💰 She paid herself $47.5 Million!

This CEO paid herself $47.5 Million, SBF is coming home, Binance has $3b of withdrawals, Paul Graham was blocked from Twitter, Chat CPT reached 1M+ users, and the Liver king apologizes for his $12k/mo steroid habit.

But first, the headlines!

- Callum

HEADLINES:

> Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to be extradited to the US after initially planning to fight efforts to return to the US. After a week in Nassau’s Fox Hill prison, he appears less interested in pursuing a years-long battle to avoid extradition.

> Elon Musk's Twitter poll results say he should step down as CEO. 57.5%, over 10m users, favored his exit as CEO, with 42.5% indicating he should stay. Elon says, "nobody wants the job."

> Avatar 2: The way of the Water generated $435m in global box office sales ($135m domestically), giving director James Cameron his first $100m opening weekend.

> Binance saw $3b in withdrawals as the FTX implosion degrades confidence in exchanges. Despite Binance's confident position, a Reuters analysis of the company's corporate filing shows that it has processed trades worth over $22 trillion - mostly hidden from public view.

> Aztec Network has raised $100m led by Andreesen Horowitz to build an "encrypted version of Ethereum."

> Donald Trump released 45,000 NFTs at a price of $99 each, generating $4.46m. The collection sold out in less than a day.

> 66% of Americans don't expect their finances to improve in 2023 despite signals of lowering inflation and moderating gas prices.

FEATURE:

She Paid Herself $47.5 Million!

Paige Mycoskie just paid herself $47.5 million.

Considering she just bought her 9th home for $15M in Austin, she's been crushing it for a while. Forbes estimates her worth to be ~$350M. Paige quickly countered, saying it's "closer to $600M." (If true...good for her!)

So What's The Business? Paige is the founder of Aviator Nation - A relaxed clothing brand she founded in 2006.

The brand sells through its website, wholesale (e.g. Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, etc), and 17 retail locations - primarily in California, Colorado, Texas, and Florida.

The Numbers: The biz is kicking off some serious revenue.

• 2020: $70,000,000

• 2021: $140,000,000

• 2022: 200,000,000 (forecasted)

• 2023: $280,000,000 (forecasted)

Paige owns 100% of the business - financing it with lines of credit from Wells Fargo & Frost Bank - $8,000 in 2006, $35,000 in 2007, and $100,000 in 2009.

The Story:

1) Paige moved to Hollywood after competing on the show The Amazing Race at the age of 22. She didn't win but fell in love with the city.

2) She bought a sewing machine while working part-time at a surf shop. The shop opened her eyes to fashion and retail. She created her own designs on shirts she thrifted.

3) In 2006, she invested $500 to rent a booth during a fair on Venice Beach to sell her 1970's inspired, Cali-made, clothing. She grossed $8,000 in sales in 1 day. She decided to commit to Aviator Nation full-time.

4) She never took outside investment. Instead, she turned to the banks and used SMB loans to grow the business.

5) In 2020, COVID hit. The business was primarily brick & mortar. With over 300 employees on payroll, she needed to do something fast. The company offered a 20% off storewide sale via its e-commerce site - generating $1.4M in sales.

This sale triggered an avalanche...

The How:

User-Generated Virality - Thousands of orders were delivered at the start of the global pandemic to a customer when everyone was stuck at home. These customers started creating content with it. Aviator Nation has a very distinct style (bright colors, etc.) which created perfect fodder for a viral wave. The Aviator Nation hashtag has over 229 million views on TikTok.

BTW: Her brother Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms Shoes

Prefer to watch it? Check out our Tiktok video here.

ON TREND: Here's what entrepreneurs are talking about

 > Paul Graham, Co-Founder of Y-Combinator, was temporarily banned from Twitter after mentioning Mastodon, a competing social platform to Twitter. PG has historically been a supporter of Musk.

> ChatGPT, the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, gained 1m users in under a week. The company is expected to generate $1B+ in revenue from the product by 2024. Those that understand how to use the technology can reap the reward.

WORTH A LISTEN: Pods you'll want to share

> A Beginners Guide To ChatGPT: Tech strategist Ben Thompson explains how it works, why Twitter is Euphoric, and what the next challenge looks like.

> Liver King On Steroids: The Liver King build a large social media following (TikTok: 3.8M, Insta: 1.7M) and an eCommerce empire generating $100M+/yr based on a lie. He comes clean about his steroid use.

> Doxing Debate, Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough, State of the Markets: The All-In podcast breaks down Twitter's new privacy rules, @elonjet suspension, doxxing dynamics, Nuclear fusion breakthroughs & the geopolitical ramifications.