Michael Sikand @michaelsikand Twitter profile

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Michael Sikand

2 years

1/ I just sold my startup to @MorningBrew at age 22. Here's how I built and exited one of the first TikTok media companies [THREAD]

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Last Seen Profiles

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Christopher Nolan's movies would be nothing without the secret billionaire who backed them. Thomas Tull abandoned law school to start a chain of laundromats. To increase profits he created a computer system that changed prices depending on demand. After joining an Atlanta

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

1/ This guy made tens of millions selling the same app to two different companies twice. @nikitabier hit the infinite money glitch. Wash, rinse, repeat 🧵🧼

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

"Yellowstone" prequel "1923" is costing Paramount $22M an episode. And it's all flowing into this guy's pocket... He's an ex-cowboy turned producer who might've created the most lucrative business model in TV history. Wild story👇

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 months

CLEAR is going to have its NVIDIA moment one day. If data is the ultimate moat - they're sitting on Fort Knox. a.k.a the iris scans of millions of Americans. Skipping airport lines was just the start. It'll be everywhere as more physical and cyber security failures abound.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

This guy built a real estate empire from his college dorm room. Sam Zell passed away today. A UMich legend and true captain of industry who sold his company for $36B. His story👇

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Apple has spent years reducing its cash horde from $200B+ to $50B in Q4 '22. In '17, Tim Cook said "We don’t stash money on some Caribbean island.” Instead it stashes in Jersey. It's a rock between England and France with a 0% corporate tax rate.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

was chatting up a girl at the forbes u30 party what do you do I asked she whispers in my ear... I sold 4.5M fake emails to Dimon for $175M. HOT AF.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

This guy hacked Shark Tank... And made millions without getting an investment. Then he sold his company to Snapchat. Forget Coinbase, the OG of the QR code ad was Garret Gee. Aa a student at BYU, he became fascinated with mobile apps. After accidentally downloading a barcode

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

This 24-yr-old entrepreneur raised millions to consumerize a category no one is talking about. Fintech is cool... But what about banking for stem cells? Investors like @balajis and @alexisohanian 's 776 fund are backing Kathryn Cross ( @kathrynjc7 ). Here's how she could build

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

16/ Make sure to be following @michaelsikand for more insights on media, content, and startup stories. We just moved to NYC. My new pea coat is giving Patrick Bateman. Alexa play Headlines by Drake!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

This investment banker turned media entrepreneur built the Morning Brew of pickleball. And he's already thinking way beyond advertising. Thomas Shields ( @readmynewslettr ) has built a private equity firm disguised as a media brand. It trades attention for equity in

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Funny how you never hear about those book smart kids from high school ever again

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

hijacked @thesamparr 's studio today 1 yr ago he seemed an untouchable industry idol 9 months ago I win contest to run MFM tiktok Now me and @_simmy_ are helping @hubspot capitalize on the short-form video revolution! + I have a dope vid series launching soon with @TheHustle

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Just saw my chiropractor said the chip on my shoulder is permanent :/

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

DRAFT DAY

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Turned 23 today. Finally getting closer to the age I tell women I am at the bar. Keep chipping away. Ferris wheel never stops spinning.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

lol went back and found how I started my friendship with @thesamparr 1.5 years later, I run MFM's tiktok and Our Future does 50M monthlies

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

1/ This billionaire was denied a promotion by his boss. So he bulldozed his house and built one exactly twice the size. Here are 5 mental models that made David Tepper one of the best investors ever 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

These college kids built the "Disney FastPass for Bars" worth tens of millions. The last technology bars adopted was accepting credit cards.... That was until they launched LineLeap and digitized American nightlife. 500,000 users later. Nick Becker, Patrick Skelly, and Max

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Now we involved in legitimate business baby we came a long way!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

I got shooters right on point with me just like I'm CP3

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

4/ Friends called me "King of the Cold Email" I convinced huge execs to talk to me: CEO of DocuSign CFO of Spotify CMO of Chipotle @m_evans (GrubHub) @englishpaulm (KAYAK) @GuyKawasaki (Apple/Canva) @mbrandolph (Netflix)

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

3/ A few months later, Zuckerberg shut it down. Nikita was still bullish on the idea, but he was locked in a 5-year non compete agreement. So when it expired in 2022, he started the exact same company again.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

