Origin stories

Podcast

Conrad Hilton: Building a Hotel Empire from Nothing

Founders April 14, 2019

---

Origin stories 10

Long-term planning 8

Resilience & grit 7

• Refusing bankruptcy when 80% of hotels failed became his greatest competitive advantage
• Bought distressed hotels at a fraction of build cost, converted dead lobby space into revenue
• Died regretting decades alone — business success didn't substitute for human connection

Read more →

Hiring & recruitment

YouTube

How to find a technical cofounder as a non-technical founder

Y Combinator April 12, 2019

---

Hiring & recruitment 9

Long-term planning 5

• Make a real equity offer — not a request for weekend help.
• Work at a small startup to build an engineering network fast.
• College friendships are the most underused co-founder pipeline.

Read more →

Long-term planning

YouTube

Balancing efficiency and serendipity for business innovation

Bill Gallagher April 10, 2019

---

Long-term planning 8

Deep work & focus 6

AI strategy & adoption 5

• AI optimisation locks you into the past; markets move faster than patterns.
• Hiring for proven fit breeds homogeneity that can't adapt to change.
• Taking harder notes, not easier ones, produces deeper understanding.

Read more →

Management

YouTube

One Sure-Fire Way to Boost Team Focus at Work

StoryBrand With Donald Miller April 10, 2019

---

Management 9

Processes & SOPs 7

• Unproductive thinking silently drains revenue and compounds opportunity cost.
• Weekly 'Big Three' goals submitted to a manager align team focus fast.
• Manager feedback on every submission is what makes the system work.

Read more →

Case studies

YouTube

How Bump, Flock, and Google Photos taught one founder to chase durable human needs

Y Combinator April 10, 2019

---

Case studies 9

Product-market fit 8

Pivoting 6

• 150M downloads but low use frequency quietly killed Bump as a business
• Flock failed because it had no single-player utility before friends joined
• Nostalgia is a core human need — the real engine behind Google Photos

Read more →

Branding

YouTube

How to write a tagline that grows your business

StoryBrand With Donald Miller April 9, 2019

---

Branding 9

Copywriting 6

• Clever taglines confuse; clear taglines convert and make money.
• Unclear business name? Your tagline must say what you do.
• State what you do clearly and beat competitors who don't.

Read more →