Author: Steve

Synchedin Sound Effects Live – Royalty Free Sound Effects for All Creators

Synchedin is our licensing platform for creators of all shapes and sizes.

Synchedin Sound Effects is now live – https://synchedin.com/sound-effects – we have thousands of Sound Effects being added – in both CC0 and Subscription packages.

Costs:

  • $3.99 per month – standard subscription
  • $39.99 per year – standard subscription
  • $3.60 per month – if referred by affiliate program
  • $36.00 per year – if referred by affiliate program

Key Selling Points:

  • CC0 (free downloads) and Royalty Free assets (paid subscription downloads)
  • Affordable price for all creators
  • Unlimited Downloads
  • Unlimited Commercial License (any project worldwide in perpetuity)
  • Community lead – See more information on this below

Affiliate Program:

The affiliate program allows any account to refer a friend. The Referrer will receive 10% of the subscription fees for the life of the subscription (percentage can change). Referree receives a 10% discount if they use a referral code (to insentivise using a referral code).

Sourcing SFX:

People can apply to Synchedin as a contributor. Once approved by the Synchedin team, they can add to the sound effects catalogue. The Synchedin team are also adding CC0 sound effects monthly i.e. NASA sounds, Presidential Speeches etc.

What is meant by NFT?

Non-Fungible Token. Never seen the word “fungible” before? Hint: it has nothing to do with mushrooms, and do not feel bad that that’s where your brain went first (totally not trying to make myself feel better).

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique entry on a blockchain which is not interchangeable with any other (not fungible).

NFT – How do they work.

Is there a web-based Shazam?

Shazam doesn’t have a web based application at the moment.

However, Shazam used to have a native Windows 10 app for desktop until it was shut down a few years ago.

Since Shazam is now owned by Apple I doubt they will be making a desktop PC or web based version any time soon.

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 6 Starts 16th March with Big Event

Epic Games have announced that Chapter 2 Season 6 of Fortnite is beginning on the 16th March with an explosive event call – Zero Crisis Finale

Chapter 2 Season 6 launches on March 16th with the explosive conclusion of the events of season 5. When you first launch into the new season, you’ll play through the conclusion of Agent Jones’ mission in the Zero Crisis Finale. The aftermath of this event is sure to shape reality as we know it.

Don’t worry, the Zero Crisis Finale is a solo experience and you can play through it whenever you first log in during the season. Want to watch it online first? We’ll share details soon on how you can watch the global premiere with everyone, beginning with our most ambitious story cinematic yet!

There was a lot of talk that Fortnite would have Chapter 3 very soon, but it looks like Epic are going to stick to the 10 seasons inside every chapter.

I can’t wait to see what this event has to show!

Deliveroo Financials 2020 YOY

Deliveroo is planning to go public at a valuation of around $7 billion USD. Here is a quick breakdown of some of their numbers that have just been released.

  • Gross Transactional Volume (GTV)
    • 2020 – £4.1 billion
    • 2019 – £2.5 billion
  • Gross Profit
    • 2020 – £357.50 million
    • 2019 – £188.70 million
  • Operating Profit / Loss
    • 2020 – £-223.70 million
    • 2019 – £-317.30 million

These number make for hard reading, but it seems like there is a real path towards profitability – but it feels like it is going to really require mass scale of nearly £10 billion per year in GTV to get there.

However, Deliveroo have the ability to start new product lines and delivering in other areas as well as corporate contracts, plus geographic expansion.

Technology stocks are currently dropping fast – so it will be interesting to see if there is an appetite on the London Stock Market for a heavy losing technology company with growing scale.

Lilium – Flying Electric Taxis – Another Crazy SPAC?

The flying taxis are coming!

Lilium is a German company who are developing electric air taxis – they are currently in talks to go public via a SPAC.

It seems like they are running out of great companies to SPAC and seems like people are focused on select around buzz words – like mobility and electric vehicles.

Another German company with very similar aims, Volocopter, opted to raise new capital on the private market, bringing in €200 million (about $238 million) for a Series D.

Amuse.io – Do They Pay Musicians / Artists More Money Than Competitors?

The short answer is = NO.

Amuse claim that they pay artists / musicians more money than their competitors – but this is a completely FALSE claim.

The major record labels and the lead music distributors all have the same revenue share with Spotify, Apple Music and other DSPs. There is NO way that a small distributor such as Amuse would have a higher revenue share than the major record labels!

