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- 🎮 The $200K mistake everyone's making while binge-watching Squid Game Season 3 💸
🎮 The $200K mistake everyone's making while binge-watching Squid Game Season 3 💸
AI systems close deals automatically, pet sitters earn $1,500/month, and Bitcoin hits $90K
Ed Brancheau
June 17, 2025
While everyone competes manually, smart systems work automatically
AI systems close deals automatically, pet sitters earn $1,500/month, and Bitcoin hits $90K
Welcome back to The Rewind Report, where we turn trending moments into wealth-building moves.
While 589 million people count down to Squid Game 3's finale on June 27, real opportunities are compounding in the background. This week, I watched my 15-month automated follow-up system close a deal I'd completely forgotten about. Meanwhile, the pet care industry exploded, Bitcoin and gold both hit records, and my broker friend replaced his $200K Salesforce subscription with a $3K custom solution.
The pattern? Everyone's watching fictional competition while real systems generate actual money. No deadly games required.
What's Inside This Issue
📋 The “Covering My Butt” Fine Print (But Fun)
Disclaimer: This newsletter contains financial opinions from a guy who once lost $5,000 in crypto and learned real estate from Miami Vice reruns. I'm not a financial advisor, I just play one on the internet. Nothing here is personalized advice - I don't know if you should buy Bitcoin, pet-sit a diabetic cat, or replace your $200K software with a spreadsheet held together by hopes and prayers.
Do your own research. Talk to actual professionals. Don't blame me if your automated follow-up system becomes self-aware and starts sending passive-aggressive emails to your ex. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, but past entertainment definitely guarantees future nostalgia.
Investing involves risk, including the risk that I might reference another 90s TV show to explain compound interest. You've been warned.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled money moves...
🧠 THE REWIND RUNDOWN: Squid Game 3: Players Compete for One Prize. AI Automation: Everyone Wins
The competition is still doing it manually
589 million people are counting down to June 27 for Squid Game 3's finale - the ultimate showdown between Player 456 and Front Man. While everyone's obsessing over fictional deadly games, real AI systems are quietly playing a different game: making actual money while you sleep.
Here's the brutal irony: Squid Game is about desperate people competing in children's games for survival money. AI automation is about smart people setting up systems that play the money game automatically - no life-or-death stakes, just life-changing results.
I learned this the hard way through my own elimination game.
The Manual Era
Five years ago, I was the guy with handwritten notes and color-coded spreadsheets, convinced that staying "hands-on" was the only way to maintain quality. Every lead got manually entered. Every follow-up was personally crafted. Every client interaction was meticulously tracked by hand.
I was playing my own version of Red Light, Green Light - frantically moving when opportunities appeared, freezing when overwhelmed, always one mistake away from elimination.
The Painful Elimination
That mistake came when I fat-fingered a client's budget into my spreadsheet. Instead of $450K, I wrote $45K. Spent two weeks showing them properties way below their actual range. Meanwhile, their buying timeline was ticking.
By the time I caught the error, another agent had already closed the deal.
One manual mistake. One client lost. Game over.
The YouTube Revelation
Frustrated and slightly humiliated, I did what any rational person does: fell down a YouTube rabbit hole at 2 AM.
That's when I found this ordinary-looking guy explaining how his automated follow-up system generated $2.3 million in real estate commissions last year. No superhuman skills. No massive team. Just systems that worked while he slept.
The lightbulb moment: "If this guy can do it, I can do it."
The 15-Month Victory
Fast forward to last month. My phone rang at 3 PM on a Tuesday.
"Hi Ed, I don't know if you remember me, but I reached out about a year and a half ago. I wasn't ready then, but now I am."
I pulled up my CRM. Sure enough - 15 months of automated follow-ups. One email per month with relevant market updates and helpful articles. No pushy sales language. Just consistent value.
The system remembered him when I'd completely forgotten.
Here's what blew my mind: In Squid Game, 455 players get eliminated for one winner. In automated business, everyone can win simultaneously. My follow-up system doesn't compete with other agents' systems - it just works better than manual chaos.
The Real Game
While millions watch fictional characters fight for survival money, the actual opportunity is building systems that generate real money without the desperation.
