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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.

Bridezilla Karen ends up looking like a pauper at her own wedding

I (F48) have known “Pat” (F48) for decades. As far as I can remember, she was fixated on having 5 children and a picket fence dream life. I slowly cut ties with her in college because she was an opportunist and I didn’t trust her. She is both manipulative and forceful. Her idea of cute rubs me the wrong way. Pat likes to walk like a penguin when she wants to elicit pity, and she usually does this when she wants to evoke the underdog narrative. I’ve never seen someone act so despicable and ridiculous at the same time.
I moved on with my life. Happily got rid of her for years. Pat eventually found me on facebook. I accepted her friend request out of politeness.
Pat has become the epitome of a permissive mother. Her (5) kids do as they please and she never calls them out. She tried to force a relationship between me and her daughters and made them call me Auntie. Pat tried to drop them at my house uninvited. Her phone calls were insistent, she tried to monopolize my time and she began to show up at my job. I created some boundaries so she tried to find loopholes. It was a nightmare.
My husband and I hosted a party for the community center (not the real name) new members. The community center is actually a very informal initiative and my husband and I mainly serve the homeless population. We prefer to help strangers instead of catering to potentially narcissistic acquaintances. We don't mind lending a hand but we have encountered truly dishonest choosing beggars.
There are other services, like one of the members who helps women get their wedding and prom dresses for free.The community center location “headquarters” is actually a farm owned by an elderly couple. There is a barn, a venue and a very nice green field with an artificial lake and some fowl. They charge for the use of their facilities (weddings , etc.) but not for community oriented stuff.
Pat had always been salty at her husband for demanding that she go back to work after baby #3. In the meantime, he worked three jobs. She demanded he get her pregnant to fulfill her dream of having 5 kids. He didn’t agree, because he was already nearly 45 and felt like he might never be able to retire. She got away with bringing new babies into this world anyway. Her fascination with being pregnant comes from all the attention she gets. She had at least one miscarriage in between each kid.
Pat latched on to our group. She never missed any of our activities. I hated having her in my house, but it was an open invitation that included virtually everyone and she was very active as an event organizer. I didn’t like the way her kids behaved. We have a designated area for parties and entertainment, but her kids ended up inside my bedroom. We ended up having to keep watch of them and enjoyed zero of our own party.
I called her days later to get my point across (regarding their overall behavior) but she completely cut me off and began talking about herself and said her kids wanted to come visit again and use our pool. I never answered that. I didn't want to say “no, I will not have your brats over”.
She also called me as summer was approaching specifically to let me know her middle daughter was bored and wanted to spend a WEEK at our home. I politely declined, citing that me and my husband have to work and cannot entertain guests. .
Pat paid no heed. Her kid called me on the weekend,calling me “auntie” and attempted to coax me by saying “Mom says you invited me to spend SUMMER with you”. I quickly clarified, and offered an explanation to avoid hurting a kid’s self esteem. Nevermind. Her daughter just hung up on me.
Pat’s facebook also showed some red flags. Some cryptic rants here and there were visible, along with friends’ comments and complaints on how she asked a particular person to watch her kids only for a couple of hours and ended up leaving them all day. Another of her friends criticized her “girls night out “ because Pat had just asked them to be patient and wait until she could pay back some money that she owed them, yet she had money to spend on Friday night outings. I thought those very public comments on private matters were more like a cry of lost patience.
Unpleasant things began to happen. Like the time she volunteered to wrap the Xmas presents for underprivileged kids. We all wanted to create a mix of less costly gifts with really nice ones. Surprisingly, some nice and eye-catching toys and games went missing but turned up under her Christmas Tree (courtesy of her mother in law’s FB posts). No one could prove anything but it was hate-inducing. Or the time my daughter called me in tears to pick her up after she attended Pat’s daughter’s birthday (Casey). My daughter had been ignored all night because she didn’t gift her the expensive gaming stuff Casey practically demanded. My daughter did ask, but I said no. We would buy her a very nice and thoughtful present according to her taste. So when I went to pick her up my daughter was sitting alone in the living room while Casey and her friends stayed outside.
Stories about Pat and her family multiplied. The owners at the farm (community center) decided keep their their gates locked unless they had guests or events because Pat got in the habit of driving in whenever she pleased and it was either her kids screaming and disturbing on-going weddings, throwing rocks at the koi in the lake or harassing the geese in the yard. Or how she stiffed another soccer mom with the lunch bill and then pulled the struggling financially card. Or how other parents hated her because she created unnecessary hostile competition.
When my daughter turned 13, I allowed her to wear my grandma’s ring. It's not an expensive piece of jewelry, but it's vintage and girls nowadays wanna look boho. My Granny gave it to me when I became a teenager so I passed it on to my kid so she could wear it on her birthweek.
It was weird that she became quiet and distracted after that. She also didn’t want to go to school and my husband and I became suspicious. She never opened up, and my other kids had no clue.
We went to her school but her teachers assured us nothing had changed in her environment. My husband and I suspected she was being bullied but our kid gave us no tools to support her. My kid is very sunny, and very compassionate. She has never had any problems with other kids. I called her best friend’s mom. Natalie, my kid’s BFF, told us what was going on. Casey (Pat’s eldest) and my daughter had become “close”. I knew this and wasn’t too thrilled. I found the age (Casey was 17) gap not exactly inappropriate but I’d rather see my daughter spend time with friends in the same age range. Casey is very beautiful and a gifted student. She is also very conceited. To make this story short, she asked my daughter if she could try on the ring and refused to give it back. She later claimed that she lost it but “would look for it” so my daughter was distraught. My daughter kept asking for her ring and as a result, Casey shunned her and spread the word that my kid was trying to steal HER ring. Some kids at school took Casey’s side. So now Casey just wore my kid’s jewelry to school like nothing happened. If that doesn’t qualify as taunting I don't know what does.
My guilt comes from not being able to get my daughter to open up and feel safe telling me the truth. I talked to her and she burst into tears. I was both pained as a mother and furious that some teenage b!tch was doing this under our noses.
I went straight to Pat’s car after school. I asked to talk as Casey was about to go in. So I grabbed Casey’s hand and asked to see her jewelry. Casey froze and she tried to make a fist, so I became relentless. Casey yelled “Mom!” and Pat struggled to get out of the car. I slid the ring off (Casey has tiny hands and wore the ring on her index finger). First Pat yelled at me. After I confronted her with the engraving on the band (my grandma's maiden name), she argued it was loaned to her daughter by my kid. Then she said she bought it. I paid no heed. I did warn them that I knew Casey had become an abusive friend to my daughter.
Pat called me to tell me off. She said she was trying to raise an assertive young woman and I had just messed that up by being “overbearing”. She never apologized for her thief of a child.
Pat's husband ( Hank) is what can be described as a doormat. Pat wore him down to a knob. He had no choice but to “obey” her to keep the peace. She was a bully who actively withdrew affection when he didn’t follow her wishes, even in public. So she got kids #4 and #5 after a relentless campaign that included leaving him for two months. Her pregnancies were a nuisance because she expected to be treated like the only lady who has even been pregnant. She strolled around in a wheelchair almost immediately after getting pregnant and she would “get very sick” on weekends, so her kids were often sent to friends and family so that she could “rest”.
Pat systematically bullied Hank. She would leave town and take the kids with her. Poor Hank would look distraught, drinking on his porch or just looking really lonely. This is how she got off the hook and was able to leave her job. Hank had virtually no voice, so he struggled to keep the marriage together. Everyone liked him, but hated her equally. Hank loved to talk to other people but seemed concerned that Pat would be upset. Over time, according to my husband, Hank began to show signs of depression and mental distress.
Our friend, Lenah, runs the wedding/prom dress initiative. It's not complicated. Dresses are sourced from donations, ebay, trunk shows, etc. Unusually beautiful dresses are retained so that more than one bride gets to wear them. In some cases, a bride will pay 50 bucks, but most of the time, the dresses are donated to the bride.
Pat was involved in this. Lenah kept her in because they never had any issues and her task was limited to just shipping the dresses out.
Pat decided to renew her vows and her bridezilla Karenzilla attitude became the icing on the cake. For starters, she bullied another couple into giving up their wedding date at the farm because she “needed her renewal to match her exact wedding date”. They were not impressed with her harassment, so they booked another venue. As a result, the farm owners were pissed because Pat was already costing them money after she had successfully negotiated a cut in their rate “because she couldn't afford it but will repay by doing maintenance work around the venue” (she never made good on her word).
