💸 How Newsletters Are Banking $5K/Month Without Selling

What Top Execs Read Before the Market Opens

The Daily Upside was founded by investment professionals to arm decision-makers with market intelligence that goes deeper than headlines. No filler. Just concise, trusted insights on business trends, deal flow, and economic shifts—read by leaders at top firms across finance, tech, and beyond.

Join 1M+ professionals who stay informed before the rest of the market catches up.

🚨 How a New Video AI Took the Crown from Google’s Veo 3

It didn’t take long for the king to be challenged.

Since its release last month, Google’s Veo 3 reigned supreme in the video-language model (VLM) space—earning praise from Hollywood and appearing in primetime TV. But the landscape just shifted.

📊 Artificial Analysis’ crowd-sourced leaderboard now places ByteDance’s Seedance 1.0 ahead of Veo across multiple key benchmarks.

Even more surprising? Chinese startup MiniMax just revealed that the mysterious top-performer "Kangaroo" is actually a new model called Hailuo 02, which outperforms Veo in image-to-video generation.

💡 The takeaway: Chinese AI companies are not just catching up—they’re competing head-to-head with US giants.

🔗 Want to see how these models compare side by side? Explore the latest VLM leaderboard →

💸 How Newsletters Are Banking $5K/Month Without Selling

🤑 The Secret Weapon for Newsletter Monetization?
Affiliate marketing isn’t just for influencers and YouTubers anymore—it's fast becoming the easiest way for newsletters to earn from Day 1.

Whether you have 100 or 10,000 subscribers, you can plug in the right affiliate links and start generating revenue. The best part? You don’t need to create a product or chase sponsors.

This blog breaks it all down:

• How to choose the right affiliate partners

• What kind of content drives real clicks

• Smart ways to avoid sounding like a walking ad

• Examples of newsletters that crushed it with affiliates

👉 Curious how newsletters are earning $5K/month without their own product?

🎬 Why Creators Are Switching to Veo 3 Fast

When Google launched Veo 3, creators were thrilled—until they saw the price tag. Now, they’ve dropped Veo 3 Fast, a stripped-down but much more affordable version that’s still packed with key features like native audio, expressive characters, and 720p resolution.

✅ 5x cheaper than Veo 3
✅ Still supports lip-sync audio
✅ Generates videos from text and images
✅ Comes with 1,000 free credits on Google Flow
✅ Upscale to 1080p or extend scenes seamlessly

There are trade-offs (like occasional finger weirdness or missing audio in certain modes), but for indie creators, it’s a huge win. And yes, it even works in the Gemini app—though Google Flow performs better.

🔗 Explore full walkthrough, prompt examples, and review →

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✍️ The First Line That Can Make or Break Your Newsletter

In this episode of Newsletter Growth Lab, we break down why your opening line is the most powerful part of your content—and how to nail it.

Here’s the short list:

• The opener is your invitation—blow it, and readers bounce.

• Don’t explain—spark curiosity and keep them scrolling.

• Lead with tension, surprise, or vulnerability.

• Use contradiction or a bold number to add punch.

• Write 3–5 versions to find the hook that grabs.

• Great openers feel honest, energetic, and precise.

🎧 Want your emails to actually get read?

📊 AI Just Replaced Your $2K Newsletter Strategist

Hiring a newsletter coach? Outdated.
Now, AI gives you a full growth strategy in a single prompt.

Try this:

“Act as a top newsletter growth expert.
Create a growth plan for a newsletter about [topic].
Include:

Ideal audience persona
3 list-building channels + rationale
5 growth hacks (organic + paid)
Budget split for $500/month
Engagement KPIs

Timeline (Week 1–4)
Present it like a strategy doc.”

Why it works:

• No fluff

• No retainers

• Just action-ready growth

💡 Paste that into ChatGPT and watch the magic.

🖼️ Image Prompt of The Day

A travel journal lies open on a rustic table, but the pages transform into the canals of Venice, with gondolas gliding through the handwriting — a surreal tribute to how memories flow like water.

📰 News Flash: Updates You Need to Catch Up On

• 🎮 Ghibli Game Concept
  A Redditor crafted a dreamy Ghibli-style video game mockup, complete with an in-depth guide and visuals that look straight out of a Miyazaki film.

• 🤖 Anthropic’s Multi-Agent AI Breakthrough
  Anthropic unveiled a powerful new multi-agent research system that outperforms solo AIs by over 90% on complex tasks. If you're short on time, Elvis Saravia shared bite-sized highlights.

• 🐊 Claude, the Sponsored Gator
  In a move that's both bizarre and endearing, Anthropic is reportedly sponsoring Claude, an albino alligator living at the California Academy of Sciences. You can even watch him in real-time via the Claude Cam.

• 🎧 ASMR Meets AI with Veo 3
  TikTok creators are going viral by pairing ASMR videos — like slicing molten lava or glass fruit — with Veo 3’s native audio features, resulting in millions of mesmerized views.

• 🧑‍💻 Reid Hoffman’s Real Talk on AI
  LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman shared his thoughts on preparing for the AI wave. Spoiler: It's not just about prompt engineering or vibe-coding anymore.

🧰 Creator’s Toolbox

• VisionFX – Instantly generate images, videos, music, voice, and more with advanced AI.

• BrowserAct – Scrape any website and extract data without writing code.

• Wave – Modular AI agents for research, content creation, and web automation.

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• Tato – The AI-native project platform for massive IT projects. It captures what matters—risks, gaps, decisions. Try it on your projects!

• Picbolt – Transform screenshots into stunning visuals and mockups.

• Heynds – Transform your voice and texts into professional content in seconds.

• Huntr – Create tailored resumes and cover letters fast with AI.

👉️ These Are the Tools That Actually Matter in 2025👈️