This week's additions focus on strategy, founder stories, and finance, with new digests from Noah Kagan, Acquired, and Founders. Highlights include Platforms should bring pre-matched customers to you — stop doing segmentation yourself. Blizzard's map editor accidentally created the MOBA genre — and gave away billions.

Growth hacking

YouTube

Five emerging marketing channels founders can exploit now

Noah Kagan July 14, 2017

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Growth hacking 9

Social media 5

• Platforms should bring pre-matched customers to you — stop doing segmentation yourself.
• Exploit existing networks the way Airbnb used Craigslist and PayPal used eBay.
• No clean channel exists yet for businesses to message customers one-to-one at scale.

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Case studies

Podcast

How Blizzard became a gaming empire through corporate chaos and creative focus

Acquired July 13, 2017

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Case studies 9

Business models 8

Exit strategy 5

• Blizzard's map editor accidentally created the MOBA genre — and gave away billions.
• World of Warcraft: $1 billion a year from one game, no new releases for six years.
• Vivendi's French water company owned Blizzard before Activision rescued it.

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Niche selection

YouTube

Stop planning, start selling: how to launch a side hustle today

Noah Kagan July 11, 2017

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Niche selection 8

Prospecting & outreach 7

Motivation 6

• Solve problems only when they actually appear, not upfront.
• Your unfair advantage is what you already know or can access.
• Your first product doesn't define your business — just start selling.

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Origin stories

Podcast

Henry Ford: building the Ford Motor Company and the pursuit of total control

Founders July 10, 2017

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Origin stories 10

Business models 7

• Ford dissolved two companies — including Cadillac — before getting it right
• Couzens's $400 investment returned $30 million; his sister's $100 returned $355,000
• Ford faked a resignation to secretly buy out every shareholder and own 100% of a $500M company

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