Pat became attached to a particular dress that was already assigned to another bride. Lenah made it clear that she would need to pay for her own dress. So Pat played it cool and shipped the wrong gown instead. She was adamant that it was the right dress, despite all the notes on Leah’s agenda. The other bride was truly gracious about it. She was obviously disappointed, but never made a scene.
What bothered me most is that I picked that dress and bought it for 40 bucks at a garage sale (not my money, Leah’s money). It was a vintage dress, ankle length, white with lots of lace and a huge bargain. Again, when confronted, Pat “did a Casey” and used the “this is mine” strategy. We felt so bad for the other bride that we did our best to get her something nice to wear. The other bride was a true fighter, she had pulled out of welfare, earned her high school diploma and was working to get on her feet by trying to earn a certificate as an acrylic nail technician. So, her reward was to have some Karen steal her dress? Pat never admitted to messing up, but just by the fact that she claimed it was her dress, we knew.
Lenah never allowed her in her warehouse again. Their last phone fight ended with Pat bringing up the other bride’s past (like it mattered) and “this conversation is over, it's my dress and you are mistaken”. That was weeks before the other bride’s wedding.
Pat went all out on her wedding decor. She spent way too much. She hired a caterer for some food (mainly mimosas and appetizers), but the wedding invitation included a request for specific dishes for her Sunday brunch wedding. Either she ran out of banquet money or was on a complete moocher mode.I picture the penguin walking upon practically asking everyone to supply her wedding reception grub and I cringe.
There is nothing wrong with potluck weddings. In fact, they can be a nice addition to a very cozy and family oriented wedding reception. But, don’t you need to at least be close to your guests in order to ask for such a thing? Even I got an invitation. I told everyone I wasn’t going because I was very uncomfortable being told what to bring and was probably expected to give them a cash gift on top of that. Some of the older ladies in our group agreed. Some said they would not decline in advance because she is a bully and they didn’t want a confrontation.
Lenah called me the night before Pat’s re-wedding. Lenah was there to close the Saturday night bingo and Pat was awfully friendly, but that’s what she does whenever things are going her way. Lenah peeked into the garment bag and saw the exact same dress while Pat was caught up supervising the wedding decoration.
The thing with Karens is that they expect everyone to suck it up, or make their dreams come true, or they simply underestimate everyone and think we are all fools.
Lenah is a very straightforward person with a “so sue me” attitude. She told me she would just ruin the dress. After all, it was hers, so she could do whatever she wanted. If Pat wanted to take legal action, and should things get ugly, she needed to prove ownership. However, the dress was the same, the marks inside the hem and the tags were the same. Even the tag numbers that were punched to identify each dress for logistics purposes matched.
Pat had the dress altered, with some extra beading and dyed to a deep cream color. But it was obviously the same garment. Lenah and I snuck in before the venue was closed for the night. All brides are allowed to stay in a small bedroom for a small charge, so that they don’t need to drive in on their wedding day. Honestly, the makeshift chapel was gorgeous, I don’t know how she paid for it but it was full of flowers and presumptuous details. I naively brought in some ink to spill on the dress, but Lenah said she wanted “something more awful, like a nasty surprise”. Ink would be too obvious and if she saw it ahead, she may be able to snag another gown from somewhere. No, the ideal thing was to have her trust the dress was fine. So Lenah locked herself in a bathroom stall and completely cut out the back panel. She patiently put it back on its hanger and zipped the bag. We left through the emergency door with the back of the dress stuffed inside Lenah's purse. I completely hate people who target and steal from anyone they (Pat and her kid) calculate to be in a weaker position.
The wedding was scheduled at 9 AM. Pat called me at 7 AM, but I ignored her calls. I picked up by 8 AM, both curious and wondering if she suspected anything. Pat was frantic.She was crying that her dress was “missing by half”. I purposely made her explain, being annoyingly dense and continually interrupting like she does, and stalling the conversation. She asked me if I could lend her my wedding dress. I said no, sorry. She then asked me if I would help her get a dress. I was satisfied to remind her that the town's bridal shops were closed on Sunday and the others that would open were almost an hour away. The farm is already almost one hour away from our town.
If Pat could get a shop to rent a dress, she would need to try the dress on, and get it steamed. Even if the dress was ready to wear, it would easily take more than two hours (roundtrip). She tried to ask me to go pick a dress (who would pay for this??). Even if a shop were open and brought her a dress, it would add to the cost. Also, these shops open at 10 or 9:30 at earliest. By time they got to her, it would be time to wrap up the wedding because she needed to clear the venue by 12:00 for the next event.
She broke down and mumbled some stupid stuff I didn't understand. So Pat hung up on me and called Lenah instead.. She asked Lenah to bring her “anything she had available”. Lenah and I ended up delivering the most outdated, moss smelling, oversized dressed. Pat’s disappointment was a mix between angry and emotional. She also tried to wear her knee length silk bridal slip as a wedding dress but it was too obvious and it really looked cheap. She tried to get her daughter to give her her own dress to wear with an open back zipper (due to fitting issues) but Casey refused, asking if she was supposed to attend the wedding naked (she got a point, plus Casey is petite).
The dress needed a petticoat to plump up the skirt, which wasn’t available. So it dragged all over the floor and Pat had to keep pulling it up. Pat walked down the aisle with one hand on her bouquet and another one grabbing her dress. The dress looked limp and weird with the arrangements of pins (they didn’t show) that caused the sleeves and neckline to pucker into messy rims. She spent the ceremony looking uncomfortable and out of place. Very few people attended but that was not part of any revenge, that was just how people reacted to her entitled attitude.
The dress looked awful. The reception portion of the wedding had all this princely decoration, a very nice cake and a bridezilla with a dress from hell. I didn’t stay, but I was told, she was so disappointed she spent her wedding sulking. There was no dance, no actual speech. She had to change into a shirt and leggings because the dress was too uncomfortable. Everyone talked about how Pat put on her flip flops and walked around aimlessly until she ordered the ushers to start folding up the chairs within one hour of the reception. So she practically kicked everyone out and the cake was never cut.
Pat wasn’t the same after this.She was not as loud and avoided everyone. I think she was disappointed that nobody ran to her rescue, not even her family who came from out of town.
Her husband finally cracked under all the pressure and sought some help. He was slaving away and coming home to clean the house while Pat used her kids as an excuse to spend like crazy. Hank also had to do kid homework because Pat never had time or never had patience. She also refused to get a partime job so her kids could attend an afterschool and get help with their school stuff. Therapy seemed to help Hank because the last time Pat left with her kids, he didn't seem distraught. He would be riding his bicycle and could be seen more relaxed while mowing his lawn. Hank told my husband that he had contemplated suicide after their third kid. When Pat returned, he maintained the routine but was interested in going out by himself and doing things for himself. We began to see Pat alone all the time. Hank was seen less and less in the same car and eventually moved in with his parents. He filed for divorce on the grounds of emotional cruelty and I don't think he won. Instead (I’m not sure of this because this is what I was told) there was some sort of a settlement or agreement that she would not get close or interact with him unless it has to do with the kids).
I also don’t know if Pat even actually suspected who/what happened to her dress. She slowly pulled away from the community center and became less active in social gatherings. Pat also removed me from her facebook as well as mostly everyone else from school and the center.
EDIT: TLDR
Bridezilla stole a wedding dress from an underprivileged woman. The actual dress owner destroys her big day.
EDIT: Regarding my kid, there were no prior incidents. Pat, her family and my family were not "friends'. I did see her often. After Casey's birthday incident, there we no additional situations until what happened with the ring. After that, Casey played the "OP treated me badly" card because I physically removed the ring from her hands but I honestly don't feel I need to protect her emotions.
EDIT: THANKS to everyone who took their time to read. Thanks for the nice and kind comments and even the naysayers or aggressive ones. I understand we are all different and some situations can seem enraging or so difficult we instantly want to fix it by reacting or by reproaching. Its human nature to instantly go for "this is what should have happened instead". I appreciate your input. Even the mocking, raging and scrutinizing ones show me indignation and this is good. No one has yet said "I love what Pat did" and that shows we are still striving for a more fair and balanced life. Even the snyde comments show me this has gotten under your skin and I try not to judge. The lovely and supportive Redditors who have shown kindness are also very appreciated.
For the most accurate description, these links can help you get an idea. Not the actual dresses, but extremely close.
What she thought she would wear down the aisle: (shorter sleeve, no train, only ankle-length)
https://www.amyprom.com/products/see-through-scoop-beach-lace-wedding-dresses-long-sleeve-romantic-boho-wedding-dress-bridal-gowns-amy3003
What she got, oversized, outdated. Actually, the dress was even bigger.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/294506251/etsy-wedding-romantic-lace-wedding-dress?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lp.d2.v1&share_time=1530444138000

Poverty Dignified, Inc. (OTC - PVDG)

PA says I am not supportive when I have betrayal trauma response and wants me to control it better!?