The players in Squid Game compete for ₩45.6 billion (about $33 million). My automation systems have generated more than that across my client base, and nobody had to risk their life for marbles.
Your move: What manual "game" are you playing that automation could win for you?
Speaking of systems that work while you sleep, here's one that involves actual sleeping - on someone else's couch while their dog judges your life choices...
💰 PET SITTING GOLD RUSH: The Side Hustle Hiding in Plain Sight
The $1,500/month opportunity hiding in plain sight
The real money is sitting (literally) with the 89.7 million pets that need care.
Pet sitting just became the fastest-growing side hustle in 10 states, with 22% of trending searches last month. Here's why: the perfect storm of post-pandemic pet adoption meeting resumed business travel.
The Numbers Tell the Story
276% increase in mobile pet care demand since 2023. Average part-time pet sitter earns $500-1,500 monthly. Premium services (overnight stays, special needs pets) command $75-150 per night.
Unlike the gig economy race to the bottom, pet sitting rewards trust and care with premium pricing.
The Opportunity Window
Remember when everyone got pandemic puppies? Those "puppies" are now 2-4 years old - prime age for separation anxiety when owners travel. Business travel is back to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, but kennels are still operating at reduced capacity.
Translation: high demand, limited supply, premium pricing.
Three-Tier Strategy
Tier 1: Platform Launch - Start with Rover or Wag to build reviews and learn pricing in your area. Their insurance coverage protects you while you figure out what services you actually want to offer.
Tier 2: Local Network - Once you have 20+ five-star reviews, start networking directly with veterinary offices, dog parks, and neighborhood apps. Local clients pay 30-50% more than platform rates.
Tier 3: Specialization - Puppies, senior dogs, exotic pets, or special medical needs command premium rates. A friend specializes in diabetic cats and charges $100/night because she knows insulin protocols.
The Entry Barrier
You need reliability, basic pet knowledge, and genuine care for animals. No special licenses, no startup costs, no inventory. Your biggest investment is probably a good leash and some dog treats.
Reality Check
This isn't passive income - you're trading time for money. But it's high-margin time with flexible scheduling. Perfect for students, retirees, or anyone wanting weekend income without weekend employers.
Worth exploring: What's your experience with pets that could become income?
From walking dogs to digital gold - both require patience, both can be unpredictable, and both have people who are way too passionate about them on Reddit...
🏆 BITCOIN VS GOLD: The 2025 Allocation Strategy
Both crisis assets hit records while stocks wobbled
While stock markets wobbled in April, both "crisis assets" hit record highs - Bitcoin soared past $90,000, gold touched $2,650 per ounce.
Here's what caught my attention: these supposedly opposite assets are moving together. The correlation between Bitcoin and gold is strengthening as both serve as dollar alternatives during uncertainty.
The New Reality
This isn't crypto vs. traditional anymore. It's about allocation strategy for inflation protection.
Bitcoin gained 10% in April while gold climbed 8%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and dollar both dropped 5% during the same period. When traditional assets falter, alternative stores of value shine.
The Practical Framework
Gold Allocation: 5-10% - Proven 5,000-year track record, central bank holdings, physical scarcity. It's boring, stable, and historically reliable during economic turbulence.
Bitcoin Allocation: 2-5% - Digital scarcity, growing institutional adoption, potential for significant growth. Higher volatility but increasingly viewed as "digital gold" by major corporations.
The Rebalancing Rule
Monthly review, not daily panic. When one asset significantly outperforms, trim profits and rebalance. This forces you to sell high and buy low automatically.
Institutional Validation
MicroStrategy holds $15 billion in Bitcoin. Central banks added 1,037 tons of gold in 2023. Tesla, Square, and major pension funds now hold both assets.
The smart money isn't choosing sides - they're diversifying across both traditional and digital crisis hedges.
Implementation Strategy
Start small with both. PAXG for gold exposure without storage concerns. Bitcoin ETFs for regulatory compliance and easier tax reporting. Build positions gradually rather than timing perfect entries.
The goal isn't to predict which performs better - it's to own both when dollars lose purchasing power.
