Hello, and welcome to today's edition of Founders International, the daily newsletter for the go-getters and doers to keep up with the go-getters and doers based outside of the US.

Here's what we have in store for you today:1. Simple ideas, massive growth2. Investing in US public companies3. Latecomer advantages, and the trend of copying US companies

Read time: 2 minutes and 26 seconds

A simple playbook, but crazy results

When you think of startups, what are the companies that you think of?

Stripe? Uber? Robinhood?

The thing that each of those companies have in common, is they are seen as "sexy." You can get that image of me out of your head, that's not what I mean. I mean "sexy" as in they are tackling crazy hard issues.

That is what many people have come to think that is all entrepreneurship and startups is, dedicating 5-10 years to your life to an issue nearly impossible to solve, raising millions of dollars from investors, and just hoping it works and you get the outsized return.

That is not the case. There are everyday people making life changing companies for themselves running back playbooks already proven, and we want to focus on those too because they are working just as hard, and represent something anyone in the world can do.

So we're sticking in the wheelhouse today, and focusing on a new newsletter called Superhuman. We'll also be sticking close as the entrepreneur behind it, Zain Khan, is based in our neighbor to the north, Canada.

This is a newsletter that focuses on AI, and teaches you actionable insights on the developments in the industry and how you can use it to your benefit, The crazy part, after 20 days, he already has 10,000 subscribers. TEN. THOUSAND.

Newsletters are everywhere, many people probably think they shouldn't start one because they are saturated, and people have been doing them for a long time now. This trend started almost 10 years ago mainly by companies such as The Hustle (acq by Hubspot) and Morning Brew (acq by Business Insider), and most recently even Milk Road, a crypto newsletter that went from start to seven-figure+ sale in 10 months.

And just when you think there's not room for anymore, here comes Zain knocking it out of the park with his own. I would bet most newsletters never even reach that many in their lifetime, and he did it 20 days. As far as I can see, Zain even still has a day job! This guy is my inspiration, and doing exactly my own goal.

Zain, you're killing it and just got yourself another subscriber. Best of luck on the journey to you. And if you're interested, go subscribe to him:

Investing in US markets, from anywhere except the US

Speaking frankly, this is also a Zain Khan special. I saw he is an advisor to this company on his LinkedIn, and needed to cover it. S/O Zain, you are my savior as I'm scrambling to write this after watching the Bengals/Chiefs game.

As I have mentioned before, I work with entrepreneurs everyday who are based outside of the US, and a lot of times the reason people will form LLCs in the US is so that they can invest in US stocks and shares.

Enter Baraka, a Y Combinator S21 company looking to make investing in the US stock market a whole lot easier for people in the middle east. They are virtually Robinhood, a no fee/commission trading platform, but for people in the middle east to invest in US stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, etc.

Based out of Dubai, this company is looking to change investing forever. Usually, you'd have to be either a very sophisticated investor to be able to invest in US companies and the stock market from outside the US, or be a wealthy individual with the means to do things like form and maintain a US entity to invest.

Now, that is possibly going to be no longer. All you will have to do is open an account with Baraka, put in some money, and you're off to the races. If I had to insert my opinion (I know, you didn't ask for it and I am going to anyway), this is going to grow quick, and way beyond the middle east. We're going to be along for the entire ride.

P.S. According to Google, "Baraka" roughly translates to blessing, which conveniently enough is actually what my stock portfolio needs right now because when I checked my year end statement for my taxes... yikes

Latecomer advantages, and trends of US companies being replicated internationally

We started this issue talking about how entrepreneurship doesn't need to be hard, and now we're ending it the same way.

TechCrunch put out a piece about latecomer advantages, and covered a few key things about not being the first person to try something new. A couple key things to take away:

• Avoid and understand the mistakes people made before you

• Second place may not always be first loser

By being a latecomer, you get to see the mistakes that tripped up the first comers, and avoid those pitfalls. That obviously comes at the caveat you understand why they tripped them up in the first place.

And, even if you aren't "number 1", there's a good chance you can still be a winner. Think Uber and Lyft, Venmo and Cashapp and even Zelle, you get the point. Number "2" is still an out-of-this-world outcome speaking financially and size-wise.

International entrepreneurs around the world are also recognizing this, and following in the footsteps of US companies, but making it best for their location.

Look at even this previous section, speaking simply Bakara is just Robinhood, but for the middle east. There is a company called OnePort, which is Flexport for Africa. And this is happening everywhere, and international entrepreneurs take notice of, and do everyday.

This is a trend we'll be following highlighting these specific companies in the future, and how they are influencing the countries they live in. Heck, I'm doing it myself. This newsletter exists because I saw it work for others and thought "Hey, my pea brain can understand this, let's give it a go."

And that's all for today, if you want to get more follow us @Founders_Intl, or respond to this email. Yes, we respond to all emails, including yours. Try us.

P.S.

I completed the first full week, but the work starts now. The goal for February is 1,000 subscribers. As of today (Jan 30th), we are at 14 (and I appreciate every single one of you).

All I ask is you share this with ONE person who may be interested. If you do that, respond to a future issue and I'll buy you AND the person you refer a coffee as a thank you. I'll take care of the other 972 :)

Have an interesting news story, person, company or other sweet topic you want us to cover? Respond to this email with a link, short description, any any other relevant information, and your submission may be featured in a future issue.

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💯 Freaking sick dude🤷‍♂️ Meh, do better next time😑 Bruh, I might unsubscribe after reading that