I have been following this sub closely for many months but have never posted before.
I (35 F) need help with how to respond to my PA (48 M) when he gets frustrated at my betrayal trauma response. Some background:
We have been together for 13 years, married for 7. We have a good relationship, except for his porn addiction. Almost 100% of the fights we have had over the years, in one way or the other, have related to his dishonest and sneaky behavior surrounding porn/arousing images/other loopholes and porn replacements. Except for the PA, we share everything together. We own our own business (since 2012) together and share mostly the same beliefs and interests. I have never been okay with porn use and I made this clear from day one. However, throughout the years I know he used porn from time to time, usually when I left town for the weekend to see friends/family. If or when I found out, we always fought about it, he defended it (“men and women are different, at least I am not cheating on you”, etc.) but eventually would say he wouldn’t use it any more. This became more frequent after he got a smartphone, around 2013. I only recently discovered that he was using more heavily and became addicted from 2015-2016 after a personal tragedy and period of depression (I was there and supportive for the tragedy/depression but didn’t know he was abusing porn as a coping mechanism as well). In 2016, after another discovery of his use, I installed porn blockers on our router (Open DNS; we live in a rural area w/o great cell reception and data, so he can only get online via the router). I thought that was the final nail in the coffin (I didn’t understand PA, how to enforce boundaries, etc.). Then I learned he just turned to image search (not prevented by Open DNS). He could no longer watch pornographic videos, so he just began looking at photos. When I objected to that, he switched to porn stars and models on instargram, twitter, and youtube. When I said that isn’t okay either, he did it anyways for a while but just tried to hide it better (he is not very tech savvy, however). Most recently, he made a habit of looking at The Daily Mail online (lots of celebs in bikinis and such) and even just lingerie models on Amazon (he wanted to buy me some for Xmas and so his browsing history and recommendations were flooded with lingerie model images). In these cases, he told himself that if he just “stumbled upon” these images and didn’t look them up directly, it was okay. He now understands those loopholes were his addicted brain’s way of getting the dopamine anyways.
I began learning about porn addiction (thanks to this sub!) a few months ago and finally had the language with which to communicate why looking at any woman for arousing purposes is a problem (he maintained that DailyMail articles and Amazon lingerie were “not that bad.”) I tried to first convince him that he had an addiction (because he couldn’t stop no matter the consequences) and then to explain the neuroscience of his addiction. I hit a nerve because things got really ugly in December. That’s the gist of it. I’m leaving out some details for the sake of brevity (not that this is brief, but it could be longer!).
He’s been sober for a month now (I am able to verify this, he’s not looking at anything that is even potentially arousing anywhere) but before that we went through years of denial, justification, manipulation, gaslighting, defense, deflection, etc. I believe he is committed to recovery, and he is overall much more open to sharing, disclosing, discussing the topic in general. We both read and share helpful articles, videos, books, etc. about his addiction. And I have talked to him about betrayal trauma and he’s read some about it. I am currently looking for a therapist for myself as part of working my own recovery.
BUT. Anytime I am triggered or something from the past comes up anew, he expects me to either not react or to just forget about it. When I explain that I can’t do that, he treats me like I just need to exhibit more self control. Before I understood betrayal trauma and what was happening to me. I tried to “let it go” but not successfully (as you can understand). For the last month (since he has been sober) his response to any traumatic response of mine is “I haven’t looked at anything.” I have explained to him that while it is very important/necessary that he maintains that sobriety, I am still traumatized from years of lying, betrayal, gaslighting, etc. and I don’t always know what will be a trigger or when one is coming along. He says he knows he hurt me and is sorry (and I believe he is), but he also needs me to be supportive of HIM if he is to be successful at recovery and sobriety. Freaking out in a betrayal trauma response isn’t supportive, apparently. He says I make him feel ashamed and asks why I can’t focus on what he’s done in the last month instead of what he did in the past. I have explained that it doesn't work like that, but he just doesn’t seem to understand.
I don’t like having those triggered responses. I don’t like re-living all that hell. I don’t like reminding him of the shameful things he’s done. I don’t like to experience betrayal trauma. And He seems to think I enjoy it or get something out of it. That I seek to hurt him because he hurt me. I don’t know what to say to help him understand how I feel (I’ve tried a number of things and I’m still getting these responses). Also, it has only been ONE MONTH! I can’t just get over it in a moment.
Most recent example from just today: I discovered that he had a pinterest account. He has used loopholes in the past and in my hypervigilance, I want to make sure I know what potential loopholes still lurk out there. He does not use pinterest. This account was last accessed in mid 2019. Before that he only accessed it 3-4 per year since 2015. There are no saved pins/boards. But the pins that show up in the feed (based on previous searches and views pins) seem like images he would look at based on his porn tastes/preferences. So, first I asked him, “why do you have a pinterest account?” He said he didn’t have one. I knew he would say this. So I showed him the account (complete with his profile photo copied over from facebook, name, and times accessed in the past). He said maybe he accidentally signed up for one at some point but he never used it. Then I showed him the times he accessed it since 2015. He maintained that he didn’t use pinterest and never had. Then we looked at some of the suggested pins in his feed (again, he never saved any and had no boards). Besides the pins of women’s images, there were suggested pins for comic books stuff (one of his interests) that definitely identify this as a pinterest account which he searched in at some point in time. His last search in “most recent” was Ariana Grande. I asked him why. He said he didn’t know or remember. He also pointed out that the images in the feed “weren’t that bad,” as though to say, even if he had used pinterest for arousing material, the material isn’t that offensive/could be worse. This has been a refrain of his since 2016 when I blocked sites with pornographic videos. And I know it’s total BS, but I can’t convince him.
This all triggered me. At the worst, he was outright lying. He was at least gaslighting me in order to not have these materials attached to him. I don’t know what I wanted him to say. I guess I wanted him to say, something like, “Oh, yeah, I did use pinterest like that. I had forgotten about that. I didn’t use it regularly or anything. And I won’t use it again. Let’s delete my account.” Instead, he lied (or at the very least denied) and then said that the images in the feed “weren’t that bad” (also very triggering for me because that was his defense everytime he found a loophole).
But once again, instead of me getting to be upset, now he’s upset and not talking to me. He says I’m abusive and that he’s tired of walking around on eggshells. He says he can’t even leave the room without me finding something new from the past and making him feel ashamed. I know that is all BS but I don’t know how to convince him that it isn’t appropriate for him to respond to me that way, and that he should meet my betrayal trauma response with empathy.
I am proud of him for his month of sobriety. I want him to succeed. But I can’t keep doing this particular song and dance. Any advice one what to say to him in these moments, and/or how to handle betrayal trauma while still being supportive of the PA?
TLDR: PA says I’m not supportive of his sobriety/recovery if I have a betrayal trauma response and that I should just “let it go.” Seeking advice about what I can say to help him understand my feelings and position.

A not-so-brief essay on a hobo's reflection of traveling through Portland Oregon.