4/ This time he called it Gas. Like TBH, it lets kids say nice things about each other. But he added a twist. You can pay to see who compliments you. Gas briefly dethroned TikTok as the #1 social media on the app store and has raked in millions of downloads.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

I can confirm. @ShaanVP is exactly the same IRL as he is on MFM... Thanks for the wisdom Mickey!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

pinch me. I'm only 23 and get to host a business podcast with @ShaanVP

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Imagine selling ur company at 30 and still feeling old

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

3/ My thesis? Business interview podcasts are long and boring. With fun, energetic 15 min interviews I would stand out. “Our Future” was born.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

2/ In 2017, Nikita sold his social media site to Facebook for $40M. Craziest part? He'd only started it 9 weeks before. It was called TBH and the app was simple. It let teenagers give each other compliments anonymously.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Hosted an awesome 2 hr cocktail party for Austin founders last night. 40+ people showed up! ⁦ @nickgraynews ⁩ ⁦ @_simmy_ ⁩

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

1/ This guy became the world's richest man selling stuff that no one needed. Bernard Arnault once saved a man's life performing CPR on an airplane. His business moves? Far less generous. Here are 5 lessons you can steal from the king of luxury 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Very few pages use thumbnails on TikTok. But I'll argue thumbnails are a *huge* hack to growth and brand-building on short-form. Here's how we win big with the "Netflix effect" and the "candy shop strategy" 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

With over 1B+ views and 1M+ follows on short-form video... Continuing my ranking of each pillar of the big three platforms. Quirks, features, best practices. Here's a banger TLDR on YT Shorts.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Having generated over 1B+ views on short-form video in the past 18 months... I'm ranking each platform's quirks, features, and best practices. Let's start in Zuck land with IG Reels.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Honored to be in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 at the age of 22. Our Future began as a burst of passion from a 20-year-old kid obsessed with business. Credit is owed to my partner @_simmy_ , Sia Anand, Jackson Kessler, and everyone else behind the scenes.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

10/ Anyways we didn’t raise. We had a golden goose: our agency. My First Million hired us to run their TikTok (50M views in year 1). Consistent MRR and friendships with @thesamparr and @ShaanVP !

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Ground zero baby 🏔️ Ep #1 of me and @_simmy_ 's Our Future Podcast dropped this AM covering: - @ericzhu105 raising $20M+ at age 15 - @CaseyAdams building + selling MediaKits in 1.5 yrs - @partiful 's $20M a16z bag to be Gen Z's eventbrite

How He Raised MILLIONS... From a Bathroom

Episode 1 of Our Future Podcast. Welcome to the entrepreneurship podcast for young people. We highlight scrappy founders on the rise and the bold tactics und...

www.youtube.com

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

7/ Def a smart exit. It's dope Nikita got people to pay $ for something on social media. Especially teenagers. He targeted adolescent psychology and did so in a positive way! Never let go of his conviction either.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Now the mind-blowing business. Sheridan owns a DTC steak brand/cattle ranch called 6666 (Four Sixes). It's natively advertised inside the show literally as a brand inside the cinematic universe). Fourth wall = Broken.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

6/ I started making 30-60s business stories on TikTok. Soon I had tens of millions of eyeballs and more reach than mainstream medias. TikTok was a game changer. Could I use it to build the next big media company?

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

How I write my 60s TikTok stories wild, unreasonable hook (5s) context (15s) tell the viewer they're about to learn something (5s) explain the actual story (25s) the ending confirms *some* truth to the hook (10s)

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

10 months

This guy sold his company for $40M at 23 before it even launched. Now he plans to beat Google with his newest startup. From snow removal to sports betting to search engines. Meet @SamRattner on the newest episode of Our Future Podcast ☕️🎧

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Somehow got mentioned on a podcast by a guy who studies billionaires Amazing to see @DavidSenra1 on @myfirstmilpod He's huge now but even years ago I struggled to get in touch... Finally got his attention when I stole a story from @FoundersPodcast and made it a viral vid

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

"Yellowstone" hinges on a billionaire rancher named John Dutton trying to usher his ranch into modernity. If Sheridan continues at this clip... He will become a more successful rancher than any of the characters in his shows. Bro has made his TV fantasy world real life.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

The thesis behind our podcast is simple. The smartest young entrepreneurs are too busy grinding to tell their story. We blow 'em up and make their lessons public knowledge.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

8/ Time to go full Logan Roy. We built more channels and struck gold as an early entrant to YT Shorts. We hit 100M monthly views. Should we raise money?

