and his girlfriend were at the zoo, I took him to breakfast as a “thank you.” He told me this was a cool thing that people would pay for. He insisted that I start a business and he was going to build me a website. He said “What’s your business name?” “uhhhh...Constructed Adventures?” “Cool, let me see if the URL is available. Yep! Just bought it. Give me a day.” The Reddit gifts adventure ended at this speakeasy bar where I met my giftee and his girlfriend. They were exhausted (In hindsight, I made the day WAY too long) but still blown away. Through our conversation I let him know I’m going to try to do this as a side business. image A day or two later he posted it to Reddit, it hit the front page, my business page got linked, and the business blew up. The next night, it was all over the local news and I got another huge spike in publicity. Here is the Imgur Album I was still working full time but by mid january, Constructed Adventures was booked out through June. image This was everything from the first adventure
Take us through the process of designing and coming up with your service.
The baseline for every adventure is to create a magical experience, but I’ve learned an INSANE amount of lessons and created a pretty in depth set of rules that govern each adventure. For example: One rule is that no stop should ever be longer than 15 minutes travel distance from the previous stop unless it’s an absolute MUST. We watch movies like “National Treasure” where one scene they’re in Washington D.C. and the next scene they’re in New York, but they don’t show the hour plane ride! It’s important to make sure the adventure never stagnates! After every adventure, I tweak everything. My rules, my survey that I send to potential clients, the contract. Everything. I’m always improving. Aside from the few hundred dollars spent on the first adventure, there really wasn’t any other startup cost. The nice thing about events is the client pays a deposit that I use to purchase things. Upon completion of the adventure, I take the final payment. For the first 6 months, I just put all my profit back into the business (buying GoPros, chests, locks, trademarks, etc) About the business today. Potential clients reach out by filling out a form on my website (occasionally people call or email, but 99% of people do the form.) Right now I charge a flat rate which increases the further I book out. After that it’s just whatever the adventure costs (including my lodging and transportation, meals they have on their adventure, actors, etc) In the beginning I charged a flat rate for the entire adventure. This was a poor idea. I learned never to do that again after my first valentines day adventure. I charged $700 for everything. Including a fixed price dinner. Unfortunately they bought multiple bottles of wine and the dinner bill came out to $550. Lesson learned. Now I have an addendum in my contract: If the budget goes over because they went nuts during meals, the client needs to cover it all. My current business model is simple. I build 2-3 adventures a month. My profit on each adventure is around $2,500-3,000 but can get up to $10,000-$20,000 if it’s a massive undertaking. Add consultation packages on top and I’ve got a nice flow of income.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Oh man, the first website (the one that hit the front page of Reddit, was super barren. It didn’t even have a filled out “about us section”. All the text was still the stock “Lorem Ipsum” that squarespace defaults to. There was 1-2 pictures of the envelopes and boxes from the first adventure and some screenshots from the National Treasure Movie. At the bottom was the from you’d fill out if you wanted to hire me. Honestly though I think it helped. Reddit has this weird distrust of being “gamed” or marketed to. Someone made a comment that this was all an elaborate scheme. The comment below basically said “Look at the website! Does this really look like the work of a crack marketing team?!” After the launch, things just gradually grew. I slowly raised my prices and figured out how to make bigger and better moments! Then in October 2017 (almost 2 years after the start of the business) I quit my full time job to pursue Constructed Adventures. It was a calculated risk. I had money saved and I was starting to get requests from other states. I got featured at the end of a major Podcast called “How I built this” and completely blew up again.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
It was a slow grind. My goal was to stay booked and use that as leverage. As I write this (in early August 2019) I’m completely booked out through February 2020. This came from having my prices low (people still tell me they’re too low, but I don’t mind. I’ve got a great life) But now, it gives me the right to be picky about the people I take as clients! If someone is super aggressive or extremely pushy about the cost, I can just turn them away. My work is stressful enough without having to put up with a nightmare client! I also don’t pay any money for ads. The only marketing money I spend is in December! Every year, I signed up for the Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange, fly to my giftee’s location, and create a completely free adventure just for them. I do it for the publicity, but also because it’s just super fun and a spectacular tradition! Past that, every year I do an AMA on reddit. The two I’ve done have hit the front page. Regarding AMAs, I always recommend being super engaging and super transparent. If you aren’t completely honest with the online masses they’ll eat you alive. But a successful AMA can launch you. Can you guess what day I did my AMA? image Past that, I’m lucky. My business is super unique. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have a great origin story. I was a journalism major in college so I know exactly what news outlets want and how to give it to them. I always jump at the occasion to do interviews and talk about my business or methods. Sometimes they lead to nothing, but sometimes they get me a bunch of business. It’s like getting free lotto tickets. TL;DR I’m lucky in that I don’t need any clients and I’m booked very far in advance. Combine that with an openness to talk and a savviness with journalists/reddit and I keep staying relevant.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, I’m pretty profitable. Still a little room for more but I never want money to dictate me (I’ve seen so many companies that are doing great but they try to grow outside their lane and it eventually dooms them) “The most important thing for me is the freedom and flexibility. I don’t have a home and travel from one adventure location to the next. With all the money saved, I spend my downtime traveling to amazing locations or visiting friends and family!” My profit per adventure is anywhere from $2,000-$10,000 (if it’s an individual adventure like a proposal, I’ll charge way less than if a giant company hires me). My customer acquisition cost is very minimal. I spend $1,000-$3,000 every holiday season on my secret santa but that’s about it. Everything else is just time to talk about my business. I keep up on social media a bit but it’s not a huge focus. I’ve gotten enough SEO juice from reddit and news outlets to always rank pretty high. Plus there really isn’t anyone who does what I do. Probably because the start was such a grind. Last fall I started consulting. That’s been a fun arm of the business that I’m putting more focus into. As much as I love the world travel, I know in the future I’ll want to do less. Consulting allows me to eventually have a home again and spend time helping others create magical moment for the people around them. I also have a TV production company trying to sell a show about what I do. It’s a long shot but maybe HGTV will buy a pilot and a few episodes! That’ll probably help business! Past that, I love what I do. I just traveled to barcelona and ran an adventure that culminated with a gentleman proposing to his boyfriend! I get to travel the world creating fun moments for people, why would I change that?
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Oh man, the biggest thing I learned is valuing your product. Learned a lot about pricing structure for events early on. It took a year before I was charging a flat rate. I’m sure I just straight up lost money in the first few adventures. One of my best decisions was to always be open and transparent about everything. Cost, ideas, methods. I don’t think it benefits me to have “trade secrets.” I have 4 protegès who i just help to build competing businesses. The world needs more fun. I had a ton of help to get where I am, who would I be to not help other creatives? Past that, I work very hard but also take plenty of time off. I’ll do 3-4 back to back adventures and then take 3-4 weeks off (not completely off, just deadline free). I think it’s important to have a balance.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?.
Google Drive is an absolute godsend for me. Each past, present, and future adventure has its own folder with a budget sheet, master schedule sheet, receipts folder, notes about conversations, surveys, everything. Love it or hate it, google works. I also love the snooze feature in gmail. At the end of every day, my inbox is at zero, even if it’s just emails snoozed until tomorrow morning. The Snooze feature helps me prioritize things so they pop up when they need to and I don’t have to spend brainpower on a future task.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
How to Win Friends and Influence People is the single greatest book known to man. Podcast wise, I listen to everything. How I Built This, Without Fail, The first season of Startup might be the most inspiring one for me. I’ve gone through it a few times.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Just start. Good God, so many people just. won’t. start. They spend 5 weeks asking people about what they should name their business or what their logo should be. They don’t launch a site because it’s not perfect. In the beginning of a business, the downside is you’re insignificant and no one knows about you. But it’s also a wonderful upside. Don’t worry about these little hiccups and just start doing. Don’t worry about figuring out taxes when you’re not even making money yet! JUST START
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Nope! It’s just me. I might get an assistant but for now I like being a one man show. That being said, If you want me to pay you to assist in an adventure, I have this form you can fill out! If I’m running an adventure in your area and I like what you wrote, I’ll reach out!
$5,000/month creating the 'perfect day' for random strangers.
Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview. Today's interview is with Chris waters of Constructed Adventures, a brand that sells seemingly serendipitous perfect days. Some stats:
Product: Seemingly serendipitous perfect days.
Revenue/mo: $5,000
Started: December 2015
Location: International
Founders: 2
Employees: 1
Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?