Portland, in all of its slummy, yet also hipster gentrified essence, is quite the urban wild child of America. Or perhaps she was a wild woman of sorts, in my experience. (Please forgive my insensitive use of whatever-correct-pronoun, Reddit)
I speak romantically and metaphorically when I say that Portland was an intoxicating vixen that I wanted so badly to fall in love with. A seductive stripper that cheated on me with my ex girlfriend and now they're both lesbians that want nothing to do with me, yet I strangely want some SOMETHING to do with both of them despite both of our well‐being.
And to that sorrowful compliment, I mournfully cross one of Portlands many bridges as I salut a shot of kombucha, and give her a farewell wink in the necessary departure we were both mutually prepared for.
Portland. "Portlandia"...or whatever it is now, or trying so fucking hard to be.
It certainly isn't what it used to be, as I was adamantly told by the seemingly few people there that are actually FROM there.
For better or for worse, and perhaps a lot of both, Portland is a magnified example of the change that has been, and still is, sweeping the urban landscapes of America. A change that this hobo has seen, time and time again, shopping center after shopping center, in so many cities all across this country:
GENTRIFICATION.
In the ever-shifting landscape of modern Americana, the old "downtown" has moved uptown...somewhere near the freeway and interstate off-ramps. All the "good white folks", along with their "mom and pop" businesses, have been consumed by the corporate gods, or demons, and moved away from Main Street and settled into identical shopping centers thats just an Uber ride away from Petco and Walmart. Right next to the Kohls, across the four-lane from Taco Bell and Jamba Juice, just a block away from Lowes and..... Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Dollar This and fucking Dollar That, GIVE ME YOUR GODDAMN DOLLAR, stores.
It's come to the point that nearly every single town, in every single state, now looks like one big identical shopping center.
But alas! In relief of such visually boring repetition and cookie-cutter infrastructure brought about by the money-whoring corporate conglomeration, the exterior decoration of American cities have been suddenly rescued by the millenials!
Millenials. Like me, and likely you. The trustfund children of "mom and pop", ready to blow their inheritance away with a plethora of dreamy capital ventures: unique boutiques, fusion fast food, and shit tons of coffeeshops and microbreweries to keep all of us caffeinated and buzzed enough to soak up everyone else's white-collar trustfunds and blue-collar weekly paychecks. The consumer age!
A new yoga studio that also serves dairy-free yogurt. A barbershop that only shaves beards, but also serves beer. A 24/7 hour gym that has 1080 HD tv's, so that you can treadmill and hydro-massage the stress and depression away, all while watching your favorite Netflix and Hulu programming....
Or get your Pomeranian shaved while doing Pilates and drinking a Pale Ale at the same fucking time!
Okay okay, maybe the last example is a bit ridiculous, but I bet a few of you were like "OoOoHhHh, take my fucking money"...
And by this note in my lengthy rant, there's only a few of you left that are still even reading this. Taking into account the typical demographic of Reddit, most of the people that began reading this are far too sensitive and offended to make it this far, and have clicked away into the much safer real0ms of Dollarshave.com or Pinterest. C'est la fucking vie, and don't let the doorknob of vagabond give you a bit of guilty anal stimulation upon your departure.
Oh Portlandia. If you ain't offended yet, you're about to be.
I once went to a bar in North Portland, somewhere near the soon-to-be gentrified neighborhoods of Lombard, Albina, and Rosa Parks.
George's Corner bar, on the corner of Prescott and Interstate. A fitting place and representation of the gentrified fuckification of suburban America.
George's bar is one of the oldest bars left in Portland that hasn't been bulldozed or skyscraped away by the influx of "loft condos" and boutiques, such as the hair salon a couple blocks down with the puke-provoking cliche name: Hairlandia.
The neighborhood around George's Bar was once mostly African American. Sure, there was the crime and drugs that generally come with any place and people that are low-income, and have been continually and socio-politically fucked in the ass by the American empire, but it was a genuine neighborhood. It had grit. It had authenticity. It was the real America, however ugly, however disheartening, however representational of the utter reality. The houses were built by the families, the stores owned by the locals, and George's Corner bar was where everyone went to share a beer with their fellow co-workers and neighbors.
However, that has changed. In houses once owned by the black people that built them, those black people haven been forcefully removed so that their houses can be rented out, leased, sub-leased, and sub-sub leased, by out-of-town hipsters that apologize with a "black lives matters" sign duct-taped to their front porch.
Hipsters that believe in civil rights, but often snub their noses and avoid eye contact with the local homeless. Hipsters that will literally cross the street or run inside if an actual black person comes walking down the sidewalk. Hipsters that wear the fashionable rhetoric of "Equality" on their sleeves just as much as they wear a Columbia or North Face jacket made in Vietnamese sweatshops. Its fashionable, but that's about all it is. Something to be screamed on social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, and especially Reddit, but certainly not practiced on the real streets of America
Portland. Oh Portland! How I love to hate you! And being that I am a homeless person, I assuredly know that even though you may morally claim to love me, in actuality you fucking hate me. And we both know it.
But before I end this post, let me tell you a very important conversation I had during my one and only visit to Georges Corner Bar.
Me: I'm a traveler, just passing through. Whats the history of this area?
Bartender: You know, this used to be an all black neighborhood. Even this bar was mostly black. But that's all changed now in the past few years.
Me: Yeah I only see a couple black people in here, and hardly any walking around on the sidewalks. Where did they all go?
Bartender: They all got pushed to South Portland, to the projects and the ghettos. They live in the higher numbered streets, 90th street, 115th street, that area.
Me: How did they get suddenly pushed out of here? Did the police force them out, or the chamber of commerce, or what? How does such a major change like that really happen?
Bartender: The people that own the apartments and houses all agreed to raise the rent. People from out of town moved in, bought it all up, and raised the prices.
Me: They raised the rent? Really? Thats how it happens?
Bartender: Yep, all those lil houses used to be 450 dollars a month. And then they became 750 a month, and now they cost over a thousand dollars. Black folks couldn't afford it, and so they had no choice to move to a cheaper section of town.