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Content isn't art. It's product.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

It wasn't until age 40, when Taylor's penmanship made him a rising showbiz star. He wrote two absolute bangers: - "Sicario" (2015) - "Hell or High Water" (2016) Both were written with a passion for the gritty, morally ambiguous westward America.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

5/ I was so damn passionate. I put out 3 episodes a week while a full-time college student. At 150 episodes, I stopped. My audience was tiny and I had 0 revenue. But TikTok was blowing up…

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Got @thesamparr to share more strategy about Hampton than ever before Dropping Wednesday. Lots of clownin 🔐

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Housesitting for @thesamparr bc it's the only way I can add value if TikTok gets banned DIVERSIFY YOUR BUSINESS.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

15/ DM me or @_simmy_ if you’re looking to scale your own company’s content presence. Paid ads are expensive and it’s time you give organic the time of day. Our renowned viral content services have a few openings in Q1…

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

These nerds weren't invited to parties. So they built a $500M product to pass the time. Wild story👇

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

2/ It’s April 2020. I’m bummed COVID sent me home from University of Michigan. But then a mentor told me: never let a good crisis go to waste. So like everyone else, I started a podcast…

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Growing up MFM was my favorite podcast. It still feels surreal to get to be involved in some small boy way.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

This guy was so good at math he broke the stock market. Jim Simons was a cold war code breaker turned math professor. Then he built the most profitable (and secretive) hedge fund in history. Here are his 4 lessons for success 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Big swings only 😤

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Currently reading Morning Brew AT Morning Brew with a Morning Brew

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

6/ To date, Gas has generated $7M in revenue and has as many downloads to match. 1M people use it a month. And Discord just announced they purchased it. Exit #2 for Mr. Nikita!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

7/ Enter my co-founder @_simmy_ He was just as bullish on short-form. Also great at everything I sucked at. Joins me to turn Our Future into a household name.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

I found my cringey audition for a Morning Brew podcast 3 years ago I remember practicing it for a day straight yesterday the dream came true with my own MB show built around my brand 🤯 i'm playing my infinite game and feel blessed everyday

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

1/ From $1M running an e-commerce biz at age 21… To owning the 76ers and sending a helicopter to welcome Meek Mill out of jail. Michael Rubin is as much a celebrity as he is a CEO. Here are 4 lessons from the billionaire behind Fanatics.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Got verified on the gram today. It's a goal I've had since I downloaded the app in 2012.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

40% of US college kids have never heard of ChatGPT Twitter is a BUBBLE!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

11/ We keep growing the biz aggressively. Ad deals with Shopify and Warby Parker come through. Simmy lands the deal to manage all of HubSpot’s short-form media. I get 30 under 30 and our agency ARR lookin sexy af.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

The richest man in music never sang a single song. Everyone knows how Scooter Braun discovered Bieber on YT. But few know how he built his music biz empire. Here are 4 mental models that explain it 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

On top of the land use, Sheridan charges Paramount for: - His trained stable of horses that the actors ride (tens of thousands $ a week) - His own cowboy academy to train soft ass Hollywood actors to get on a horse ($200K a weekend)

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

I built a 6-figure business as a content creator in 6 months. 0 - 500K+ cross-platform subscribers. 0 - 400M+ views. First time I'm sharing this online 🙃 Follow thread 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Our Future Podcast hittin' that stride 🏃‍♂️ - thousands of listeners/episode - 1M+ clip views - the founders we cover getting FLOODED with inbound - under 30 days since launch young mullah baby

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

she turned me down for frat formal... and now she's sending me a Linkedin request??? the AUDACITY 🤯

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

3 years

KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING. KEEP GOING.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

We made a mistake... @austin_rief has been forced to send a $100k bill to Starbucks. Takeaway: even as a micro-micro-business influencer, cover them dranks.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

3 years

You won't believe what this entrepreneur did to get noticed by investors. And pay attention because this is a strategy you can use in your own life. 🔗Follow Thread.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Me and @_simmy_ have been growing the top business podcasts for years We about to take over with our own 🤺 Our Future Podcast is the internet's new launch pad for young ballers Quit listening to 40 year olds who got lucky in dot com 🤮

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

6 months ago my media startup was doing 0 in revenue with almost 0 audience. Today, we do over 3M views per day and run branded content with billion-dollar companies. Now we need to hire a director of content to help us go from millions to billions of eyeballs. Know anyone?

