🗒️ For YouTuber multi-millionaires Rhett & Link, venture capital is the future of creators
CNBC: Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal are two of the most successful content creators in the social media market, with their long-running YouTube show “Good Mythical Morning” helping them earn $30 million in 2022 — the fourth-most among YouTubers, according to Forbes.
As the creator economy surpasses $100 billion in value with more than 300 million people taking part in it globally, according to a recent report, venture capitalists are recognizing individual creators as investment opportunities that tap into the sector’s potential. Those investors also include creators like McLaughlin and Neal.
“The right creators are good investments,” said McLaughlin, who is co-CEO of Mythical Entertainment. “We are taking a very deep look at their business and their vision.”
🗒️ Private debt delivers calm waters in storm of volatility
Pitchbook: Private debt can deliver a reliable income stream in a volatile market, making it an appealing asset class to investors today. The relatively solid performance shown by private debt funds in the second half of last year could inspire even more confidence in the category.
"One of the key attractions of private credit is the certainty of returns that the trio of seniority, contractual cash flows and negotiated downside protection—native to most private credit strategies—can deliver," said Roger Li, managing director and co-head of GP advisory at Briarcliffe Credit Partners, in an email to PitchBook.
🗒️ Tech Layoffs Remain Ongoing, But What’s Happening to the Actual Employees?
dot.LA: Less than halfway into 2023, global layoffs from the technology sector have already surpassed 2022’s total. An estimated 197,000 tech employees around the world have lost their jobs so far this year, according to data compiled by Layoffs.fyi, and the overall tally has multiplied seven-fold so far this year. It’s still not over! Meta told employees just this week to expect even more cuts which could impact thousands more people, while British telecom Vodafone announced plans to slash 11,000 jobs over the next three years.
But while the layoffs themselves, and perhaps the companies’ adjustments to moving forward with a much smaller workforce, get the lion’s share of the headlines, one question still remains: Just what’s going to happen to all these newly laid-off people? When one or two big firms gets into trouble, it’s sort of assumed other big players in the industry will grab top talent that’s suddenly freed up. But will there be enough tech jobs for all the people leaving their former companies this year?
🗒️ Exclusive: Evercore advises Tiger Global on GP-led secondaries strip sale
Pitchbook: After a yearslong buying spree in the VC market, Tiger Global has been playing the role of seller in recent months.
The New York-based crossover investor has hired Evercore to shop a so-called strip sale in the secondary market to liquidate a curated portfolio of mid- and late-stage VC-backed companies, according to a person with direct knowledge of the sale and two others who have been briefed on the deal.
The firm hopes to sell interests in its private holdings to return some liquidity to LPs, as first reported by the Financial Times earlier this week. The role of Evercore, a leading secondaries adviser, and the structure of the planned sale were previously unreported.
