Thumzup Media Corporation Issues Shareholder Letter Reflecting on Transformative 2024 and Outlook for 2025
January 30, 2024
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
Thumzup Media Corporation has made much progress as a newly listed Nasdaq company. We are at an inflection point, ready to capitalize on a rapidly growing market for our ad-tech platform that is transformative to the $200B social media advertising space.
Thumzup allows advertisers to pay their customers and fans cash for their posts on social media - something no other company in the market, to our knowledge, currently offers. This disruptive platform has the potential to redefine the social media advertising market, much like what Uber accomplished in the transportation space and what Airbnb did to the hospitality market.
I am thrilled to share our accomplishments, vision, and path forward.
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Market Size and Potential
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is valued at more than $1 trillion and has more than 8 million advertisers. Most of its advertisers are small businesses. Thumzup is focused on adding small businesses to the platform, as this is a proven strategy to get digital platforms off the ground due to shorter sales cycle and the need for new solutions small business owners face. In the United States, there are more than 33 million small businesses, and an average of 45% buy digital ads in any given year. When they do, they typically spend more than an average of $500 a month.
As the founder and CEO of Thumzup, I believe that one of my main tasks is to guide us to the point where 10% of these small businesses allocate 20% of their ad budgets to Thumzup. If we succeed in reaching this percentage, it would generate approximately $1.9 billion in ad volume on our ad-tech platform and result in more than $400 million in revenue to Thumzup. While achieving this goal will take time and key catalytic events along the way, I have no doubt that we’re on the right path. I’m excited for the journey ahead and confident that, together, we will create significant value and drive meaningful growth.
Nasdaq Listing
Our successful Nasdaq listing and upsized $8.2 million common stock only public offering at $5 per share marked a significant step forward, providing the resources and visibility needed to accelerate our growth and innovation. This illustrates a commitment to building our innovative platform that may not only reshape the advertising industry but also should create sustainable value for investors like you.
Disrupting the Social Media Advertising Landscape
Thumzup’s mission is to redefine the social media advertising ecosystem by connecting businesses with real consumers who share authentic recommendations on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter). The social media advertising market, which is projected to exceed $200 billion by 2025, presents vast opportunities for Thumzup to emerge as a leader in this space, empowering businesses, and individuals alike in a digital-first world.
Recent Achievements
In 2024, despite having limited capital, Thumzup demonstrated incredible growth. Recently, we achieved several critical milestones:​
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Thumzup grew and accelerated our advertiser base by 230% in 2024, surpassing 600 active advertisers across diverse industries. This growth demonstrates the effectiveness of our platform in delivering value to businesses of all sizes. We believe that this strong growth rate is a good indication that our innovative platform will continue to attract a diverse range of businesses, from local restaurants and real estate agents to multinational brands.
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Our team developed and launched a suite of analytics tools designed to give advertisers deeper insights into campaign performance, engagement metrics, enabling data-driven decisions. Launching of our Agency Dashboard has streamlined how digital marketing agencies could manage campaigns, proving to be a crucial tool in enhancing the efficiency and scalability of our advertising solutions.
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The Thumzup platform successfully integrated with Instagram Reels, allowing our users to post videos, which enables us to tap into one of the fastest-growing social media formats, enhancing the platform’s appeal to advertisers focused on visual storytelling.
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Adding Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) to our network in late 2024, expands our reach and opens many new advertising opportunities, giving users a broader range of platforms for their campaigns, which in turn should streamline campaign management for digital marketing agencies.
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In line with our ongoing efforts to innovate and enhance user options, Thumzup has strategically acquired 19.106 BTC, representing an investment of $2,000,020. This forward-thinking move is expected to introduce Bitcoin as a new payment option for our gig economy sales team, aligning with the evolving preferences in the gig economy towards digital and cryptocurrency payments.
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Building upon our strategic focus on cryptocurrency, Thumzup also received Board approval to allocate up to 90% of the company’s liquid assets to Bitcoin holdings on January 17th. This decision underscores our commitment to leveraging Bitcoin not only as a payment method but also as a key component of our Treasury Asset Strategy.