It’s getting a little bit tired that there are a lot of companies out there making completely false claims knowing they can’t be challenged.

Coinbase Valued at Over $100 billion – You Have to Be Kidding Me (From $8 billion to $100 billion in a year)

Coinbase is looking to go public very soon and its valuation in the secondary markets has just gone over $100 billion.

Coinbase’s valuation over the years:

  • 2016 — $500M
  • 2017 — $1.6B
  • 2018 — $8B
  • 2020 — $100B

Coinbase reported revenue of $530M for 2019 and $691M for the first nine months in 2020. The company posted a net income of $141M between January-September 2020, up from a loss of $30M in overall 2019. Notably, these numbers don’t include 2021, when the Bitcoin price surged more than 90% YTD.

GME and AMC are Killing Short Sellers and Its Great!

Wallstreetbets is a sub-reddit where they wanted to try to build a community to for the big short sellers out of certain stocks, but what they didn’t realise is that they can really kill these companies with the power of the retail investors.

Short Seller percentages of outstanding stock:

  • GME = 102% Short Sellers
  • AMC = 18% Short Sellers

Most companies tend to be below 2% in short sellers.

At the time of writing this GME is up to $337 per share (up 128% in one day) and AMC 19.35 per share (up 286% in one day).

The community seems to be using their retail power to try to force these short sellers out of the market and make them bankrupt.

Stick it to the man!

Is the S&P 500 Over Weighted in Tech Stocks or Not?

The S&P 500 is an index of some of the leading companies in the United States. The S&P 500 doesn’t push extremely high in one area as its supposed to show a cross section of America.

Here is the breakdown the S&P 500 by Market Sector:

As you can see there is a very broad cross section of companies in all sectors of America. Technology is the leading sector, but it’s not the whole S&P 500.

Jetbrains (Kotlin Creators) Have No VC Funding and Valued at $7 Billion

Great article on Bloomberg about Jetbrains – the company behind the popular programming language Kotlin.

Key numbers:

  • Company is profitable ($200 million EBITDA expect this year)
  • No VC funding from the beginning
  • Valuation $7 billion
  • 1,500 staff (750 in St Petersburg) – Prague HQ

It’s great to hear from other founders who are far more interested in the issue they are trying to fix than the billions of dollars they could be personally making.

DJI on the Banned US Trade List – Wont Affect the Company Day to Day

The US Commerce Department recently announced that DJI is now on the US Trade Ban list.

DJI has since come out and stated that Americans will be able to continue to buy and use its products “normally” despite the companies presence on the list.

This ban only affects the companies from purchasing parts from American companies, so I’m assuming DJI saw this ban coming and already had a plan B supply chain in place ready to go at any time.

I’m not entirely sure how a drone company is helping to support human rights abuses in China. It seems like if this is the case then all Chinese companies will be in the same position!

Baidu Shares Jump 14% as it plans to Enter the Electric Vehicle Market

Baidu shares rose 14% on Tuesday after news was announced that the Chinese search engine based company was planning on building their own electric vehicles.

Its great to see that Chinese technology companies are starting to think about the EV sector and how they can disrupt the auto industry. Alibaba has also partnered with Chinese automaker SAIC to develop premium EVs for the Chinese market.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds as technology companies are very well placed to enter this market and make huge disruptions in the same way Tesla has.

Portfolio – Introduction

I have been running investment portfolios for a company and also some high net worth individuals for the past 5 years. Over those years I have managed to beat the S&P 500 index every year in terms of overall yearly returns. I have always had a very simple investment philosophy which revolves around Benjamin Grahams teachings with a few tweaks for the modern day (also look up to Warren Buffett).

Im going to be starting a section on here for personal finance in which I’m going to tell everywhere when I’m buying a stock – at what price and why. I hope this might give everyone a little insight into my thinking.

I have started a new category on here called Portfolio. This will be the easiest place to follow the latest happenings.

I’m hoping this just helps one other person!

Tennis Deep Fake Interviews with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (Video)

Rafael Nadal will most likely still be winning Roland Garros in 2050!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9ce_z9rW_EU

This videos really shows how technology has moved on and the ability to make even the small details (like hair) move in the right direction when he moves his head in this interview.

Amazing Deep Fake technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhn0kzS1SeI