24 months case study - domain and step by step process revealed

Hi juststart community!
Disclaimer: Not a native English speaker and long post ahead :)
I’ve been a long time follower on here, probably since 2018 but I never posted. Mostly because I wanted to share a decent result and trying out things firsts before I share my findings.
Let me start by saying I am not new to blogging or building websites. I’ve built several websites over the years since starting my online journey in 2014. But I am not an expert in terms of SEO, keyword research nor do I claim to having mastered this niche. But I have built an ecommerce business, an educational site including an online course (you can quickly verify that by Googling my username) and I’ve also authored 5 books on eCommerce/importing from China available on Kindle. Real books and not 15 page PDF’s.
I’ve sold 2 websites in the mid 6 figure range since then and in 2018 I wanted to focus on building an affiliate site.
What’s more I’ve documented the entire process with over-the-shoulder videos (50+ videos) from the start - don’t worry I am NOT selling these videos as a course or anything, they are free to watch for anyone who is interested on Youtube, but more on that later.
So let’s dive right into my case study:
Preface:
In mid 2017 I sold one of my online businesses and I wanted to take a break as I was working non-stop without a holiday since 2014 after I started my own business. That break turned out to be quite long and for a year I pretty much didn’t do anything and just travelled. I did have an idea what I wanted to do sometime around September 2018 and sat down to map out my plan on building affiliate niche sites. I did have 2 affiliate sites already but I never really pushed them. I wanted to create a completely new affiliate/authority site from scratch in a competitive niche (coffee), document and share the process over a lengthy period. And today its nearly 24 months since I started. What I saw initially was not a lot of competition and all of the sites on the web were pretty much just doing the same thing. Simple pages and themes with poorly written content. Even today there’s probably only 2-3 decent sites out there.
I started building the site in December 2018 and it went live pretty much 4 weeks later with 3 blog posts. At the time I had many other projects and I slowly lost focus and interest. By April 2019 I had 7 blog posts live and kind of let it sit there for a while. I think at that point I invested around 40 hours into the whole project. I was working on projects that took my entire attention trough-out the whole year and didn’t even look at the site anymore until SeptembeOctober 2019. I looked onto Amazon affiliate that month and to my surprise I made 12$ or so without putting in work for 7 months.
In early November 2019 I started to pick up on the project again and there were no significant earnings until mid 2020. Sometimes hitting mid 20$ per month. Traffic suddenly dropped after the Google May update. From Nov 19 - Jun 20 I probably put in another 80 hours of work. Essentially resulting in 45 total blog posts averaging 3-5,000 words. Traffic slowly came back in July with a new record high in earnings. I wrote another 10 blog posts from July until now (Dec 20). November was a record month with 150$, hitting highs of 200 unique visitors per day. As of 4th December earnings are at 70+$ already. More detail on earnings down below. Sure, these earnings are also because of pre-xmas season but I am seeing new highs now every day so it is motivating.
I wanted to give up on the project a long time ago and not just once. It is dis-encouraging when you hit your first 100 unique visitors only to see them go back to 20 a day after a Google update. Same goes for earnings. When you’ve put in 120+ hours of work and you made 9$ in commissions in a month lol. But from my previous online projects I knew it takes time and you need to put in at least a year’s of work to see decent numbers. So I kept at it whenever I had time.
Now, I know that below numbers might not be great or decent considering many people in here that make 5 figures or more a month. But that is not my point with this post. I aim to motivate the people who want to start this as a side business, make a couple of hundred $ a month and maybe even turn this into a full time job. I know I did it when I started my online journey in 2014. I was ecstatic over my first $ earned online. This site is just a small project of mine and I make the majority of my money elsewhere.
Perhaps I also took too much of a bite with the niche. I just wanted to show its possible and I am looking forward to the days when I start ranking better for the really high search keywords (10,000+/month) that I am not ranking for on page 1/2 yet. Also I know several people who are in smaller niches that make 1K$ a month after 6-12 months. So niche and keyword selection is KEY :) So I hope with this post I encourage some of the beginners who are just getting started to JUSTSTART.
The domain:
First off you might be wondering why I reveal the domain. For one, I released the whole process in videos on Youtube so people find out anyway. Second, I am not worried about copy cats as this is a very difficult niche to start with and it took me 2 years to show some results. Third, yes initially I wanted to create a course around it and sell it. But with these earnings I felt that it is not warranted to charge XXX$. Don’t get me wrong, I am convinced of the value of my videos/content but I don’t like to sell a pipe-dream when it clearly took 12+ months to see some decent earnings (not that I ever sold a pipe-dream lol). And let's face it, people who buy courses expect to make money in 1 month because some guru told them so. I’ve created 4 courses already (on the topic of Amazon, importing from China) over the years and I made good money with those. Also I didn’t want to go into coaching anymore as these days I focus on other income channels. So here I was sitting on 50+ videos and 200+ hours of work. If you consider recording and editing of the videos it was probably another 200+ hours.
Having said that, these videos are the only kind of case study on the internet as far as I am aware. And if there is any, they cost xxxx$+. Plus they are in-depth and I really do show everything how I built the site from small to big milestones; everything is revealed. So I was left with a decision, waste all that time of recording / editing and not releasing the information possibly helping people in the process?
So eventually some days ago I decided to give the whole information for free on my Youtube channel. I am no pure altruist and I don’t believe there are any in this world. But there are people out there who genuinely want to help other people in worse situations without benefiting. And I believe that in these times with millions of people loosing their jobs it's up to those who still have an income/ a job to help those who need it more. Yes, sure I might earn some money with affiliate links, Youtube monetization etc. or trough the exposure but its not my main goal, whether you believe it or not. Also I won’t be coaching or offering mentorship, I simply don’t have the time. I put the information out there and it is up to each individual to just start, learn and get moving.
So without further ado, here is the domain: https://coffeescanner.com
Plugins I used
I started with the basics for free, Jetpack, SUMO (for email capture), Updraft (backup), Insert headers and footers, Easy table of contents. The only plugin I paid for is Elementor Pro. I’ve had a yearly license for multiple sites since 2015 so I used it for this site also. Its hands on the best visual builder for people who don’t know HTML, CSS etc. At least for me. The only other plugin I paid for a couple of months ago is WP-Rocket to improve my site speed. I don’t really believe in other plugins, they are a waste of money. I use Rankmath (free version) as a SEO plugin, I think its better than Yoast and easy to understand. I use Yoast on other sites and its less user-friendly and I find Rankmath is perfect for me.
Backlink strategy
I started working on backlinks in Jan-Feb 2020. Basically I reached out to all the brands that I mention in my reviews/blog posts. I asked them if they’d be interested to share my content on their website or social media. I think from a total of 200+ emails to these brands I got around 15 backlinks with 2-3 of them decent. I did get a couple of social media shoutouts as well which helped in the overall picture. As of today I haven’t actively worked on backlinks and I think I got around 50 or so with more than half coming in organically. I am not pushing this also as I focus a lot on other things and proactively reaching out to brands for sponsored partnerships.
My strategy is not trying to rank organically as best as I can and use SEO as the main driver but work out deals with brands and other monetization methods. I can tell you that a site I built in 2015 had at its peak 14,000 unique viewers. But income was at nearly 30,000$ per month. Why? Because I had a community that I actively worked for and I provided the most important aspect in this business = VALUE. Also that site had no affiliate monetization or display ads. It was purely digital content/membership. When focusing on value in your posts and actually answering people’s queries or helping them you’ll eventually gain more.
Content writing
I wrote content myself and I outsourced content. I could have written it mostly by myself but in 2019/2020 I wanted to focus on other things than writing. As of September I am writing myself again aiming at 3 new blog posts every month.
Pinterest
I started with Pinterest when my traffic was still very low. As of now Pinterest is driving approx. 30% of the traffic to my site. The power of Pinterest! Seriously if you want to look into social media channels the only thing I can highly recommend is Pinterest. E.g. One of my biggest money making post is not even ranking in the top 20’s. However I have 2 pins for that post and Pinterest sends me 15 people per day on average to that post. I usually convert 1 person. Meaning usually resulting in 10+$ commissions for the day. Yes, Facebook, IG are good for brand awareness but they don’t convert. At least not for me. If you want to give your brand new affiliate site a kickstart - hustle on Pinterest! I also use Tailwind for automatic pin scheduling. Currently I only have 1 pin per post but I will create 4-5 pins for each blog post that also targets other keywords. For example, if I have a blog post titled: How to make French press coffee. At this moment I have only 1 pin for the main keyword but I will create 3-4 more that also target other keywords in that blog post.
Keyword research:
Initially I used Google Keyword Planner, then Ubersuggest, then answerthepublic.com and also Surfer chrome extension. I am definitely not an expert on Keyword research but I do know it is essential. In the beginning I was targeting super high volume search keywords while I’ve now focused on low volume (500 or less). The high volume keywords are starting to rank nicely now but still far from where they could be. If I were to start over I’d still do the same.
Theme/Visual Builder
Wordpress site, simple theme but using Elementor Pro plugin to design the elements and the overall structure of the site. To build the main structure of the site it probably took me 8 hours. Over time I’ve edited the layout obviously but the structure can be ready within 8 hours. Hosted on Bluehost. At the moment its decent enough and I am happy with Bluehost but I know once traffic hits more than 10,000 a month I probably need to move to another host.
Traffic:
I’ll only post from 2020 onwards as 2018/2019 was insignificant. I estimate that I’ll hit 10K per month very soon.

Jan 2020	488
Feb 2020	519
Mar 2020	912
Apr 2020	1800
May 2020	1588
Jun 2020	1283
Jul 2020	1312
Aug 2020	1185
Sep 2020	1579
Oct 2020	2324
Nov 2020	3321
Dec 2020	1020 (as of 4th Dec.)

Conversion rate
The last 3 months I was averaging 12% conversion rate which I think is pretty decent. I took this conversion rate from the Amazon affiliate dashboard. I am currently in 3 countries (US/UK/CA) while the majority (95%) of the income is from the US. Many keywords are not even ranking yet and the ones that do seem to convert well. I am convinced that the quality of the content (not overselling things) causes the conversion to be pretty decent.
Income
I won’t list 2019 in details as it was insignificant. The last 3 months were decent and I think I’ll hit 200$ this month easily.
Next target should be 500$ by March/April. Jan/Feb are usually slow but I am hopeful with all the content I put out and that is maturing now I’ll hit record traffic and earning even in Jan/Feb. Numbers are in US$. As a side note, its also nice to see that for about 10 days now I've been creating sales every day. So while I did have days with no sales 10 days ago even I had decent visitors I found that a minimum of 80+ visitors a day is needed to create a sale every day.

	Amazon Affiliate (all countries)	Other affiliate networks	Total
2019	13.09		13.09
Jan 2020	11.36		11.36
Feb 2020	9.64		9.64
Mar 2020	22.39		22.39
Apr 2020	13.27		13.27
May 2020	26		26
Jun 2020	23		23
Jul 2020	65.84		65.84
Aug 2020	30		30
Sep 2020	84		84
Oct 2020	106	10	116
Nov 2020	140	8	148
Dec 2020 (as of 4th Dec.)	79		79
Total	623,59	18	641,59

