Podbit · Excess Returns
Every EM outperformance and underperformance cycle since 1987 has coincided with a weak or strong dollar. A benign dollar allows EM policymakers to ease monetary and fiscal policy, boosting domestic growth — the most powerful driver of EM returns.
Where this was said
At 15:35 · chapter starts 13:16
Ian Smith explains how every EM outperformance and underperformance cycle since 1987 has correlated with dollar weakness or strength, and why a benign dollar unlocks easier monetary and fiscal policy in EM. [1] — Ian Smith "Every EM outperformance and underperformance cycle since 1987 has coincided with a weak or strong dollar. A benign dollar allows EM policym…" 15:35
The MSCI Emerging Markets index has existed since 1987, providing nearly four decades of performance data covering two full outperformance and two underperformance cycles.
Sam built Algrow, a SaaS for finding viral content formats, with zero coding experience using ChatGPT and Cursor. Six months later: 10,000 users, $14K/month in revenue.
Sam's first MVP threw an application error on its very first user — and he shipped it anyway. The core idea worked, and that was enough to validate the product and keep users coming back.
Sam joined Discord voice chats, muted himself, and silently screen-shared his product. Users in the chat started tagging him asking what the tool was. No pitch needed — curiosity did the selling.
Most founders post links in Discord and immediately get banned for self-promotion. Sam's approach was the opposite: build rapport, help people with the tool, let word of mouth do the work.
Find where your ICP lives. Listen before building. Validate with DMs and Loom recordings. Build in public with users inside your own Discord server. Turn early adopters into advocates with free access.
Instead of fearing the self-promo ban in large Discord servers, create your own private server for your product. You funnel in ideal customers and build a relationship that email can't replicate.
Algrow helps creators find and replicate viral video formats, starting at $25/month. It analyzes subscriber counts, average views, and trending formats — and can even generate the videos with AI.
After weeks of Sam silently screen-sharing in a Discord server, the server owner — unprompted — made a full YouTube promotional video about Algrow. Sam paid nothing and asked for nothing.
Producer Gus admits Discord never crossed his mind as a customer acquisition channel. Pat connects the insight to a broader lesson: match your distribution channel to where your actual customers live.
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