Fundraising & VC

Podcast

How Against Gravity raised a seed round for Rec Room

Acquired February 7, 2018

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Fundraising & VC 9

Pitching investors 8

MVP & prototyping 6

• Replaced the pitch deck with the live app — investors had to play it first
• Set their own valuation and terms, then told every investor: in or out
• Raised to buy time for platform bets, not to change how they operated

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Business operating systems

Podcast

How to build a company that lasts a century or more

Masters of Scale February 7, 2018

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Business operating systems 9

Management 7

Case studies 7

• Only 45 companies per million survive past 100 years.
• Truth-tellers at the top are essential to every great turnaround.
• Lasting companies return to their core identity again and again.

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Niche selection

YouTube

How to win at eCommerce: differentiation, pricing, and curation

Noah Kagan February 7, 2018

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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

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Communication

YouTube

How to write better emails and run more effective meetings

Cameron Herold February 6, 2018

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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

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Founder interviews

Podcast

Danny Meyer on hospitality, family lessons, and building Shake Shack

Founders February 6, 2018

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Founder interviews 10

Business models 6

• Business is how you make people feel, not what you serve
• Shake Shack grew from a money-losing hot dog cart art installation
• Fear of repeating his father's bankruptcy shaped every growth decision

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Goal setting

YouTube

Five career resolutions to set and act on every year

Cameron Herold February 5, 2018

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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.

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