Affiliate networks:
Currently I have 3-4 posts that also direct people outside of Amazon. For that I have signed up with: Shareasale, Commissionjunction, Pepperjam, Impact and Skimlinks. So far Shareasale and Pepperjam has produced the only outside Amazon commission (18$ in total) but I am seeing clicks now every day to these other networks. Only a matter of time that I will make consistently money on the other networks. I do also strongly believe in diversification. We all know Amazon is constantly cutting their commission rates. Another reason why I do try to diversify is my next point: Sponsored Partnerships.
Sponsored partnerships
A couple weeks ago I started researching 100+ brands in my niche. I created an infographic with all the stats of my site, my reach, email subscribers etc. I then emailed about 40 of them so far with a proposal for advertisement. Banners, sponsored reviews, pop ups on my site etc. So far only 1 brand replied with interest and we are working out the details now. E.g. I am charging from 49$ for 5 banners in related content post up to 149$ for sponsored posts. I am not giving up on this yet as I know it has worked in my previous projects. My philosophy making money online is always the same. If I get 1 brand that signs up for a month its money I didn’t have before. And I also know from previous projects that eventually brands will reach out to YOU automatically. I basically then take 10mins of my time, create 5 banners in a blog post for example and done. Easy money.
Google Adsense/Display ads:
I am not running any ads on the site from ad networks as I believe it reduces the user experience. I know a lot of people do it and it's a way to make more money. However I have Display ads on one of my sites that is making less than 100$ a month with over 10,000 unique per month. Plus my readers from that site have emailed me it is annoying and sometimes messes up my site structure/content. I did test Adsense on Coffeescanner for 2 days in Nov 2020. 0.34$ ad income lol. So its not worth it in my opinion. I might look into Mediavine when I hit 100K visitors/month.
Expenses:
Apart from the yearly domain hosting and domain renewal I also have Tailwind (14$) and a professional GSUITE account (6$). But I think I don’t need a professional GSUITE account. I did create it for the sole purpose of looking professional when I reach out for sponsored partnerships. But I am starting to think it doesn’t matter. I won’t go into details how much I spent on content writers because it was a private deal with someone I know and it was a unique deal. It would distort the outcome and overall goal. So thats a current 20$/month in expenses. If I would consider my own time as an expense we’d be looking at a serious loss :) But again, that is not the point. I know the site will be very profitable in the long run. I know this because it isn’t my first project. So I look at the big picture. Having said that, if you find the time to write your own blog posts you save a lot of money and you then have very low expenses.
Misc.:
I put a lot a lot of time also in miscellaneous things like creating pop-ups, proactively indexing new pages, creating categories, search functions within the blog, social media share functions, reaching out to other bloggers for guest posts, trying to build a Facebook community, creating an eBook to increase subscribers, etc..
Goals for the future:
Continue to write posts every month, reach out to more brands for sponsored advertisement, push Pinterest (see above under Pinterest). I am also planning to update my progress here monthly.
If you ask me where to start I’d say choose a niche that you have at least some interest in so that you can write your own content. Put in time in the evening & on the weekend (if you have a job) when your friends are out to party. Keep at it and don’t give up. Provide value over everything. I am sure some in here think why doesn’t he build an easy site and follow the strategies everyone talks about? As in making money a lot faster in easier niches? Well I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge and I like to build things that last.
Phew this was quite the post :) As I’ve mentioned in the beginning and for anyone interested, my entire 24 months progress is on Youtube. That’s where you’ll also find proof of all of the above in the screenshare videos. I won’t post a link here or promote my channel. But you can easily find it when you Google my username :)
Again, one thing I want to leave you with here is: provide value. Build a community, email subscribers and help your readers. Money will come eventually.
Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments :)
All the best to you guys and keep it up!

Highest Paying Tech Companies for New Grad

I go to a target school in Canada (you can probably guess) and have collected some information from my friends who got new grad offers at top tech companies this year. There's obviously much more to a company than just pay but since offers can be confusing, I hope this post helps.
Primer about tech new grad offers (skip to below to see the Top Companies)
Most tech offers have several components

Base Salary: This is standard and non-negotiable for most companies. Based entirely on level.
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs): You are given shares in the company over a certain number of years (typically 4 years). # Stocks you get = Target Lump Sum / Stock Price. Say, target is $150k and stock price is $50, then you get 150k/50 = 3,000 shares in the company. Generally that's how it goes. What differs between companies is WHEN the company calculates the # shares you get. Some companies determine shares when you sign the offer. Some determine it right before you join. EARLIER THE BETTER because generally stock prices grow over time, so getting your # shares calculated based on earlier and lower stock prices is advantageous.
Signing Bonus: This is a one time bonus paid generally in your first year of work.

Example of new grad offer quote: 120/160/30 = $120k base, $160k stock/4 years, $30k signing. In first year you get paid 120 base + 40k stock (assuming prices stay constant) + 30k signing = 190k.
Other pay considerations:

Performance Bonus: This is usually a % of your Base Salary that you get based on your performance during the year. Usually it's only 10-15% of base so pretty negligible when comparing new grad offers. It's also not guaranteed components of offers.
Refreshers: This is a HUGE component that is neglected to be compared between offers. Typically, each year you get additional RSUs based on performance. It incentivizes you to stay at the company. This is NOT factored into offer. Do your research into typical refreshers in companies.
Promotion/Growth: The rate at which companies promote employees also important. For example, Microsoft new grad offers are high but growth is known to be really slow. Faster growth = base salary bumps and higher performance bonus + refreshers.
Future Stock Growth: If the stock price grows, your RSUs are worth more. Unfortunately, no one knows what the future stock price of a company will exactly be. Though, you can roughly gauge the growth opportunity for a company. Established FAANGs will generally have lower growth than Unicorn and earlier stage companies.
Private vs Public Companies: Public companies like Google, Apple, etc. allow you to sell shares on stock market as soon as you get your RSUs. This term is called liquidity. This is good because you can convert your shares to cash and spend it on whatever you want or invest it. It is hard to sell your shares in a private company like Robinhood, Airbnb and is actually often not allowed because of lockup policies that prevent you from selling until a mass secondary offering in the private market or IPO. So HOW DO PRIVATE COMPANIES DETERMINE THEIR SHARE PRICE? Usually, private companies will determine share price based on latest VC funding round. That means your share price is not always up to date. Hence, people call it "paper money" since share price is often hard to determine and you can't sell it right away. The stock growth and payout opportunity is higher though.

Top Paying Tech Companies
NOTE: The placings are only rough and NOT exact by any means for reasons I mentioned above (RSU price variations, bonus and refreshers are not accounted for, etc.)
1 . Databricks : 135k Base Salary, $400k Stock over 4 years ($100k/Year), 15k Signing
First Year TC: $250k Recurring TC: $235K

Comments - $400k based on $10 billion company valuation or $73 per share based on latest offer on Teamblind. 5500 RSUs were given straight up in the offer (It's one of the few companies that do this). RSUs are high because # shares were calculated originally using 2019 valuation which was ~$45/Stock . The $10B is still a very unvalued number since Snowflake is valued at $90B currently post-IPO. Databricks will IPO soon.

2 . Lyft : 135k Base Salary, $260k Stock over 4 years ($65k/year), 45k Signing
First Year TC: $245k Recurring TC: $200K

Comments - This is a return intern offer and I believe TC is quite a bit lower for non-interns. Compared to other top payers listed here (like Databricks, Stripe, Robinhood Roblox), Lyft has much lower stock growth opportunity. The stock has flopped since the IPO in 2019 but is recovering a bit.

3 . Stripe : 133k Base Salary, $270k Stock over 4 years ($ 67.5/year), 50k Signing
First Year TC: $250K Recurring TC: $200k

Comments - This is a return intern offer (will be alot lower for non-interns). Stripe implemented a new RSU policy this year which stipulates that # of Shares you get is determined using current prices each year. Basically, you can think of the $270k Stock as just cash bonus. That means you miss out on any stock growth prior to receiving your stock compensation. That's why I placed it below Lyft which determines the # RSUs using the stock price at your start date. It is certainly below Databricks which gives you # RSUs at time of offer. "Earlier the better". Stripe will IPO soon too.

4 . Robinhood : 135k Base Salary, 216k Stock over 4 years ($54k/year), 35k Signing
First Year TC: $224k Recurring TC: $189k

Comments - IPO soon

5 . Roblox : 142k Base Salary, 200k Stock over 4 years ($50k/year), 30k Signing
First Year TC: $222k Recurring TC: $192k

Comments - IPO soon. 8000 shares are offered up front valued at $25.

6 . Facebook : 118k Base Salary, $160K Stock over 4 Years ($40k/Year), 70k Signing
First Year TC: $227k Recurring TC: $158k

Comments - Notice that recurring TC drops off due to one-time signing bonus. This is the "meets expectation" offer for returning interns. If ur not returning intern, expect lower signing bonus. If u exceeds expectations as an intern, expect more stock, up to ~$220K stock for rockstagreatly exceeds expectations. Signing bonus also goes up to 100k if you negotiate hard or get rockstar. Also, # RSUs is determined 1 month prior to start date.

7 . Asana : 144k Base Salary, $192k Stock over 4 years ($48/Year), 20k Signing
First Year TC $212k Recurring TC: $192K

Comments - NA

8 . LinkedIn : 135k Base Salary, $200k Stock over 4 years ($50k/Year), 15k Signing
First Year TC: $200k Recurring TC: $185k

Comments - This was offer from while back. Not sure if up to date but it should be around same now.

9 . Snapchat : 125k Base Salary, $159K Stock over 3 years ($53K/Year), 20k Signing
First Year TC: $198k Recurring TC: 178K

Comments - SNAP Stock has doubled since the summer of 2020 when offers were given. Unfortunately, the # of RSUs is determined 1 month prior to joining so gains are missed out and cannot be factored into the RSU valuation

10 . DoorDash : 135k Base Salary, $176k Stock over 4 years($44k/Year), 20k Signing
First Year TC: $199k Recurring TC: $179k

Comments - IPO Soon

11 . Pinterest : 135k Base Salary, $160k Stock over 4 years ($40k/Year), 15k Signing
First Year TC: $190k Recurring TC: $175k

Comments - this data point was relayed from a friend of a friend so not sure how correct but it's similar to levels.fyi. Generally Pinterest pays top as well.