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We began entering new markets, including South Florida and expanding further into the Greater Los Angeles area, setting the stage for nationwide growth. We have seen new advertiser interest in 12 states with very little corporate focus required. The company is currently targeting additional states for more focused roll outs of which we will be announcing in the future.
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Our partnership with Tedras Global Solutions has accelerated the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the user and advertiser experience.
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Complementing our strategic initiatives, the recent appointment of Dr. Joanna D. Massey to our Board of Directors has been invaluable. With her vast experience in communications and media at major firms like Lions Gate and CBS, Dr. Massey also contributes significantly as Lead Director for the Board of KULR Technology Group. There, her oversight of the company's strategic Bitcoin investments has propelled KULR's market value and demonstrated a successful model of integrating digital currency into corporate treasury strategies. This experience is especially relevant as we consider similar investment strategies to bolster Thumzup’s financial market positioning.
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Similarly, Paul Dickman's joining as our Board and serving as Chairman of our Audit Committee marks another strategic enhancement to our board. With a robust background in financial strategy and capital markets, the positions he has held such as Chief Financial Officer and Chairman at various publicly traded companies brings Thumzup invaluable experience. His leadership is pivotal as we advance our financial structuring and strive to capitalize on market opportunities.
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What Can You Do to Help us Grow and Win?
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Follow us on social media: @thumz.up on Instagram, @thumz_up on X/Twitter.
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Comment about our posts on social media.
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Share our posts on social media.
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If you want to introduce us to a local business owner, email us at sales@thumzupmedia.com.
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Looking Ahead at 2025 and Beyond​
The future for Thumzup Media Corporation is filled with exciting opportunities that we are eager to capitalize on. As we move into 2025 and beyond, our strategic focus will revolve around three core pillars: expansion, innovation, and operational excellence.
​Our ambition is to grow our advertiser network 10x by the end of 2025. This will involve targeted outreach to a wider array of industries, strategic partnerships with digital marketing agencies, and leveraging our enhanced platform capabilities to attract larger, multinational brands.
We plan to continue integrating with additional social media networks, including TikTok and other emerging platforms, especially following our launch on X, creating an all-encompassing advertising ecosystem. Furthermore, we plan to introduce advanced features, such as predictive analytics powered by AI, which may enable advertisers to optimize their campaigns in real-time.
As part of our market expansion strategy, we will continue to add new markets and regions. We also aim to broaden our reach to include younger, tech-savvy demographics that are active on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, enhancing our appeal to brands targeting these audiences.
Investments in AI-driven solutions will not only enhance our analytics capabilities but also improve personalization for users and advertisers alike. This includes deploying sophisticated machine learning algorithms to better match advertisers with influencers and audiences, thereby maximizing the return on investment for all stakeholders.
As part of our commitment to operational excellence, we will focus on cost efficiencies and monetization strategies that drive profitability without compromising innovation. Initiatives such as offering tiered service packages and premium analytics subscriptions will be explored to diversify revenue streams.
With these strategies in place, we are confident that Thumzup will continue to disrupt the social media advertising market, delivering value to our users, advertisers, and shareholders.
Our Nasdaq listing gives a much broader audience of institutional investment funds and also long-term, sophisticated investors the ability to buy shares in Thumzup as we continue to execute on our strategic business objectives. We look forward to keeping shareholders informed on our progress.
In Closing
The future value proposition of Thumzup is immense. Just as hundreds of billions of dollars in value were created by democratizing ridesharing and hospitality, our platform can democratize the $200 billion social media adverting industry. To our knowledge, no one else is doing what we do.
Meta is valued at more than $1 trillion, has more than 8 million advertisers, most of whom are small businesses. We are focused on these small businesses, which already recognize the value of advertising on Instagram/Meta. By combining that with the power of word-of-mouth marketing, we provide advertiser with even greater value.
I am excited to lead Thumzup into this next chapter. Together, we will continue to innovate, expand, and redefine what is possible in the social media advertising industry. Thank you for your continued trust and support as we execute on our vision for 2025 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Robert Steele
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, Founder
Thumzup Media Corporation