Trends.co — Worth the Hype?
If you wanted to research a business or trend 40 years ago, you either flipped through a massive encyclopedia ($1,400 💸for a full encyclopedia set in 1844) or went to the library.
I’ve done neither of those things in the last 10 years.
Today, we don’t have a problem accessing information. It’s basically free and there are dozens, hundreds or even thousands of sources on any one specific topic.
Our problem is too much information. There’s normally not a clear answer on the best place to start if you want to deep dive into understanding a certain subject.
Hence the need for aggregators — sourcing the best data, analysis and information.
In the last year, my team and I founded, and bootstrapped, two brands that will eclipse seven-figures this year.
How did we stumble upon the ideas for these brands?
A tip from a friend and identifying a major trend.
That’s the foundation for Trends.co, a website of business ideas, research, and insights into what industries, markets, tools and strategies create massive business opportunities.
Get $100 Off of a Trends Annual Membership 🤑 Here
2020 has made four things especially apparent:
1) Corporate jobs are not as safe as you think. 2) Relying on a single-source of income is risky. 3) The future is digital. 4) Starting a business is easier (and harder) than you think.
Economic downturns and record-high unemployment numbers breed entrepreneurs. As they say, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”
The good news? It’s easier than ever to start a business if you know where to start.
If you are thinking about starting a business, Trends is your cheat code.
I’m going to dive into my favorite Trends features.
Signals🚦
There’s an old debate about whether the idea or execution matters more.
Maybe it’s a false choice and the right answer is the market.
Once or twice a week, Signals releases a report on products, brands and categories that are trending up 📈
They use data from sources like Google Trends (free), Subreddit Stats, Keywords Everywhere, Crunchbase and Jungle Scout ($999/year) to analyze traffic from sources like Google and Amazon that help you determine what consumers are searching for. It’s hard to ‘find’ a market. It’s a lot easier if there is already a market that wants to find you.
Have a specific category you want to learn more about?
Filter for Signals such as Beauty 💇♀️, COVID-19👩⚕️, E-Commerce, Education🎒, Entertainment and Media📺, Finance and Investing💹, Food and Beverage🥑, Global🏞, Health and Wellness🧘♀️, Marketing📣, Medical, Real Estate🏠, Retail, SaaS, Science🧪, Sports and Fitness🏀, Technology 👩💻and Transportation🚔.
Events🌎
One of the best ways to understand business is through the lens of someone who has done it before.
Trends has weekly lectures from distinguished entrepreneurs (Gagan Biyani from Udemy, Noah Kagan from Sumo, Andrew Wilkerson from Tiny), writers (Polina Marinova, David Perell) and other experts.
Community 🤼
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is a ridiculously simple way to explain success but it’s true in 80% of circumstances. Even if you don’t know that person personally, proximity to the inside scoop can lay the foundation for a career and company.
Now 10K strong, the Trends Facebook community is one of the biggest value-adds. There are posts everyday on a variety of topics. They even have a filter to help you sort through older conversations that might be up your alley. People are asking for feedback all the time on their latest business venture in a non-spammy way.
Here’s why the community aspect is so important: when most people, especially younger people, have an idea they talk to people they know and trust about that idea: mom, dad, grandma, uncle — whoever.
The problem is, while they may provide one perspective, most people don’t know how to consider the future and innovation. I love this video of David Letterman picking holes in the… internet. Many people did not understand or think it would impact society in 1995. They were very wrong.
My point is: it’s far better to get advice from entrepreneurs, executives and hustlers from all walks of life who have a wide enough perspective to share their experience. Most entrepreneurs have failed enough to know that their opinion does not reign supreme, and just cause something worked for them, doesn’t mean it will work for you. Context is what you’re looking for when figuring out a go-to market strategy, product idea or management advice.
Here’s a great example of what you’ll see in the Facebook group.
One of the hottest trends in media are newsletters.
(Who knows how this became so popular in 2020 as email has been prevalent for 20 years and we’re just now starting to pay for content delivered to our inbox.)
Either way, this poster got 27 comments, a bunch of people saying they subscribed (and probably many who didn’t comment but subscribed anyway) and advice on how to better monetize his growing newsletter.
This advice alone can be worth the price of admission into an exclusive club like Trends.
**T-1 Month into Trends**
Earlier in the post I mentioned two brands I’m working on. My partners and I decided we want to buy a business in the space to accelerate the speed at which we grow.
I’ve never bought or sold a business before so this would be a whole new ballgame for me. I did some Googling, but quickly realized there was a place where I could get multiple opinions on my exact scenario from people with all kinds of backgrounds who have bought and sold businesses of different sizes.
Trends.
So I made a post asking for advice.
The post had over 25 comments from people giving their ideas and advice on negotiation, valuation, due diligence and integrating a new asset.
One guy, who I’ll call Michael, even reached out to see if he could provide any guidance. He buys businesses for a living.
We’ve had a long conversation on Facebook and he’s provided amazing insights into the things I should be aware of. One thing he said, below, stuck out to me.
So far, I’m extremely happy with the Trends community. It’s one of the only reasons I check Facebook as I’m constantly amazed by the high-bar of information and questions in the community feed.
Who is Behind Trends?
One of the reasons Trends has so much momentum is the team that is backing it.
Trends is a spin-off of The Hustle, a popular business and tech newsletter. Sam Parr, the founder of both, has a remarkable story that is unique among tech entrepreneurs, given he’s not a Stanford grad or born from a silver spoon. His first business was a hot dog stand — not a SaaS business funded by Sequoia.
This is worth noting because the Trends community has a piece of that hustler DNA. No matter the kind of business you are in or want to start, you will find a home for your ideas with Trends, a community of entrepreneurs from all different walks of life.
- **Update 2/4/2021
HubSpot has acquired The Hustle, and seemingly, Trends.
As a Trends member, my hope is that this does not change the community or become a ‘funnel’ to HubSpot. HubSpot certainly wants access to entrepreneurs, small business owners and e-commerce companies so this move makes sense.
Will add more updates as we see how they integrate their product offering, content and strategy into the Trends community and content.
CONCLUSION — WORTH THE HYPE BUT…
The biggest benefit so far has been the community. If you don’t plan or aren’t open to utilizing the community, I would say skip on Trends. It’s an extremely smart group of people wanting to connect and help, without anything in return. It’s rare for that trait to exist among strangers, but is one of the powers of the internet and this specific group.
If you are wanting to start a business, or already have one, I can promise you a community like this will supercharge your entrepreneur abilities. Trends will be a constant source of emerging business, tech and startup trends for 2021.
Sign up for a Trends membership HERE.
P.S.
One other amazing community for all things research, community and entrepreneurship — Trends.vc (no relation to Trends.co). Over 30,000 founders use Dru’s reports to understand different business models, products and trends.
