📽️ From $0 to a $30M Exit in 4 Months... Then Oblivion 👻

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Hey Dealifers,

Some startup stories are rocket ships 🚀
Others? They're cautionary tales dressed in IPO dreams.

This one? It's both.

Let’s rewind to June 2012...

Three tech-savvy friends—Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov, and Colin Kroll—were kicking around startup ideas in NYC, just like your classic late-night, Red Bull-fueled brainstorming sesh 💡⚡

Their thought?
“Video creation on mobile is way too clunky. What if we made it stupid simple?”

So they stripped it down.
No editing. No filters. Just press-and-hold to shoot, lift to stop. The app would stitch the clips together like magic ✂️✨

They tested different lengths... and boom, 6 seconds was the sweet spot. Short enough to keep it snappy, long enough to be hilarious.

That’s how Vine was born.

💰 Enter: Twitter with the Fastest Acquisition Swipe Ever

The Vine guys were just vibing with their prototype—hadn’t even launched yet—when the NYC tech scene caught wind of it. Word spread. Investors perked up. Tech people got curious. And then came Twitter 🐦

At the time, Twitter was feeling a little flat (pun intended)—mostly text and some basic photos. But Vine? Vine was sexy.

Twitter needed native video.
So just 4 months after Vine was founded, they swooped in and dropped ~$30 million 💸 to acquire it.

That’s $7.5M per month... not bad for a side project turned social rocket 🚀

🌍 The World Goes Vining

In January 2013, Vine finally went live. And it was chaotic brilliance.

• You had King Bach making skits that blew up 🕺

• Lele Pons finding her comedic voice (debatably)

• A young Logan Paul getting his start (uh oh)

It was the Wild West of short-form video, and people loved it.

For a moment, Vine looked unstoppable.

💀 Then It Got Buried... Alive

But then the algorithm gods turned against them.

Twitter, unsure how to manage a fast-growing video platform, let Vine stagnate. They added... basically nothing.

Meanwhile, Instagram rolled out video.
Snapchat dropped Stories.
And worst of all? A little app called Musical.ly (yeah, that became TikTok) started gaining steam 🚂

Creators got no monetization, no love, no innovation.

By 2017, Vine was officially dead. RIP. 🪦

Even Dom Hofmann tried reviving it later as Byte (then Clash, then Huddles), but... lightning didn’t strike twice.

⏳ Timing Is Everything

Vine had the right idea, the right founders, and a killer product.
But timing? Brutal.

They were just too early. The infrastructure, monetization models, and creator economy hadn’t caught up yet.

TikTok? Same idea. Different decade.
And now it’s worth over $250B+ 🤯

The Supply Chain Crisis Is Escalating — But This Tech Startup Keeps Winning

Global supply chain chaos is intensifying. Major retailers warn of holiday shortages, and tech giants are slashing forecasts as parts dry up.

But while others scramble, one smart home innovator is thriving.

Their strategic move to manufacturing outside China has kept production running smoothly — driving 200% year-over-year growth, even as the industry stalls.

This foresight is no accident. The same leadership team that saw the supply chain storm coming has already expanded into over 120 BestBuy locations, with talks underway to add Walmart and Home Depot.

At just $1.90 per share, this resilient tech startup offers rare stability in uncertain times. As investors flee vulnerable companies, this window is closing fast.

SECURE YOUR POSITION BEFORE PRICES RISE

_{Past performance is not indicative of future results. Email may contain forward-looking statements. See US Offering for details. Informational purposes only.}

💡 Deal Lift Takeaway

You can build the perfect product—but if the market isn’t ready, it’s like screaming into the void 😶

So what do you do?

You launch anyway. You test. You pivot. You learn fast.

Because in this game, there are no guarantees—just windows of opportunity.

🧨 Big Idea:

Vine crawled so TikTok could sprint.
Sometimes the pioneer gets arrows in the back... and the settler builds the empire.

Want more behind-the-scenes stories of game-changing deals and dramatic startup showdowns?

📬 Stay tuned every week with Deal Lift—where we lift the lid on the wildest exits, biggest flops, and most unexpected business moves in the game.

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