12 . Google : 129k Base Salary, $160K Stock over 4 years ($40k/Year), 15k Signing
First Year TC: $184K Recurring TC: $169K

Comments - Google offers VARY WIDELY. This offer my friend got is above average I believe. Returning interns do not automatically get higher pay. Google often lowballs. Though, with competing offers you can negotiate and they will go as high as Facebook's rockstar intern offer.

Others: I probably missed few companies like Airbnb (which I don't know of anyone getting an offer from personally). Other top paying companies include: Plaid (~190K TC first year), Palantir (~185 TC first year) Twitter, Dropbox, Coinbase (RSUs are offered based on 2018 valuation), Atlassian, Microsoft (if you negotiate with an FB offer), Quora. Finally I'm sure there are small tech startups out there, that could potentially pay more than all of these companies because of the growth potential of the RSU/equity.
Online Resources:

Levels.fyi Shows average compensation for companies at different levels. Great resource but unfortunately does not show details such as differences between RSU policies and other nuances that could make huge difference.
Teamblind.com Best place/forum to see actual offer details. Bit of a toxic website but it's single best place to get in depth info.

How We Ranked "Fence Company SEO" In Under 30 Days or Less :)

HOW TO START INVESTING IN THE STOCK MARKET? START INVESTING NOW! CHALLENEGE PORTFOLIO [EP.7] [01-10]

Do you want to get into the stock market but don’t know what stocks to pick? Read & watch this and my full journey as I start a new portfolio from scratch by saving & investing my money into a very diversified, well balanced growth & value portfolio
~Very Long Post~
Hello everyone and Welcome! If you are interested to watch MY full journey in the stock market as I record my journey starting a portfolio from zero and also want to get the latest news, updates & predictions be sure to follow me on Reddit and subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay up to date.
So, last time I checked in the challenge portfolio VALUE was 3879$. This WEEK I have added 128$ to my account I am currently up 550$ since starting with a gain of 0.43% in closed trades. This last WEEK I made about 170$, as I had BOTH my worst day since starting this portfolio, losing almost 2% in the first trading day of the year and 3 of my top 6 days since starting this challenge.
So, this is the eToro CHART for the current year, as the portfolio has had a great start to the year and is way outperforming the 3 big index funds, the Nasdaq, SP & Dow, but I won’t use these charts in the future as they are slightly misleading, as eToro doesn’t have the best charts, and HERE is how my portfolio has done since starting in November, with my portfolio outperforming the big 3 indexes almost since day 1.
So, let’s take a look at my portfolio moves in this past week.
I didn’t CLOSE any single trade this week, as I tell you every time, I am not a day trader, I like to invest for the mid-long term mostly, so, let’s take a LOOK at the positions I opened since the last time I made a video. I opened 2 new trades despite me holding off for a period on these 2 assets, but it just seems the momentum is too strong for both of them and I don’t know when the correction will come. It’s very hard to try and time the market, and I just gave in an added a small position on these 2, So, I opened both a Tesla and a Bitcoin positions with 50$, and the decisions seems to have STARTED well with Tesla up over 10% already and Bitcoin also up over 7%. From now on I will only show these trades from my spreadsheet, in case I open any other brokerage account it will be easier for it to be tracked over here, so be sure to check it out.
Here [ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 ] is my current portfolio composition in order of my biggest gainers by percentage as the best performing companies are Lemonade, CrowdStrike, Roku & Sunrun which are all up over 60% since buying the stocks, while my 2nd favorite company, Disney, is also up over 30%. I also have other volatile stocks like DraftKings and PayPal which have been performing well, both up 25% while some more stable dividend companies that also offered growth are JP Morgan & Broadcom, with both of them up around 20%.
As I said, my recent acquisition in Tesla is already up 10%, while my favorite company Apple is up just over 9% in the last 2 months. I also own Boeing, though, the stock has had a correction in the last weeks and is up just 8%, while some of the tech names are almost flat like Google, Netflix & Salesforce.
Also, Alibaba, Microsoft & Amazon are joining those and are about break even, just returning small gains, while Store Capital has seen a pullback recently and is dead flat.
I also have some losing companies mostly in the tech sector like Adobe, Nvidia, Facebook & Palantir, while my biggest loser is FedEx as the company has seen a 20% correction from the all-time highs.
Here are some of stocks that have gained or lost more than 5% in the last week, as my biggest winners are by far from the green energy & cannabis sector with Sunrun up 39%, Tesla up 25% and jumping to a market cap of over $800B, Tilray up 37% & NIO up 20%, while other big movers where Roku up 20% & Lemonade up 31%.
Other big gainers this week were Zebra Technologies up over 5%, Target continued their march up, rising by almost 10%
Banks & payments services also rose significantly this week with Morgan Stanley up almost 10%, Goldman up 10% and Square up 11%, while some industrial names like CATERPILLAR, Deere & General Electric were all up over 5% as they might benefit from the new change in leadership in the US.
Tech also joined in with Palantir up 7%, Pinterest gaining 9% & CrowdStrike rising by over 5%, while some more consumer focused stocks that also rose were Carvana up 16%, DraftKings up 12% and PENN Gaming also spiking up 8.5%.
While the biggest losers this week were FedEx, down over 5% as the company continues the downtrend after the weak guidance, Coca-Cola down almost 7% after some bearish reports, Netflix down 5.6% in contrast to Roku huge rise & Store Capital down almost 9%, as they were affected by the broad sector pullback.
This WEEK I canceled my short-term correction for the SP500 as the momentum from the new administration seems to be very strong, while I also already hit my 40% upside prediction for Tesla for 2023, which is mind blowing. I will leave the link to this spreadsheet HERE, and also will leave the link to my current portfolio HERE, so feel free to leave your opinion on my predictions until now in the comments below.
So, I finished the week and am up for 2021 4,25% with a GAIN of 170$, and a total return of just over 16% since starting, while I also managed to maintain my average RISK score at 5 as My max drawdown increased to a 1,95% lose for the day & the week with my yearly drawdown rising to just over 3%. I HAVE currently made about 13 trades/week but this is likely to go down as I only plan to add to my positions on a monthly basis with an average holding time of just over 1month while 2/3 of the weeks have been profitable.
I have currently MADE 114 trades in this portfolio with 2/3 of them being profitable, with an average profit of over 17% and an average loss of 6%. As my most traded assets until now are Alibaba, Netflix and Bitcoin.
THIS are the biggest investments that I own in my portfolio, as I only have a couple of companies at the moment that I have invested more in. With Apple coming in at just over 3% while Boeing, Netflix and Amazon are the other bigger investments, with the biggest values right now in my portfolio BEING hold by Lemonade after almost tripling since buying it, with Apple, Boeing, Netflix, Amazon, Roku, & Sunrun also being over 2% of my portfolio.
Let’s take a quick look at my DIVERSIFICATION, as my top 3 sectors are Technology, Communications Services and Consumer Discretionary, with my biggest INDUSTRY allocation being to Retail & Online retail as I believe the consumer will come out very strong after this situation ends, with a lot of people having saved up money and willing to spend again. I also have big allocations in other industries like Banking, Entertainment, Restaurants & Payments, but please keep in mind I only own big chain restaurants or fast-foods, as I expect these to survive and even increase market share as a lot of small-restaurants will go out of business.
Also here is my allocation by confidence LEVELS with big names like Apple, Disney, Tesla & Amazon being some of my top picks, while Goldman, Roku, some health Names like AbbVie & JNJ being other high confidence picks. I also like Sunrun, Lemonade & CrowdStrike a lot, while other more moderately confident picks are Morgan Stanley, Deere & Norwegian Cruise Lines. I also have some other lower confidence stocks like Coca-Cola & FedEx which I don’t see to much upside for, but I like the stability that they offer, and also have some more spec plays like Square & Uber in my portfolio.
And here is my RISK allocation, as my biggest risk is in the companies with the biggest values or that are the most volatile like Lemonade, Tilray, Boeing, Palantir, but I think I still have enough diversification with most of the companies accounting for under 4% for my risk allocation.
THIS is my current targeted portfolio, just a reminder you can find the link to this full spreadsheet and my price targets for different companies here [PORTFOLIO / PT]. I have started to use this spreadsheet due to the many errors on the charts on eToro but THIS one is correct as I only have under 1% of my balance in cash. So, my top 2 picks are Apple & Disney as I also have a lot of companies on my watchlist and my next buys list, with Jumia being the closest one to the entry point that I like. I want to have just above 5% in available cash after I finish buying all the stocks that I like and have the targeted allocation, but right now I am way below that as I am still building this portfolio. I will probably be able to have this adjusted, as I like, once I have about 10K in this portfolio.
HEREare some other numbers from eToro, you can see how they track the performance wrong, as I am not up almost 300$ in the last 7 days, as they have also taken into account the deposits which is misleading. Here are the correct calculations of the ROI with the added cashflow and withdrawals taken into account, though I don’t have any withdrawals until now, but at least the performance calculations are correct, as this is the most important one, with my portfolio finishing up almost 11% in under 2 months in 2020 and already up over 4% in January
And last but not least don’t forget that this week we will have the ex-dividend for AbbVie and will receive the quarterly dividend from Store Capital, whileJP Morgan is the only company that will report earnings this week from my portfolio.
If you want to keep up to date with my daily portfolio you can find the link to my personal portfolio & my easy to check spreadsheet HERE: [PORTFOLIO / PT] . If you like the look of the new dashboards and sheets or if you have any suggestions please leave them in the comments below.
If you want to keep up to date with my daily portfolio you can check it out HERE.
So, guys, I don’t live in the US and this service is not offered there but if you want to sign-up on eToro and start trading please follow this LINK. Also, if you want to copy my trades just click the copy button on my PROFILE.
Thank you everyone for reading! Hope you enjoyed the content! Be sure to leave a comment down below with your opinion on the stock market!
PS:
Hello Guys❗ I would like to know what content would you enjoy more from me❓
What would you enjoy to read more on Reddit or watch on YouTube❓
Please VOTE ❗ Also please don't forget to follow me on YouTube ❗
🔜Stay tuned for the upcoming posts/videos in the next couple of days❗
🎯My: Price Target Spreadsheet 🎯 / 💰My: 0 to Hero Challenge Portfolio 💰
✔️ These 2 sheets are self-updating every minute, so the stats are very accurate ✔️
🙏Thank you very much for the support❗ I really appreciate it & Have a great day and see you next time🙏

