♟️ Chess.com has a Russia problem

PLUS: Morgan Housel on market cycles, and Musk’s financial aid. [The Hustle] Howdy, folks. Important reminder: It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday. Is your mom reading The Hustle? No?! [Sign her up](. In today’s email: - Chess.com How Russia’s invasion rattled the world of online chess. - Chart: Elon Musk got his rich friends to chip in for Twitter. - Morgan Housel: Why you need to understand market cycles. - Around the web: Computer music, coin art, free 3D resources, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s podcast]( to hear Zack, Nicole, and Juliet discuss the recent uptick in Black-owned businesses, why it’s important to talk about it, and what needs to happen for that momentum to continue. The big idea [chess piece]( Russia’s war in Ukraine is causing ripples in the world of online chess There’s a digital duopoly you’re likely unaware of unless you know how to elicit a checkmate. Chess.com and Lichess.org are the 2 most popular online chess platforms in the world, hosting 10m+ and 5m+ daily games, respectively. Besides game volume, the platforms have another big difference. Chess.com is a 200-person private company, while Lichess.org is an open-sourced server run by volunteers and donations (a la Wikipedia). Per Rest of World, this dynamic, and the platforms’ respective responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has rattled the online chess [landscape]( in Russia, where the game is a national pastime. In February… … Chess.com issued a [statement]( condemning Russia’s invasion. Besides voicing support for Ukraine, the company has: - Banned accounts from Russian players under international sanctions, including multiple Russian oligarchs - Removed the Russian flag from players’ icons - Excluded Russian teams from playing in some tournaments In response, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media supervision agency, blocked Chess.com, prohibiting Russian players from using the site. Russian players… … only make up ~4% of Chess.com’s user base. However, the country has long been home to more grandmasters (the highest title a chess player can achieve) than any other nation. In 2021, ~14% of global grandmasters came from Russia (the US was 2nd with 5.5%). Some players have moved over to Lichess.org, which has faced pressure to make its own statement on the conflict, but hasn’t — likely due to the platform’s open nature. Despite the tension… … Chess.com says it hasn’t seen a meaningful decline in Russian users, with many circumventing the government ban by using VPNs. Further, in April, 44 of Russia’s top players signed an [open letter]( to Putin to stop the war. Perhaps he should listen — chess is a game of strategy after all. [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=Russia%E2%80%99s+war+in+Ukraine+is+causing+ripples+in+the+world+of+online+chess%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05062022-online-chess%3Futm_campaign%3DFriday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D05062022-online-chess%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 Seeing red: The market [experienced]( its worst day since 2020, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping ~3%, S&P 500 index down 3.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite down ~5%. The sell-off hit most corners of the market, with 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 falling on the day. No new Metamates: Meta [announced]( it will freeze hiring through the end of the year in order to curb its spending amid slowing revenue growth. No sharing: Disney+ [sent]( a survey to subscribers in Spain asking about password sharing habits. The move prompted analysts to assume they may start cracking down on password sharing, following Netflix’s plans. Creator cut: TikTok [revealed]( plans to roll out a premium ad program that would let creators take a cut of ads. The program will allow select brands to place ads alongside the top 4% of videos on the app. Alexa’s new frenemy: Sonos [announced]( plans to launch its own voice-assistant service, allowing customers to control music across Sonos’ suite of speakers. The company’s devices already support Alexa and Google assistant. Fundraising tips: Minority entrepreneurs often face inequities in financing, but small business grants can help kick off a venture or turn around a covid-impacted business. Read The Hustle blog to [find tips]( on how and where to apply for minority business grants. