Front Run The Week 7/7/25

Drafting Winners Before the Headlines Catch Up

Photo by Philippe Murray-Pietsch on Unsplash

If Tom Brady were Bitcoin, nobody would have drafted him.

Back in 2000, Brady was a backup turned one-year starter at Michigan, drafted 199th overall, and judged as a long shot to stick on a roster—let alone win seven Super Bowls. Only after he’d collected a couple of rings did the world start calling him a lock for another.

Bitcoin is the same story in financial form. Now that it’s flirting with all-time highs again, the chorus is loud:

“Bitcoin to 1M!”

Sure, it feels obvious—today. But most people could never have called it when it was buried on page 12 of the financial news, trading for pennies.

If you’re only willing to believe in greatness after the trophies are on the shelf—or the price is on the ticker—then you’re showing up to the afterparty, not the opportunity.

And speaking of afterparties, let’s talk about Rob Gronkowski — Gronk — one of Brady’s greatest teammates and a ring-winner in his own right. Gronk once shared a story about being a young Patriot, remodeling his house while a contractor kept hammering away about a “hot stock” called Apple. This was after the iPhone started reshaping the world, so it wasn’t exactly a secret. Eventually, Gronk caved, punting a Gronk-like $69,000 into Apple stock — then forgot about it. Years later, his advisor told him that chunk of change had spiked to roughly $500,000.

Gronk called it the best financial advice he’d ever received — straight from the guy fixing his porch.

But here’s the thing: there’s a reason that contractor wasn’t a professional financial advisor. The iPhone had already won, Apple was already Apple, and the trade was obvious. For a pro, recommending a stock that had so thoroughly proven itself would have been too easy — and not exactly worthy of praise.

Sure, the Apple investment worked out beautifully. But what if Gronk had put that same $69,000 into Bitcoin back then, when a single BTC still couldn’t buy a ticket to a preseason game? That $500,000 return would be the annual interest today on a portfolio worth around $12.5 million.

The lesson? Greatness is easy to see once the confetti’s on the field. The hard part — and the reason you front run the week — is seeing it before the crowd shows up.

Don’t just sit in the stands — upgrade to paid and step onto the field with the rest of the Hall of Famers who take all the reps

So what’s left to front-run?

You’re not too late — if you’re looking where everyone else isn’t. Just like Brady before the rings, just like Bitcoin before the headlines.

Let the crowd chase Bitcoin’s next 10× from here. That crowd? Call them the Wholecoiners — retail investors conditioned to see Bitcoin as the same path to riches as owning a house. They talk about “one Bitcoin” the same way people brag about “owning a home,” ignoring the fact that Bitcoin is divisible and designed to move in Satoshis. This mindset guarantees they’ll suffer sticker shock once Bitcoin becomes truly scarce and priced out of their reach.

When that moment arrives, they’ll FOMO into altcoins out of sheer obligation to participate, even if they don’t understand what they’re buying. That is idle participation — showing up after the confetti’s already on the field. And idle participation won’t cut it anymore. You have to position ahead of the move, and align yourself with where the next champions are being built.

Anything from here is a setup — a bootleg play straight to the end zone, except this time, the refs aren’t neutral; they’re wearing Patriots uniforms.

Legendary investor Tim Draper says it best:

“Stop thinking you’re late.”

Innovation moves on an S-curve — with a slow grind of early believers, then a tidal wave of mainstream adoption. Bitcoin is still on that curve, but it’s become the Apple of the moment. When your contractor, barber, or barista is talking about it — just like Gronk’s porch builder pushed him into Apple — that’s not bad advice, but it’s obvious advice. Like predicting Tom Brady would win another ring when he’s running out of fingers.

The real edge is seeing the next dynasty before it’s crowned.

One place to look is Total3 — the total crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum. It’s the Patriots’ depth chart, showing which altcoins are warming up. If Total3 is climbing, that’s the quiet signal altseason is taking the field — and you’d better be positioned before the scoreboard changes.

That’s what I focus on in Front Run The Week:

Giza — the AI Agent Overlord I highlighted early.
Euler — still undervalued and gearing up.
Total3 — the altcoin X-ray nobody’s watching, but you should.

And soon: How Your Next Investment Might Be Someone’s Story.

If you’re reading this, you’re not late — you’re at the velvet rope while the rest of the world is still fumbling with parking.

Let the headlines tell you last week’s news. Stick around, and I’ll show you where the next trophies are hiding before the confetti flies.

A fresh IP-economy project breakdown is coming in video soon — not Record, something new. Hall of Famers get first picks.

Tom Brady was a record-setting NFL quarterback. His name is synonymous with greatness.

Before I let you go, here’s one more name I’ve already scouted for you: Record. It’s building in the next frontier of finance — the IP economy.

Right now, retail interest is so upside down, it’s like a pro scout telling all the NFL team owners back during the Y2K noise:

“Tim Couch is a Hall of Fame quarterback.”

Ignore the noise. Position before the banners get hung. And join me as I compare Record with another asset on the same playing field.

Entertainment IP is transforming from cultural product to financial collateral. Think about it: the global media and entertainment market is worth $2.2 trillion, with $300 billion of that sitting in music and film IP alone, often trading at 20–30× earnings multiples for catalog sales. Disney’s $100 billion IP library and the fact that 80% of streaming revenue goes directly to rights holders prove that content isn’t just king — it’s bankable, investable collateral.

And it goes deeper. When 90% of the S&P 500’s market value is now tied up in intangible assets, it’s no longer just a quirky tech trend — it’s a complete structural shift. Around the world, from the UK to China to South Korea, governments and lenders are legitimizing IP-backed lending as mainstream finance. Even the World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN agency that sets global IP standards, has confirmed this: IP is moving from a dusty legal silo to core financial infrastructure.

Record is positioning itself to ride that wave — helping transform content into an on-chain, permissionless money market. That, if you ask me, is the next quarterback scouts will call trash today, but hoist up a Lombardi tomorrow.

Football and Finance:

It’s easy to forget that federal benchwarmer Sam Bankman-Fried was once on the cover of the Sports Illustrated of business: Fortune Magazine. So was Enron, back in its day. The surface-level glow is almost always a distraction.

Remember Tim Couch, drafted first overall in 1999, while Tom Brady fell all the way to pick 199…

Couch looked like a can’t-miss superstar — the obvious “safe” bet — yet delivered one playoff run and a short, injury-riddled career. Brady, the overlooked one, ended up winning seven rings.

Whether you’re betting on quarterbacks or blockchains, the same rule applies: obvious is expensive; ignored is where the trophies hide.

When Monday arrives, watch out for the Bootleg!

Mid-week or so, I’ll target you on a Go route.

Don’t fade it!

-Chip