My name is Chris Waters, I go by “The Architect, and I started Constructed Adventures. Simply put, the goal of Constructed adventures is to create a seemingly serendipitous perfect day for someone. Often times, these days are for special occasions like milestone birthdays or marriage proposals. They usually involve challenges and puzzles (think “escape room around the city”) but they’re always custom tailored to a specific person and location. I charge a flat rate for adventures. Between the adventures I run and the consultation clients I’ve added, my profit should be around 60k in 2019. It’s easy to gauge because I’m already completely booked for the rest of the year and into early 2020! The most important thing for me is the freedom and flexibility. I don’t have a home and travel from one adventure location to the next. With all the money saved, I spend my downtime traveling to amazing locations or visiting friends and family! image
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I was always that guy trying to create a fun experience for people. I hated the idea of waking up and knowing EXACTLY how the day is going to pan out (drive to work, meeting, lunch, get yelled at by clients, drive home, watch tv, go to bed. Rinse and repeat every day for the rest of your life) So I would be the one kidnapping people on their birthdays, putting googly eyes on every picture in the office, etc. “I hated the idea of waking up and knowing EXACTLY how the day is going to pan out (drive to work, meeting, lunch, get yelled at by clients, drive home, watch tv, go to bed. Rinse and repeat every day for the rest of your life)” The business kind of happened by accident. It all started with the Reddit Secret santa gift exchange. (here’s the wikipedia) In short, 100k people sign up, get matched with someone, and send them a gift for the holidays! I’d been participating for years. I’d sent and received some really incredible gifts. Then 2015 rolled around. I got matched with my giftee. I immediately looked at his location. It was literally 21 minutes away. I had this grand opportunity to do something really fucking cool for an internet stranger. So I started planning. The recommended amount for reddit secret santa is always $20. Some people send $20 gifts. Some people don’t send anything. Some people spend wayyyyyy more. I was one of those people. Frankly, I just kept coming up with cooler and cooler ideas. “What if they open an envelope here and there’s two tickets to the zoo and they need to decode messages on the plaques on animal pens! Then they’ll go to a restaurant where everything has been covered!” It continued like that. image Luckily at the time, I was making good money as an account manager for a software company and hosting a weekly poker game. I’m not a spectacular poker player, but I’d somehow taken down the game 4-5 weeks in a row. I still joke with my buddies that they financed the start of my business. Anyway, the day of the adventure, I had a bunch of people willing to help put on a big production for an internet stranger. One of them was the boyfriend of a coworker. He was willing to hand deliver the century old suitcase at 8:00am to my giftee. Once my giftee and his girlfriend were at the zoo, I took him to breakfast as a “thank you.” He told me this was a cool thing that people would pay for. He insisted that I start a business and he was going to build me a website. He said “What’s your business name?” “uhhhh...Constructed Adventures?” “Cool, let me see if the URL is available. Yep! Just bought it. Give me a day.” The Reddit gifts adventure ended at this speakeasy bar where I met my giftee and his girlfriend. They were exhausted (In hindsight, I made the day WAY too long) but still blown away. Through our conversation I let him know I’m going to try to do this as a side business. image A day or two later he posted it to Reddit, it hit the front page, my business page got linked, and the business blew up. The next night, it was all over the local news and I got another huge spike in publicity. Here is the Imgur Album I was still working full time but by mid january, Constructed Adventures was booked out through June. image This was everything from the first adventure
Take us through the process of designing and coming up with your service.
The baseline for every adventure is to create a magical experience, but I’ve learned an INSANE amount of lessons and created a pretty in depth set of rules that govern each adventure. For example: One rule is that no stop should ever be longer than 15 minutes travel distance from the previous stop unless it’s an absolute MUST. We watch movies like “National Treasure” where one scene they’re in Washington D.C. and the next scene they’re in New York, but they don’t show the hour plane ride! It’s important to make sure the adventure never stagnates! After every adventure, I tweak everything. My rules, my survey that I send to potential clients, the contract. Everything. I’m always improving. Aside from the few hundred dollars spent on the first adventure, there really wasn’t any other startup cost. The nice thing about events is the client pays a deposit that I use to purchase things. Upon completion of the adventure, I take the final payment. For the first 6 months, I just put all my profit back into the business (buying GoPros, chests, locks, trademarks, etc) About the business today. Potential clients reach out by filling out a form on my website (occasionally people call or email, but 99% of people do the form.) Right now I charge a flat rate which increases the further I book out. After that it’s just whatever the adventure costs (including my lodging and transportation, meals they have on their adventure, actors, etc) In the beginning I charged a flat rate for the entire adventure. This was a poor idea. I learned never to do that again after my first valentines day adventure. I charged $700 for everything. Including a fixed price dinner. Unfortunately they bought multiple bottles of wine and the dinner bill came out to $550. Lesson learned. Now I have an addendum in my contract: If the budget goes over because they went nuts during meals, the client needs to cover it all. My current business model is simple. I build 2-3 adventures a month. My profit on each adventure is around $2,500-3,000 but can get up to $10,000-$20,000 if it’s a massive undertaking. Add consultation packages on top and I’ve got a nice flow of income.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Oh man, the first website (the one that hit the front page of Reddit, was super barren. It didn’t even have a filled out “about us section”. All the text was still the stock “Lorem Ipsum” that squarespace defaults to. There was 1-2 pictures of the envelopes and boxes from the first adventure and some screenshots from the National Treasure Movie. At the bottom was the from you’d fill out if you wanted to hire me. Honestly though I think it helped. Reddit has this weird distrust of being “gamed” or marketed to. Someone made a comment that this was all an elaborate scheme. The comment below basically said “Look at the website! Does this really look like the work of a crack marketing team?!” After the launch, things just gradually grew. I slowly raised my prices and figured out how to make bigger and better moments! Then in October 2017 (almost 2 years after the start of the business) I quit my full time job to pursue Constructed Adventures. It was a calculated risk. I had money saved and I was starting to get requests from other states. I got featured at the end of a major Podcast called “How I built this” and completely blew up again.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