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Can Nutrigenomics Revolutionize Your Health?

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HEALTH TECHNOLOGY Can Nutrigenomics Revolutionize Your Health? By Cathy Wong Fact checked by James Lacy on December 17, 2020 As we learn more and more about how our genes influence our health, it’s becoming increasingly clear that food affects each person in unique ways. That’s the focus of an emerging field called nutrigenomics: the study of how nutrition impacts us on a genetic level, and how our food choices could alter the very function of our genes.
According to proponents of nutrigenomics, this science could pave the way for more personalized—and, in turn, more effective—advice on how and what to eat. To that end, genetic testing could one day determine which specific foods may help you achieve better weight control and greater protection against chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Thomas Northcut / Getty Images Health Advantages Thanks in part to ongoing nutrigenomics research, we now understand that individual variations in our genetic makeup play a role in factors like appetite, metabolism, blood sugar response, and the formation of fat cells. Due to this genetic variation, generalized dietary advice may only go so far in helping us to maintain our health and manage our weight.
In fact, it’s thought that the lack of more personalized, nuanced dietary advice may contribute to our continuing failure to tackle such issues as the obesity epidemic. By replacing one-size-fits-all recommendations with a genetically tailored approach to nutrition, proponents suggest, individuals may be more likely to stick to that advice and attain long-lasting wellness.
The Science At this point, there’s a lack of large-scale, long-term studies looking at the effectiveness of nutrigenomics-based dietary advice. Still, a growing body of research indicates that genetically based personalized diets could improve your health.
This research includes a study published in the journal Cell in 2015, which found that personalized nutrition may help with blood sugar control (a key factor in the prevention and management of diabetes).
For this study, researchers began by collecting data on 800 people over the course of a week. The data were gathered through a variety of methods, including blood sugar monitoring, blood tests, health questionnaires, and self-reported information on food intake. In analyzing these data, the researchers found that different study members showed vastly different blood-sugar responses to the same foods (and that these individual responses stayed consistent from day to day).1
As an example of their findings on the individualized effects of certain foods, the study’s authors point to a middle-aged study participant with obesity and pre-diabetes. While this participant had included tomatoes in her diet as part of her efforts to eat healthily, tests conducted during the study showed that consuming tomatoes actually caused her blood sugar to spike.
Once the first phase of this study was completed, researchers developed an algorithm to predict personalized blood-sugar response to “real-life meals.” Next, the research team placed 26 additional study participants on customized, genetically based diets. Results revealed that following this personalized dietary advice helped to reduce the participants’ post-meal blood sugar levels.
There’s also some evidence that genetically based dietary advice could lead to greater improvements in eating habits, compared to more generalized dietary recommendations. In a 2014 study published in the journal PLoS One, for instance, researchers assigned 138 healthy young adults to two study groups: one that received DNA-based dietary advice for four different dietary components (intake of caffeine, sodium, vitamin C, and sugar), and one that received standard dietary advice for the same components.2
After three months, those given DNA-based dietary advice began to show improvements in their diets. After 12 months, those improvements were even more significant. For example, study participants who were informed that they carried a version of a gene linked to salt intake and high blood pressure reduced their sodium intake to a greater degree, compared to those who received standard advice for sodium intake.
In addition, a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that genetically based nutrition may help promote weight loss by targeting obesity-related genetic traits.3
Personalized Nutrition In recent years, a number of companies have begun offering personalized dietary counseling based on genetic testing. However, experts in the field of nutrigenomics caution that such advice may not be scientifically sound. Because interactions between nutrients and the genome are so complex, a great deal more research is needed to understand how nutrigenomics might help you build a better diet.
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Study: Dried Fruit Can Fill Nutrition Gaps And Improve Diet Quality Fact checked by James Lacy Verywell Health Daily Health Tips to Your Inbox ONE-TAP SIGN UP Follow Us facebook pinterest instagram flipboard Health A-Z Prevention & Treatment Health Care News Medical Review Board About Us Editorial Process Anti-Racism Pledge Privacy Policy In the News Cookie Policy Advertise Terms of Use Careers California Privacy Notice Contact Visit our other Verywell sites: Verywell Fit Verywell Mind Verywell Family Ⓒ 2021 About, Inc. (Dotdash) — All rights reserved Verywell Health is part of the Dotdash publishing family.

Discreet Questions to Determine Financial Viability When Outsourcing - Part 5

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Discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration and other ideas to try. Pinterest. Kurzinfo. Unternehmen. Blog. Anmelden. Registrieren. Finde deine nächste Idee: Idee für den Valentinstag. Entdecken. DIY Valentine's. Valentine's recipes. At Home Date. Love Quotes. AGB Datenschutzrichtlinien Hilfe iPhone-App Android-App Benutzer Sammlungen Themen ... You can share to a different page from Pinterest business account. Choose the pin you want to share, go to the bottom-right corner ("send" sign) - Share this Pin - Facebook. On the top by default you'll see option "Share on News Feed or Story" and from there you can choose different options, including "Share on Page You Manage". If you have more than one Facebook business page, you can choose the one you need. “Facebook’s proverbial ‘crumbs’ are someone else’s ‘cake,’" Wieser said. Break me off a piece. Clients of Dentsu-owned Merkle, for example, allocated a larger share of their paid social spend to Pinterest (up from 7% to 17%) and Snapchat (up from 8% to 17%) in Q3 of last year compared with the second quarter. Discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration and other ideas to try. Think Twice Before Using Facebook, Google, or Apple to Sign In Everywhere. So-called single sign-on options offer a lot of convenience. But they have downsides that a good old fashioned password ... Entdecke Rezepte, Einrichtungsideen, Stilinterpretationen und andere Ideen zum Ausprobieren. Pinterest. Kurzinfo. Unternehmen. Blog. Anmelden. Registrieren. Finde deine nächste Idee: Idee für den Valentinstag. Entdecken. DIY Valentine's. Valentine's recipes. At Home Date. Love Quotes. AGB Datenschutzrichtlinien Hilfe iPhone-App Android-App Benutzer Sammlungen Themen ... Click Account settings on the left side of the screen. Under Login options, toggle the switch next to Facebook, Google, or Apple. When prompted, allow Pinterest to access your account. Click Done. From your profile, tap in the top right corner to open your menu. Tap Edit settings. Pinterest management forecast a 60% top-line jump in the fourth quarter, a bullish sign for the company's momentum. At Snap, revenue growth rebounded to 52% in the third quarter, but the company ...

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