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Selling a company isn't easy. Many factors to consider. For me only 1. Flex on my ex gfs now or in 5 years??

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Rockefeller didn't speak to the press for 60 years. Build in public? Maybe not lol.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

How to win in DTC Go to a foreign country Steal a culturally important herb Mix it into a nutropic and shill it to Americans via TikTok UGC

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

New podcasts should build for YouTube first. I just don't see any other way. The organic discovery is such a huge opportunity. This doesn't happen on audio podcast apps. We just started (300 subs) and YT is already giving us the chance to intrigue 11K+ people.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

These college kids had the largest exit in history for their age. $65M in less than 10 months after launch? They challenged OnlyFans and Patreon.... And built Gen Z's creator subscription platform. Here's the story of Simon Pompan and @harrygestetner1 . Harry (Tulane) and

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

11 months

Woahhh. Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop newsletter has 8M subs and $250M valuation 😲

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Used to love reading @TheHustle back in high school, now excited to be helping out with its new YT channel!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Playbook I used to build a mid-5 fig/mo ads business. 1. Find out who's sponsoring your competitors 2. Reach out and underprice 3. Overdeliver on the ads 4. Increase prices in next negotiation 5. Use first advertiser as a social proof for getting your 2nd and 3rd

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

These brothers became billionaires by stealing people's ideas. Oliver, Alex, and Marc Samwer are 3 German siblings who literally zucked Mark Zuckerberg. The playbook? 1) Copy American tech startups. 2) Localize them to Euro markets. 3) Sell to the company they copied.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

1/ This guy became a billionaire cheating his way through law school by throwing parties. Chris Sacca's cowboy shirts landed him on GQ's worst dressed list. But he's also on the roster of best startup investors in history. Here are 5 mental models he lives by 🧵

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

7 months

Cooking on something new @ChrisJBakke @tryfondo 👀

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

10 months

This story is really, really big. I think there's a future where millions of Americans sell their own homes and commissions become a thing of the past. What startups are working on disintermediation of residential RE?

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

13/ You can build a good business with only short-form video. But you can’t build a GREAT one. The main reason is you rely on mysterious algorithms and don’t own the audience. The risks of short-form video are gone now we are integrated with MB.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

People on Linkedin love hustle porn bc they dream of quitting corporate life. Twitter ppl don't bc they already took the shortcuts and broke the rules. Gotta keep it fresh and edgy!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

dealing with termites at my mom's house start talking shop with the guy pulls out his phone and shows me his 8-car garage (Audi R8, new M2 CS etc.) then tells me he owns the most recognizable mansion in our town $1.2M a year (1 employee, 1 asst) 🤯

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

My boujee side came out hard this weekend

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

a hungry young founder once asked me what i would've done differently in building Our Future i said "own your distribution" that man was fred smith and he started FedEx.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

value of short-form video platforms ranked by potential to build true fan affinity 1. YT Shorts 2. IG Reels 3. TikTok

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Calling all @UMich entrepreneurs! @myfirstmilpod 's first ever college pitch comp is coming to the best university in the world... Win $5K and pitch your idea in front of a 3M+ audience! 5 startups selected to pitch: @thesamparr @ShaanVP @bar5hop

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

1 year

Yesterday we released our first AI-driven video. We unleashed a mug-shaped news reporter to talk about Twitter's new entity X Corp. This mug demands no salary, no healthcare, and can generate infinite reports via ChatGPT. ~60K people viewed the video so far (but a lot of

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

just copy and pasted my tiktok video script about @MarcLore to Linkedin 1100 likes and 150k views in two hours?! never seen this kind of virality on linkedin def going to double down

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

New logo. The marriage is complete!

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

14/ At MB, I will continue to lead Our Future’s content and we're gearing up to launch a podcast. Simmy will lead the Our Future agency to help big companies become content powerhouses.

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Michael Sikand

@michaelsikand

2 years

Our Future's content performance in the last month: YouTube: 41,000,000 TikTok: 4,300,000 IG: 4,100,000 IP expansion into podcast and long-form YT soon!

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