Reddit Etsy Decline

Sean Frank believes that traditional trend-spotting platforms like Reddit and Etsy have lost their effectiveness, while highlighting better alternatives for identifying emerging consumer trends and explaining his approach to building businesses around these trends.

On Finding Emerging Trends:

• Traditional platforms are dead:

  • "I think reddit's dead I think etsy's dead"
  • These platforms have become "AI slop" due to the "intitification of the internet"

• Better places to spot trends:

  • Erewhon (high-end grocery store): "I would literally move to LA and go to erwan every single day because those are the best people at catching trends"
  • TikTok: "You just have to follow the girlies on tiktok"
  • Look in your own life for things you're passionate about (especially for beginners)

Current Emerging Trends:

• No screen time products:

  • Physical, tactical toys - "bringing back the fidget spinner but as like a focus tool"
  • Legos (mentioned by Sam Parr)

• Microplastics concerns:

  • Glass everything - "glass bottles glass containers"
  • Plastic-free products - "imagine if you could just buy a backpack and they're like we guarantee there's no plastic in it"

• Other trends:

  • Pilates (replacing yoga) - "pilates was a thing in february it's having a massive resurgence right now"
  • Creatine - identified as one of "the two biggest ones for the next two or three years"
  • Colostrum - "what's the early boob milk... colostrum"

Business Strategy for Trends:

• Ride growing markets: "The best way to grow is in a growing market you can be average in a growing market and grow very very fast"

• Pivot as trends evolve: "Once you get some sort of success it's pivoting"

  • Example: "If I was in the bone broth business... we're gonna do bone bars... then I'd be in the bars business then... bone supplements"

• Personal exit strategy: "I would like to net $100,000,000 and then I would like to start a portfolio of brands and services... launch a bunch of weird little ecommerce brands that I think are gonna be trend relevant"