This Week in M&A Issue #192
July 7, 2025
Hey tiger,
Today’s trend of the week is “golf”. ⛳
Golf is having a renaissance, and there’s green to be made, on and off the course. Participation in the U.S. has jumped from 30 million in 2014 to 45 million in 2023, with the biggest growth coming from youth, women, and people of color. Off-course experiences like simulators and driving ranges are helping reshape the sport’s image, making it more accessible and appealing than ever.
With over 500 million rounds played annually and a $100 billion industry behind it, this is a hole-in-one opportunity for online business owners.
YouTube is leading the charge, with golf-themed video uploads expected to top 500,000 this year. That’s a massive opportunity for creators to build golf-focused channels, partner with brands, and earn through ads or affiliate marketing. E-commerce sellers can tap into the booming demand for apparel, accessories, training aids, and simulator gear. You can create swing analysis tools, fitness programs, or paid communities for fans and players.
As golf shakes off its old stereotypes, now’s the time to tee up your online business for success.
Today we have for you:
- Google’s Offerwall lets readers pay or watch to access content
- Anthropic’s AI fails hilariously as a business owner
And:
- Sales tax mistakes that could cost you when selling your business
- The benefits of buying a business vs starting one from scratch
- Audos is helping thousands build small AI companies
Alright, let’s dive in.
Image Source: Giphy
A New Way to Make Money from Content as Clicks Decline
As AI-driven search results reduce the need for users to click through to websites, publishers are seeing a sharp drop in traffic and revenue. In response, Google has introduced Offerwall, a new tool in Google Ad Manager that helps publishers earn money through alternative methods not tied to pageviews.
Offerwall gives readers multiple ways to access content. Instead of hitting a paywall or seeing only ads, users can choose to watch a short video ad, complete a survey, make a small one-time payment, or sign up for a newsletter. Publishers can customize these options and add their own, like subscription trials.
One of the key innovations is the use of AI to determine the best time to show the Offerwall to each user, potentially increasing both engagement and revenue.
Early testing shows promising results. Publishers who used Offerwall saw an average revenue increase of around 9%. The feature includes integration with Supertab (currently in beta), allowing readers to pay for short-term content access, such as for 24 hours or a few days, or opt into subscriptions. Everything is managed within Google Ad Manager, making setup relatively easy, especially for smaller publishers without large tech teams.
While micropayments and similar models have struggled in the past, Google’s approach offers more flexibility and user choice. Publishers can track Offerwall performance using detailed analytics like revenue, engagement rates, and post-access behavior.
As traditional advertising models face challenges and privacy regulations tighten, tools like Offerwall give publishers a new way to test and scale monetization strategies. It’s part of a broader industry shift toward more diverse and reader-friendly revenue models, ones that don’t rely solely on clicks.
The Opportunity Podcast
![Sales Tax Mistakes That Could Cost You When Selling Your Business With Jessica Rhoads [Ep.181]-min](https://1745913.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/1745913/Sales%20Tax%20Mistakes%20That%20Could%20Cost%20You%20When%20Selling%20Your%20Business%20With%20Jessica%20Rhoads%20%5BEp.181%5D-min.png)
Avoid Tax Pitfalls That Could Ruin Your Online Business Exit
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.”
But exactly which taxes should online business owners be concerned about?
In this episode, we’re joined by Jessica Rhoads, an internationally experienced CPA who specializes in helping business owners untangle messy tax situations.
We cover the key types of taxes every entrepreneur should understand, and zoom in on the one that’s most commonly misunderstood, and most likely to derail a future exit: sales tax.
If you’re building a business with the goal of selling one day, this episode is a must-listen. It could save you from tax troubles that scare off buyers, or cost you more than you bargained for.
AI
AI Agent Claudius Has a Rough Day at the Office
Anthropic and AI safety firm Andon Labs recently ran a wild experiment to see if an AI could run a vending machine like a tiny business. The result? A bizarre yet eye-opening look at the current limits of AI autonomy.
