👷 Landmen are in trouble

PLUS: The Hustle’s best blogs from 2015.. April 20, 2021 [The Hustle] [The Hustle]( WE DID IT. Five years delivering the best damn business newsletter around. Thanks for being a part of the ride. Today we’re also releasing a brand new feature: Personalized Snippets. Snippets, the section you know and love, is now customizable to your interests. Choose from 8 different topics -- and get personalized snippets each and every day. [Click here to get started](. We’ll be rolling out new topics and more personalization in the coming months. Here’s to 5 more years! The big idea [oil gif]( Landmen are going through a dramatic career change If you’re thinking, “What the heck is a landman?” you’re not alone. Landmen are a part of a geographically niche industry that might ring a bell if you’re from an oil-rich part of America. But today, as oil demand cools and renewables heat up, these workers are facing [new challenges](. What do landmen do? Traditionally, landmen track down landowners whose properties sit on oil-rich land and offer them payments for drilling rights. As recently as 2018, rights were going for $17k [per acre]( -- and landmen were rewarded with 6-figure paychecks for their work. But a swift shift toward renewables -- and a pandemic -- dropped the price of shale acreage by 70%+. Now landmen are getting hit hard Low demand means low prices. As a result: - Membership in the national 12k-person l[andmen’s association]( dropped ~20% - The US oil and gas industry [lost]( 107k jobs in 2020, with Texas losing [~60k]( But new opportunities are popping up Between 2010 and today, the combined market caps of Exxon, Shell, BP, and Chevron (the “oil majors”) dropped from $893.9B to ~$671B. By contrast, NextEra, Enel, and Iberdrola (the “green majors”) jumped from  $111.3B to ~$330B. For landmen, a new [gig platform]( Energy Freelance offers tech to identify previously hard-to-find contract opportunities. And while drilling might be on the way out, deals for wind and solar [are in](. Today, solar makes up just [under 2%]( of the Texas electric grid. Translation: There’s quite a bit of room for growth. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Landmen+are+going+through+a+dramatic+career+change%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04202021-oil-landmen%3Futm_campaign%3DTuesday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D04202021-oil-landmen%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( SNIPPETS NEW! Introducing our new and improved [Snippets](. You can now select your favorite topics. Follow the button below to get started. Want to consult an interior designer online? Now you can with [The Expert](, a video consultation marketplace backed by Gwyneth Paltrow. Football fans are raging at 15 top European teams and their plan to form a Super League. Backed by a [$6B]( JPMorgan loan, it would be one of the largest economic restructurings in modern pro sports per Axios. Zoom is zooming ahead with plans for a $100m [startup fund]( for companies that build on top of its technology. Zoom will invest $250k to $2.5m in each company. Facebook and Reddit talk over each other: The social platforms both announced their [live-audio]( responses to Clubhouse Monday. Apple has an event today. It’s [expected]( to announce new iPads, an Apple Pencil, and possibly AirTags, its response to Tile -- whose 30m+ item [trackers]( locate ~6m things every day. [Personalize Your Snippets]( Clubhouse Creators [group]( How one of Clubhouse’s most popular shows is building a business Every new social app creates space for different content and different business models. Social audio app Clubhouse -- which just raised funds at a [$4B]( valuation mere months after notching a [$1B]( price tag -- has become a blank canvas for new ways to monetize live audio. Among the most interesting experiments on the platform is “NYU Girls Roasting Tech Guys,” which The Washington Post [describes]( as a combo of an interactive comedy show, dating game, and podcast. Founded by a group of New York University (NYU) grads... … this Clubhouse room re-creates the atmosphere of a bar. Attendees get the opportunity to spit some game at potential dates (AKA “shoot your shot”). The live nature of the room can lead to viral unscripted moments and attracts upward of 10k unique Clubhouse users a night. The Hustle recently spoke to 2 of the show’s co-hosts -- Devin Lewtan and Sarah Jannetti -- to find out what’s next for NYU Girls: - Business modelNYU Girls utilizes the tipping feature from Clubhouse and also runs a chat channel on [Spore]( where listeners can interact with each other (and also tip the hosts). Separately, a number of brands have sponsored the show, targeting its younger audience: Recess (a CBD-infused sparkling water), Starface (skin care). - Growing outside of ClubhouseThe show’s content strategy falls into 2 buckets: 1) live (Clubhouse now, but more in-person events in the future); and 2) asynchronous (potentially taking dating storylines and repackaging them into podcasts or a digital TV show). More broadly, NYU Girls is exploring audio apps outside of just Clubhouse to find the best fit. - Long-term visionLewtan, Jannetti, and the other founders are working on NYU Girls part time. They’ve been approached by investors but don’t want to take money without a clear road map. As an inspiration, the pair mention [Bethenny Frankel](. The one-time reality star (The Apprentice) parlayed her media success into a $100m+ lifestyle consumer brand (Skinnygirl). In the meantime, you can get roasted yourself every Tuesday and Thursday at [10pm ET](. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=How+one+of+Clubhouse%E2%80%99s+most+popular+shows+is+building+a+business%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04202021-NYU-Girls-Roasting-Tech-Guys%3Futm_campaign%3DOil%2BLandmen%26utm_content%3D04202021-NYU-Girls-Roasting-Tech-Guys%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Garden Tech The next high-tech makeover: Gardening tools With nowhere to go during quarantine, many Americans put extra effort into literally tending their own backyard. As reported by [The Wall Street Journal](, 27% of homeowners overhauled their grassy wares in 2020, and 19% plan on doing a garden project in 2021. Here’s a WSJ roundup of new-age gardening tech (which we had no idea existed) to help aspiring green thumbs: Husqvarna’s Automower ($1.2k) If you ever wanted a Roomba for lawn care, Husqvarna has you covered. The robot has object avoidance sensors and can run overnight -- about 4 hrs on a charge -- without supervision. Source: Husqvarna Rachio Smart Irrigation ($230) As it turns out, the adjective “smart” can be applied to any hardware device. Rachio’s smart irrigation system connects to a sprinkler system and “automatically adjusts your watering schedule to coming weather patterns.” Source: Rachio Bird Buddy ($189) Currently being crowdfunded on [Indiegogo](, this bird feeder uses AI and a camera app to keep track of all the birds that nosh in the feeder. This way, you can track all the species… like a “Pokémon Go for birds.” Sure, why not?! Source: Bird Buddy [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=The+next+high-tech+makeover%3A+Gardening+tools%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F04202021-Gardening-tools%3Futm_campaign%3DOil%2BLandmen%26utm_content%3D04202021-Gardening-tools%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDS $900k/yr renting out PO boxes... Have you been to the Trends community recently? This week: - One Trends member shared a way to bring in $900k/yr in revenue renting out PO boxes to new businesses - Our members shared their best PR tactics and how to reach out to journalists to create buzz for your startup - We brainstormed ways to take advantage of the most underutilized forms of advertising - And much more. To access all community discussions[try Trends for one full week for just $1](. During your one week trial, you’ll also get access to exclusive livestreamed lectures, our growing database of upcoming market opportunities, and our private network of entrepreneurs, founders, and investors from around the world. [All for a buck.]( [Get Access →]( Top memories of the day [The Hustle landing page] Pulling in sweet sweet emails for 5 years! Holy smokes, 5 years! While many of you are familiar with The Hustle for the daily drip of business and tech news, we used to be more well known for cranking out viral stories on our blog (circa 2015). 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