 Alternative Assets
Sometimes it's easier to explain something by saying what it is not. Confused yet? Okay, let me be clearer: alternative assets or alternative investments are capital investments that are not classic financial products like stocks, bonds, and cash.
This opens up huge opportunities across lots of different and wide fields. Some definitions count well-known assets like private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, private debt, real estate, infrastructure, and natural resources as alternative investments.
The real fun starts elsewhere. Think Facebook Groups, social media accounts, domain names, or music royalties. And of course, all things collectibles: wine, watches, cars, whisk(e)y, art, comics, video games, trading cards, and many many more.
So there is plenty of niches to build solutions for. This screams analytics, marketplaces, discoverability, (paid) communities, shared investments, or escrow services. For a great breakdown, have a look at the Alternative Assets edition of Dru's Trends.vc. In addition, to get insights into various asset classes, subscribe to Alternative Assets.
Back in the days when the local gaming store was my second home, we used to make fun of the Black Lotus card in Magic: The Gathering. (Cue Conan the Barbarian.) This card sells between € 40,000 and € 400,000 today. Why I'm telling you this: this could be a way to niche down for an indie hacker. Don't pick alternative assets in general. Pick one collectible class (tradings cards), pick trading card games next, and settle with one specific game (like Magic). Find a community to serve and listen to problems they have you can build a solution for.
And I don't know about you, but I'm now going to open up my drawers, rummage through my basement and my parent's attic to find all those computer and video games I have which are still shrink-wrapped  (No, I'm not selling. I'm a collector so I just want to know my net worth  )
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