Consider exploring: How are you balancing traditional and digital crisis assets in your portfolio?
While you're diversifying your crisis assets, here's how to avoid a different kind of crisis - the one where your software bill costs more than your mortgage...
🛠️ THE $200K SOFTWARE REPLACEMENT: Why Small Businesses Are Going No-Code
From $200K complexity to $3K simplicity
My real estate broker friend was paying Salesforce $200K annually for 20+ agent seats. Last month he called me, slightly panicked:
"This seems too easy. Am I doing something wrong?"
Nope. He just discovered what I learned the hard way about enterprise software bloat.
The 5% Rule
Most businesses use 5% of their expensive software's features. ClickUp, Salesforce, HubSpot - we're paying for complexity we don't need.
Using AI and simple tools, he built exactly what his brokerage needed: lead capture, automated follow-ups, and deal tracking. Three core features instead of Salesforce's 100+ unused ones.
Two weeks of work. $200K annual savings.
The No-Code Revolution
GoHighLevel ($97-297/month): All-in-one platform handling CRM, email marketing, funnel building, and appointment scheduling. Perfect for service businesses wanting everything included without coding.
N8N (Free self-hosted): Open-source automation that connects any apps or services. Requires some technical comfort but offers unlimited workflows once set up.
The AI Bridge: ChatGPT helps non-technical people build custom solutions by generating code, explaining integrations, and troubleshooting problems.
Implementation Strategy
Start by auditing what you actually use in current tools. Most expensive subscriptions deliver value through 2-3 core features.
Build one automated workflow first. Master that process, then add complexity gradually. Don't try to recreate enterprise functionality on day one.
The Cost Reality
Enterprise software assumes you need everything. No-code tools let you pay for what you actually use.
$200K Salesforce subscription vs. $3K custom solution that does exactly what you need. The math isn't complicated.
Getting Started
Try GoHighLevel's 14-day trial for all-in-one convenience. Experiment with N8N's cloud version for automation flexibility. Use ChatGPT to bridge knowledge gaps.
The future belongs to businesses that build exactly what they need, not what someone else thinks they need.
Worth exploring: What expensive software could you replace with a custom solution?
Now that you've escaped the enterprise software trap, let's talk about the specific tools that'll make you feel like a wizard. A slightly nerdy wizard, but still a wizard...
🔄 TOOLS: N8N Templates That Actually Work
The automation template library that's making Zapier's $49/month look expensive.
N8N's community has built templates that solve real business problems without the task limits or monthly fees. Here are three that actually deliver results:
Meeting Follow-Up Automation
Zoom transcripts → AI summary → automatic email with key points + task creation in your project manager. No more "Can you send me the recap?" requests.
Perfect for consultants, coaches, or anyone running client meetings. Set it once, never manually summarize again.
LinkedIn/Twitter engagement data → personalized email outreach → automatic CRM updates. Identifies people interacting with your content and nurtures them systematically.
Works especially well for B2B service providers who need warm leads from social engagement.
Instagram Content Automation
Trending posts in your niche → AI analysis for insights → original content creation → scheduled posting across platforms.
Keeps your content fresh and relevant without spending hours scrolling for inspiration.
Why N8N Over Zapier
Free self-hosted option eliminates task limits. Unlimited workflows once you're set up. Growing community means more templates and solutions.
The learning curve is steeper than Zapier, but the cost savings and flexibility make it worthwhile for businesses running multiple automations.
Getting Started
Try N8N's cloud free tier first. Download pre-built templates from their community library. Start with one workflow, master it, then expand.
Most templates need minor customization for your specific tools and processes, but the heavy lifting is already done.
Worth exploring: Which of these templates would save you the most time right now?
The Real Game: Systems Beat Competition
This week showed us the power of building systems that work while we're entertained. Whether it's automation closing deals, pets generating income, or crisis assets protecting wealth - the real opportunities happen when we stop competing and start systematizing.
Which topic hit hardest? Click your pick below:I'll create an in-depth guide or video for whichever topic gets the most votes. Just click below - no hanging chads this time! |
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📤 Forward this to someone who needs to see that money can work while they sleep.
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