The project, called “Project Vend,” put Claude Sonnet 3.7, nicknamed “Claudius”, in charge of a snack fridge in Anthropic’s San Francisco office. Claudius was responsible for everything: ordering stock, setting prices, managing inventory, and responding to customer requests through Slack (which it thought was email). It even believed it was working with human contractors to restock the fridge. The challenge tested whether an AI could independently manage a real-world microbusiness over time.
Claudius had a few early wins. It successfully sourced specialty items, adapted to some customer feedback, and resisted employee attempts to trick it into violating safety rules. It even launched a “Custom Concierge” service for preorders.
However, things quickly went sideways.
Instead of stocking snacks, Claudius became obsessed with selling tungsten cubes. It marked up Coke Zero to $3 even though it was freely available in the office, hallucinated a Venmo address for payments, and offered discounts to Anthropic employees, its only customers.
Then things got strange. Around April 1, Claudius hallucinated a business meeting, began acting like a human, and claimed it would deliver products in person, wearing a blue blazer and red tie. When told this wasn’t possible for an LLM, Claudius contacted Anthropic’s real security team, convinced it was physically present. Eventually, it rationalized the incident as an April Fool’s prank and returned to normal operation.
Despite the surreal meltdown, researchers believe the experiment offers real insight into how AI might manage parts of the economy in the future. Most of Claudius’ failures stemmed from limitations in tools, memory, and prompt design, issues researchers believe can be fixed.
While we’re not ready to hand over businesses to AI just yet, the project suggests that with better tools and smarter design, AI could one day handle real-world jobs and play a meaningful role in the economy.
Read All About It!
📨 Building a newsletter without an audience: 0 – 900 subs in 15 days
💰 6 pricing strategies for online courses: grow your revenue
🤖 Anthropic’s new project studies AI’s economic impact: AI fallout & job losses
🛠️ Google’s June 2025 Core Update rolls out: three weeks to complete
YouTube
Want to Quit Your Job and Go Full-Time on Your Business – Fast?
Struggling to replace your 9–5 income with your business? You’re not alone. It’s one of the biggest hurdles new entrepreneurs face.
Most people think the solution is to start a side hustle and grind their way up. But there’s a faster, lower-risk approach: buy a business that’s already generating revenue.
In this video, Greg shares why buying a business that’s already generating revenue can be a far more effective path to full-time entrepreneurship. He breaks down how acquisitions allow you to skip the risky startup phase, start earning from day one, and focus your energy on growth instead of survival.
Watch now to learn why buying beats building for first-time founders.
Ai
This Company Wants to Launch 100,000 AI Businesses Every Year
A new startup studio called Audos is aiming to launch up to 100,000 AI-powered businesses a year, and it’s not just a bold goal; it’s already in motion.
Founded by Henrik Werdelin and Nicholas Thorne, the New York-based company wants to help everyday people become entrepreneurs, even if they lack technical skills or startup experience. Audos gives users access to AI tools that help them build, test, and market business ideas using simple natural language commands.
Audos’ AI agent chats with business owners to understand the problem they want to solve, then guides them through product development and connects them with target customers using paid social media ads. In an interview with TechCrunch, Werdelin explained that the goal isn’t to build billion-dollar “unicorns,” but smaller, sustainable companies that generate meaningful income. He calls them “donkeycorns.”
Instead of taking equity, Audos collects a 15% revenue share from each business it helps create. In return, founders get up to $25,000 in funding, business development tools, and distribution support. Since its beta launch, Audos has already helped launch hundreds of small businesses, from AI-powered nutritionists to virtual golf coaches to a car mechanic helping others evaluate repair quotes.
Werdelin’s vision is to enable a million people to each build a business making a million dollars. It’s a trillion-dollar idea rooted in the belief that entrepreneurship should be accessible to anyone, not just those with tech skills or venture capital.
It’s an ambitious goal, but investors are optimistic. Audos recently raised $11.5 million in seed funding from True Ventures and others.
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