It was a slow grind. My goal was to stay booked and use that as leverage. As I write this (in early August 2019) I’m completely booked out through February 2020. This came from having my prices low (people still tell me they’re too low, but I don’t mind. I’ve got a great life) But now, it gives me the right to be picky about the people I take as clients! If someone is super aggressive or extremely pushy about the cost, I can just turn them away. My work is stressful enough without having to put up with a nightmare client! I also don’t pay any money for ads. The only marketing money I spend is in December! Every year, I signed up for the Reddit Secret Santa gift exchange, fly to my giftee’s location, and create a completely free adventure just for them. I do it for the publicity, but also because it’s just super fun and a spectacular tradition! Past that, every year I do an AMA on reddit. The two I’ve done have hit the front page. Regarding AMAs, I always recommend being super engaging and super transparent. If you aren’t completely honest with the online masses they’ll eat you alive. But a successful AMA can launch you. Can you guess what day I did my AMA? image Past that, I’m lucky. My business is super unique. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have a great origin story. I was a journalism major in college so I know exactly what news outlets want and how to give it to them. I always jump at the occasion to do interviews and talk about my business or methods. Sometimes they lead to nothing, but sometimes they get me a bunch of business. It’s like getting free lotto tickets. TL;DR I’m lucky in that I don’t need any clients and I’m booked very far in advance. Combine that with an openness to talk and a savviness with journalists/reddit and I keep staying relevant.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Right now, I’m pretty profitable. Still a little room for more but I never want money to dictate me (I’ve seen so many companies that are doing great but they try to grow outside their lane and it eventually dooms them) “The most important thing for me is the freedom and flexibility. I don’t have a home and travel from one adventure location to the next. With all the money saved, I spend my downtime traveling to amazing locations or visiting friends and family!” My profit per adventure is anywhere from $2,000-$10,000 (if it’s an individual adventure like a proposal, I’ll charge way less than if a giant company hires me). My customer acquisition cost is very minimal. I spend $1,000-$3,000 every holiday season on my secret santa but that’s about it. Everything else is just time to talk about my business. I keep up on social media a bit but it’s not a huge focus. I’ve gotten enough SEO juice from reddit and news outlets to always rank pretty high. Plus there really isn’t anyone who does what I do. Probably because the start was such a grind. Last fall I started consulting. That’s been a fun arm of the business that I’m putting more focus into. As much as I love the world travel, I know in the future I’ll want to do less. Consulting allows me to eventually have a home again and spend time helping others create magical moment for the people around them. I also have a TV production company trying to sell a show about what I do. It’s a long shot but maybe HGTV will buy a pilot and a few episodes! That’ll probably help business! Past that, I love what I do. I just traveled to barcelona and ran an adventure that culminated with a gentleman proposing to his boyfriend! I get to travel the world creating fun moments for people, why would I change that?
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Oh man, the biggest thing I learned is valuing your product. Learned a lot about pricing structure for events early on. It took a year before I was charging a flat rate. I’m sure I just straight up lost money in the first few adventures. One of my best decisions was to always be open and transparent about everything. Cost, ideas, methods. I don’t think it benefits me to have “trade secrets.” I have 4 protegès who i just help to build competing businesses. The world needs more fun. I had a ton of help to get where I am, who would I be to not help other creatives? Past that, I work very hard but also take plenty of time off. I’ll do 3-4 back to back adventures and then take 3-4 weeks off (not completely off, just deadline free). I think it’s important to have a balance.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?.
Google Drive is an absolute godsend for me. Each past, present, and future adventure has its own folder with a budget sheet, master schedule sheet, receipts folder, notes about conversations, surveys, everything. Love it or hate it, google works. I also love the snooze feature in gmail. At the end of every day, my inbox is at zero, even if it’s just emails snoozed until tomorrow morning. The Snooze feature helps me prioritize things so they pop up when they need to and I don’t have to spend brainpower on a future task.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
How to Win Friends and Influence People is the single greatest book known to man. Podcast wise, I listen to everything. How I Built This, Without Fail, The first season of Startup might be the most inspiring one for me. I’ve gone through it a few times.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Just start. Good God, so many people just. won’t. start. They spend 5 weeks asking people about what they should name their business or what their logo should be. They don’t launch a site because it’s not perfect. In the beginning of a business, the downside is you’re insignificant and no one knows about you. But it’s also a wonderful upside. Don’t worry about these little hiccups and just start doing. Don’t worry about figuring out taxes when you’re not even making money yet! JUST START
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Nope! It’s just me. I might get an assistant but for now I like being a one man show. That being said, If you want me to pay you to assist in an adventure, I have this form you can fill out! If I’m running an adventure in your area and I like what you wrote, I’ll reach out!
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