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hey — enjoy getting quick updates on what you care about? Take [20 seconds]( to personalize your Snippets. Pick your preferences👇 and we’ll send you more of what you love. Boom. [Personalize my Email →]( Chart [investors backing Musk]( Selina Lee Musk gets some financial aid for Twitter In the latest installment of Elon Musk’s Twitter saga, a group of [19 investors]( are backing his $44B buyout with $7.1B+ in new financing. What’s this mean? It makes the deal more affordable for Musk by [reducing]( the cash he’s responsible for laying out, as well as the Tesla shares he needs to put up against a $12.5B loan — by 50%. The largest investor on the list… … is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, of Saudi Arabia. Originally, the prince [tweeted]( that Musk’s offer didn’t come “close to the intrinsic value of Twitter.” Musk responded by asking him about “the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech.” In a flip-flop, the prince is now putting up $1.9B in financing and tweeted that Musk will be an “excellent leader.” What happens now? CNBC [reported]( Musk is expected to become Twitter’s CEO for a few months. Current CEO Parag Agrawal, who himself has had the gig for just a few months, is set to receive [$42m]( if he loses his job. [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=Musk+gets+some+financial+aid+for+Twitter%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05062022-investors-backing-Musk%3Futm_campaign%3DFriday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D05062022-investors-backing-Musk%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]( Opinion [Morgan's Musings]( Why investors need to understand the market’s cycles Attempting to make sense of the stock market becomes a little easier when you admit 2 things: - Everything is cyclical. - Those cycles have less to do with economics and more to do with the stories people believe and the narratives they latch onto. In the last 2 years, we’ve gone from the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression to a stock market that surged to all-time highs, to the worst start-of-the-year period for stocks since the Great Depression. There’s a long history of these cycles In general, they follow a similar path — boom to bust to boom again, over and over. This results in a shock cycle of investors’ moods that goes something like this: - Assume good news is permanent. - Ignore bad news. - Deny bad news. - Panic at bad news. - Accept bad news. - Ignore good news. - Deny good news. - Accept good news. - Assume good news is permanent. Right now… … we’re probably somewhere between panicking at bad news and accepting bad news. Inflation is causing havoc, but few are in denial about it anymore. Before long, the cycle will turn again. When is impossible to know, but the inevitability is almost certain. And when you understand the cycles, they become less confusing, less scary, and more exciting. [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=Why+investors+need+to+understand+the+market%E2%80%99s+cycles%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F05062022-Morgans-Musings%3Futm_campaign%3DFriday%2BEmail%26utm_content%3D05062022-Morgans-Musings%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 Advice on self-publishing an Amazon bestseller Female Startup Club founder Doone Roisin’s [Your Hype Girl]( is a bestseller on 3 continents. Before her book went global, she detailed [her entire go-to-market strategy]( for Trendsters. Here’s her post-launch marketing breakdown of what’s key. - Breaking the rules: Amazon publishing tools limit you to 2 category choices, but you can actually request 8. - TikTok is tops: Quality organic influencer marketing looks [like this](. - Document everything: Channels, costs, communities, and more. For details, strategies you should avoid, and an itemized list of expenses, see [the Trends article](. Our community hosts all sorts of builders who share in-the-trenches gems on the daily. Access our 17k-member network and the weekly newsletter for entrepreneurs and investors. [Inside Trends →]( AROUND THE WEB 🖼️ On this day: In 1876, Thomas Gainsborough’s “Duchess of Devonshire” was sold at auction for $51.5k, then the highest-ever auction price paid for a painting. Two days later, it was [stolen](. 🎨  Useful: 3D Bay is a collection of [free 3D illustrations]( you can use without attribution. 🎵 Cure boredom: Click a point. Click another. Let your computer make you some [weird music](. 🪙 Art: A NYC-based artist inscribed [120k]( pennies with a message. Those coins are in circulation — maybe you have one. 🥰 Aww: And now, a very relaxed [armadillo](. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (A roundup of our best reads from the last couple weeks…) ⛳ The [strange business]( of hole-in-one insurance 🥀 Is the [flower industry]( wilting? 📱 Are the tech giants’ best days [behind them](? 👶 Kids are getting smartphones [younger than ever]( 🟩 Three months later, [what’s up]( with ‘Wordle’? Shower Thoughts - “May is rough because it's the month you realize it's not seasonal depression.” [SOURCE]( - “Laziness has prevented more crime than any law or law enforcement ever will.” [SOURCE]( - “Trying to carry your groceries in one trip is probably the most effortful form of laziness.” [SOURCE]( - “On a tidally locked planet, noon is a location.” [SOURCE]( - “Pluto wasn’t demoted; it went from being a tiny, irrelevant planet to being the king of an entirely new class of solar system objects.” [SOURCE](  [via Reddit]( SHARE THE HUSTLE Hey. Stop keeping us a secret. Refer just 3 people and we’ll start to send some goodies as a thank you. [My First Million ebook]( Spread the news. Help us grow 🌱 [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, [Rob Litterst](, and [Morgan Housel](. Editing by: Mark “Checkmate” Dent. 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