💆♂️ Reflecting on 2023
You know I get very reflexive at the end of each year as it is for me an opportunity to look back on the year and see how it went.
This is 2022's post if you missed it last year:
Luckily, and by design, I document my year in public here, and in private by journaling. So everything is accessible to look at when I feel like it. And boy, what a year.
In the words of the legendary rapper Biggie Smalls, I can sum up this year in a line from one of his songs: another day, another struggle.
I can't really relate to the rest of the words from this song, as it tells the story of a drug dealer (an illegal drug dealer). But this year has been a hustle. I'm not sounding the alarm just yet though - it's been great learning-wise.
On a personal note, I finally went outside of Latam to visit places I've always dreamt of knowing since I was a kid. Now I find myself following real estate pages on Instagram to find the best place to rent in Amsterdam.
I became an innovation consultant part-time at Beta-i to work with companies such as Wilson Sons, and Hidrovias do Brasil for a groundbreaking blue economy program and have been helping Copel with their Corporate Venture Capital strategy.
Then, went through an acceleration program at Antler to find a partner for a new venture, and found Raphael Guastaferro - this genius tech & product person.
Not to mention the launch of SaaSholic's Giants of SaaS project with the story of one of the most legendary tech companies in Latam, Locaweb Company (BVMF: $LWSA).
This was such a cool launch that even LWSA's Investor Relations posted to their institutional channels.
Speaking of SaaSholic, I'd like to give a special thanks to
for working side by side with me as a co-author of Giants of SaaS, and for being the first paid subscriber of I'm No Economist. You're encouraging me to keep haunting inboxes all over the world.I'd also like to give a big shout-out to everyone who was kind enough to pick up the phone and reply to my messages asking for something. Usually, their valuable time to answer questions on product discovery calls I made - and there were just so many!
And more than anything, a huge thanks to my wife who is the real hero for putting up with my sh*t and supporting me while I play entrepreneur.
📈 2023 in numbers:
🧪 The "You Probably Heard About" experiment
I wanted to see if frequency would change anything in I'm No Economist's growth. To do so, I increased the times I issued a new edition from every 30-45 days to one a week. Effectively 4x the number of emails hitting subscribers inboxes every Friday.
As with everything I do, I started this experiment with only one goal in mind: to make sure I sent a new edition for at least 12 consecutive weeks.
I did 14 without expecting a huge increase in results. But as usual, results came. Who would've thought? Not me.
77% increase in daily traffic YoY:
93% increase in subscribers YoY:
🏆 Best editions of 2023:
🥇I'm No Economist #18: The re-founder profession: 154 views // 46% open rate
🥈 I'm No Economist #22: Shameful MVP: 169 views // 45% open rate
🥉 Atlantico's 2023 Latam Report: You Probably Heard About #13 [I'm No Economist]: 160 views // 43% open rate
This is quite a niche audience with subscribers in Brazil reading even more niched English content from someone with a Supla's complex, mixing English and Portuguese every time I open my mouth.
👔 Linkedin for the win:
LinkedIn also played a huge role in the growth of I'm No Economist this year. Since most of the posts I do here, I post there to spread the I'm No Economist's new editions, impressions have gone wild!
1,817% increase in post impressions YoY:
🔮 What to expect from 2024:
As far as I'm No Economist goes, I'll make a few improvements. The first one is to make this a business.
I had a call - actually a few calls - with someone I consider to be a mentor and he strongly advised me to find a way to monetize I'm No Economist.
I'll run a few tests and probably have someone here helping me since this is not the only thing I devote my time to.
I'm proudly committed to the projects I'm allocated to at Beta-i. And other projects here and there that I simply can't drop because they're too exciting. And yeah, I'm a recovering workaholic who has recently relapsed.
Not to mention Vertru, the company I started with Raphael while at Antler is on the market for projects in software development so we can fund our own products.
The newest thing on our minds is Superhuman, but for WhatsApp.
I posted a poll on my Linkedin and people either love the idea, or they don't know what Superhuman is. It gives us a very good sign:
All in all, this was a great year. You'll hear more from me via I'm No Economist soon.
Have a happy new year! 🍾🎆
Talk soon,
L.
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I'm No Economist is a newsletter about global investment trends 💰
Here you'll read research digests and updates on what's going on in Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Global Macroeconomy - all subjects I'm fascinated with and have strong opinions about.