Startup Spotlight: Lolli

Welcome to The Modern Day Renaissance Man newsletter. I, Trey Layton, write about the things that interest me, often covering topics such as startups, sports, and entertainment. If you'd like to receive these newsletters directly in your email a few times a week, go ahead and subscribe to never miss an email!

Happy Wednesday, folks.

Another day, another cringe Zuck moment. Yesterday, Facebook Meta hosted its version of an office holiday party with its Meta Connect 2022, a corporate version of a show and tell where execs present a bunch of shiny new products and hope that investors get distracted from the fact that the company is blowing billions of dollars on video game glasses.

Many remember Mark's infamous selfie from a few months ago. In it, an avatar vaguely resembling the founder stands in front of a pixelated Eiffel Tower, though given the billions of dollars he has redirected from Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp to creating the Metaverse, the graphics left quite a bit to be desired.

The story doesn't end there, though. Just like your day trader friends in 2021 arguing that market valuations were sustainable despite what the fundamentals said, "this time is different." Now, Meta unveiled the one thing holding it back: legs.

Prior to this latest update, avatars in Meta's Horizon floated around without lower limbs. It made for some slightly WALL-E-esque animations. Now, though, users can high-knees around the office conference room as they please!

The company also announced a series of hardware advancements and financial updates that will likely have a bigger impact than kneecaps:

• Meta Quest Pro: the high-end model of its existing VR headset

• Quest Pro: upgraded base model to be shipped later this month

• Quest Store revenue: $1.5 billion to date! Talk about a profi... oh... they invested $2.8 billion in VR... last quarter.

Now let's talk about some of the little guys.

*The following is not financial advice, and I'm not qualified to give such advice. I'm merely discussing a company which offers an interesting and innovative product which some users might find to be a good fit for them. As always, make sure to do your own research before making financial or investment decisions.*

Crypto is a polarizing field for most people, and opinions might range from Madagascar to Inception. While for most of the ecosystem, I wouldn't disagree with either analogy, more mature branches such as Bitcoin have become more acceptable among even institutional investors with the rise of ETFs and retirement account options as well as direct investments.

Unless you've shelled out $250,000 for access to Level 3 data or are married to Nancy Pelosi, timing the market is probably not the investment strategy for you. Instead, most financial advisors would recommend either buying ETFs for certain industries or investing in index funds to track the broader market. Rather than YOLOing in, they also recommend following a strategy of dollar cost averaging (DCA) where investors continually invest a set amount every certain period of time (like every month) so that the average price follows the market and averages out for steady returns without the stress (and risk) of trying to buy the dip.

There are many ways to go about DCA, such as telling your financial advisor to do so on your behalf or simply connecting your bank account to your online brokerage and setting up auto investments. The newest, and arguably most innovative, method is earning rewards on your everyday purchases.

An example of this is Acorns which allows you to round up to the nearest dollar when you make a purchase and invest the difference into a few ETF portfolios. Another is Gemini, the crypto company started by the Winklevi plural for Winklevoss; both played by Armie Hammer in The Social Network) twins. When they're not wearing leather pants on stage as leads of their own Blink 182 cover band called "Mars Junction," Tyler and Cameron are offering US customers Gemini credit cards which provide up to 3% back on daily purchases which is automatically invested in Bitcoin.

However, a company which is making this concept even more accessible is Lolli, a service offering Bitcoin on daily spending without a card.

With Lolli, customers can shop at any of thousands of partner stores, including big names such as Nike, Chewy, and even Amazon. The stores pay Lolli for the referrals, and Lolli takes a cut of this before returning the rest to customers in Bitcoin (or cash if they opt out). Average customers get access to an innovative alternative asset class by just spending with the beloved stores where they already shop.

Not only does this provide people a way to have some skin in the game for people who are curious about crypto but don't want to risk trying to time investments, but it also provides another outlet through which to indoctrinate non crypto natives to the potential of the space and provide them with a sense of ownership and excitement over the industry which they are now part of.

Most crypto wallets function best on web browsers, so it makes sense that the service operates as a Chrome add-on. This means that after installing the extension and setting up an account, users don't have to do anything for the rewards as they are automatically handled by the browser extension.

One of the company's strongest features is its roster of brand partnerships is expansive, offering varying Bitcoin rewards for spending at companies ranging from hotel chains to athleisure brands to even tax services. I'm willing to bet your Shein rewards that you'll find many that you already use in your daily life.

The market is large and growing, the online investment industry already surpassing $4 billion in valuation and growing with a CAGR in the mid-teens. That's not to mention the massive size and potential of the broader crypto market and the growing number of people that are interested in learning more about it. Even though public sentiment has grown pessimistic during the broader market downturns and the even more severe crypto winter, 46 million Americans still plan on purchasing crypto currency in the next year. There are few simpler ways to do so than automatically with a service like Lolli.

One of the biggest concerns facing a company like Lolli is the number of competitors in the cashback and crypto investment space. Acorns already sits atop a $1.9 billion market cap and is a well-known brand among those looking to earn on everyday purchases. Further, perhaps in response to recognizing the massive opportunity which Lolli has picked up on in the crypto space, Acorns has recently provided exposure to crypto for its users in a Bitcoin ETF. While this ETF is meant to track the crypto market, it doesn't provide users directly with Bitcoin. However, for those just looking to take a shallow swim into crypto by only investing via rewards, perhaps this limited exposure is what they are actually looking for?

There are also competitors such as Bakkt which provide customized solutions to companies and their customers in the crypto rewards space, such as redeeming loyalty points for Bitcoin. While it doesn't list such a long partner network as Lolli does, the company does offer tailored solutions to allow companies to customize their rewards to fit the needs of their customers.

Finally, there are dozens of exchanges and brokerages providing cheap and easy ways for investors to gain exposure to crypto such as Robinhood and Coinbase. While they require more work on the part of the customer, they are still the first place that most investors go when they want to explore $DOGE.

Lolli is also tapping into the power of community. They've started a blog to continue to educate and connect with their users, and they've started a college ambassador program to find ways to reach the younger demographic through the power of micro influencers and internships to help educate and prepare more bright minds to enter the fintech and crypto spaces.

There is not much information about the team, but they claim to be motivated by a vision of the future of payments as digital, inclusive, and instant. This is the optimistic view of crypto which is required to weather the storms like the blizzard we currently find ourselves in. It's the kind of mindset which will persist in finding innovative and beneficial ways to wield this novel technology and all of its potential to make the world a better place.

Lolli has an innovative product which is extremely useful and easy to use for users. It has a strong network of existing partner stores, and it has a low barrier to entry which might succeed in introducing even more interested customers to the crypto space. Finally, it has the vision to use the power of crypto in world-changing ways. Lolli, YGMI.

If you are interested in having your startup written about, feel free to respond to this email and we can get in touch. Even if you just know of a cool company or founder working on a neat project, I'd love to hear about it. Lastly, make sure to connect with me on any social media platform @treylayton3!

Cheers to another day,

Trey