How to win at eCommerce: differentiation, pricing, and curation
Noah Kagan
February 7, 2018
Niche selection
8
Pricing strategy
6
MVP & prototyping
5
- Amazon will clone your product if it sells — so don't be generic
- Middle-ground pricing gets squeezed out; own cheap or premium
- Curation beats search overload when Amazon has 10 million listings
How to write better emails and run more effective meetings
Cameron Herold
February 6, 2018
Communication
9
Processes & SOPs
6
- Adding an alarm clock emoji boosts email open rates by 17%
- Delegate with time budgets, not instructions — 20 minutes, not two hours
- No agenda, no attenda: refuse meetings without a structured agenda
Five career resolutions to set and act on every year
Cameron Herold
February 5, 2018
Goal setting
9
Communication
6
- A written three-year vivid vision beats vague career intentions every time.
- Sharing your goals publicly creates accountability and unlocks help from others.
- Showing up early and solution-first signals the professionalism most people skip.
Hiring & recruitment
YouTube
Tying pay to tasks and titles, not inflated job labels
Cameron Herold
January 29, 2018
- Inflated titles make employees expect pay their work doesn't justify
- Price the tasks first, then assign the title
- Three sub-levels per role prevent premature title inflation
What a skip-level meeting is and how to run one
Cameron Herold
January 15, 2018
- Senior leaders bypass a direct report to hear from their team
- The meeting exists to gather insights, never to make decisions
- Engage neutrally — ask questions, don't debate or direct
How to run meetings that don't waste time or money
Cameron Herold
December 2, 2017
Processes & SOPs
7
Management
5
- Average employee wastes $6,000 a year in unproductive meetings
- Letting people opt out of meetings respects their time and focus
- End five minutes early, start on time, leave phones behind
How to run meetings that people don't hate
Cameron Herold
November 22, 2017
Communication
8
Processes & SOPs
6
- Bad meetings stem from zero training, not meetings themselves
- A shared agenda with time-boxes can cut meeting length in half
- Over-inviting is worse than leaving someone off the list
Resilience & grit
YouTube
Sexual harassment in tech: a female founder's perspective
Noah Kagan
November 3, 2017
Resilience & grit
7
Communication
6
- Every woman who has raised money has encountered harassment.
- Power imbalances turn flirtation into professional coercion.
- Women maintain constant vigilance men rarely notice or understand.
How much meetings are really costing your company
Cameron Herold
November 1, 2017
Processes & SOPs
8
Communication
6
- Meetings consume 12–25% of total payroll — most teams don't know
- A $1M payroll can waste up to $250k a year on meetings
- Most employees are never taught how to run or attend meetings
A simple weekly planning system using calendar blocking and daily priorities
Noah Kagan
November 1, 2017
Time management
9
Productivity & habits
7
Deep work & focus
5
- Scheduling tasks in your calendar beats writing them on a to-do list
- Automate recurring commitments so your brain stays free for real work
- Protect Wednesday–Thursday for deep work; keep Friday deliberately open
How a college student built a music business working with Kendrick Lamar
Noah Kagan
October 4, 2017
Case studies
8
Business models
7
Unit economics
5
- Door-to-door sales tactics built a college music promotion business
- Promoters risk everything on ticket revenue; managers just take a cut
- Lower-upside models have a far higher chance of actually working
Real Airbnb Economics: 10% Returns, Rising Risk, Declining Revenue
Noah Kagan
September 29, 2017
Unit economics
8
Business models
6
- $80k deposit, 10% cash-on-cash return on paper.
- Revenue fell 60% in two years as supply surged.
- Opportunity cost kills it — better uses exist for time.
Competitive analysis
YouTube
How SanDisk Competed Against Apple in the MP3 Market
Noah Kagan
September 6, 2017
Competitive analysis
10
Niche selection
9
Business models
6
- SanDisk became the world's second-largest MP3 player behind Apple.
- Microsoft's Zune failed by copying Apple's price and positioning.
- Win by owning segments a dominant player ignores, not their turf.
Productivity & habits
YouTube
Five practical tips for waking up at 5am
Noah Kagan
September 1, 2017
- Seven hours of focused work done before noon, distraction-free.
- Financial accountability buddies make early rising commitments stick.
- Not knowing what to do at 5am signals a lack of meaningful work.
Deep work & focus
YouTube
Three business lessons from a month working abroad
Noah Kagan
August 30, 2017
Deep work & focus
8
Delegation
7
Processes & SOPs
6
- Saying no to most projects is what real focus looks like
- Give employees a clear goal and get out of their way
- A week away from your business exposes every hidden weakness