Hi, and welcome to a special interview edition of the Bay Area Times. For today's issue, we talked to one of the most popular writers and influencers in the new financial media space, the anonymous "meme king" who goes by the name Litquidity, or Lit for short.
Lit's profile picture on Instagram and Twitter.
In the spirit of the Bay Area Times, we've summarized the interview into actionable bullets and insights below.
Interview summary
About Lit
Former investment banker living in NYC.
6 years ago: when he started the Litquidity Instagram.
Quit his job and went full-time during the pandemic.
Anonymous: very few people know his identity.
Anonymous status not changing anytime soon
He likes the privacy: he doesn't want people bugging him, online or off.
How Lit grew Exec Sum
Self-promotion from his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Earned media: mentions on Bloomberg, The Hustle, etc.
Beehiiv's recommendation system.
Very little advertising (some Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok ads).
How Lit grew his socials
"Good memes and good content", Wall St. humor.
Good content that goes viral, with people naturally sharing them.
Financials
Revenue in the 7-figure range: that's his goal for 2023.
Revenue comes from advertising and some merch.
Exec Sum is the most profitable brand.
Margins are extremely high.
Other metrics
225K subscribers on Exec Sum
55%+ open rate
315K followers on Twitter (@litcapital)
762K followers on Instagram (@litquidity)
Team
Team is very small: just himself, 1 part-time editor (Jack Raines), and "a few" college interns.
Lit still writes a lot of the content himself. He also does a lot of ad sales, but he uses third parties to help fill the ad inventory for the entire year.
Why Lit created different brands
To have different voices and target different audiences: some are NFSW, some are not, for example.
He could sell one asset while keeping the others (he gave an example of selling Exec Sum to Bloomberg).
New plans moving forward
Litney Partners: executive search and consulting firm focused on junior bankers, his audience.
VC investments, using his own money and SPVs.
He focuses on investing in areas he understands and can add value to. For example, one of his first investments was Beehiiv, the email service provider he uses (we use them too).
Bringing back his podcast.
Future of media business
Newsletters are only going to grow: because they are easy to launch, and the creator owns their audience (no cancellation or algorithm change risk).
Mainstream media will have to adjust: people are gravitating towards individuals, so mainstream media will need to have more personalities writing for them.
What did you think of today's newsletter?
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Disclaimer: The Bay Area Times is a news publisher. All statements and expressions herein are the sole opinions of the author. The information, tools, and material presented are provided for informational purposes only, are not financial advice, and are not to be used or considered as an offer to buy or sell securities; and the publisher does not guarantee their accuracy or reliability. You should do your own research and consult an independent financial adviser before making any investments. Assets mentioned may be owned by members of the Bay Area Times team.
