Origin stories

Podcast

Steve Jobs and the early years of Apple: lessons from 1976–1984

Founders June 16, 2019

---

Origin stories 10

Hiring & recruitment 7

Business models 6

• Apple's first customer for a full computer was a shop buyer, not Jobs
• Frugality in early years shaped Apple's entire operating culture
• Boards that replace founders with credentialed outsiders almost always get it wrong

Read more →

Long-term planning

YouTube

Should you move your startup to Silicon Valley?

Y Combinator June 14, 2019

---

Long-term planning 7

Bootstrapping 5

• Silicon Valley's network density accelerates company-building in ways nothing else matches.
• Nearby startup success creates pressure that compresses years of progress into months.
• Stay if customers or structural advantages are already where you are.

Read more →

SEO

YouTube

Wix vs WordPress SEO: what 6.4 million domains actually show

Ahrefs June 12, 2019

---

SEO 9

• Raw traffic gap between platforms is statistically insignificant when skew is removed
• Among active sites, Wix outperforms WordPress on organic traffic volume
• Client-side JavaScript rendering makes Wix content potentially unindexable

Read more →

Identity & self-belief

YouTube

High performance without burnout: identity, habits, and sustainable output

Bill Gallagher June 12, 2019

---

Identity & self-belief 10

Deep work & focus 8

Resilience & grit 6

• Hustle culture nearly killed him — a mid-flight heart attack changed everything
• Three timed alarms anchor a daily identity in work, health, and family
• One lead behaviour per life domain is enough to win the day

Read more →

Founder interviews

YouTube

Tracy Young on scaling PlanGrid from five co-founders to 450 people

Y Combinator June 12, 2019

---

Founder interviews 10

Hiring & recruitment 7

Product-market fit 6

• Sitting with customers on job sites was the only way to get adoption.
• Mismatched scale — not incompetence — caused most senior hiring failures.
• Negative ego and self-criticism cost more than external obstacles ever did.

Read more →

Unit economics

YouTube

How to increase profit margins by doing less for more

StoryBrand With Donald Miller June 10, 2019

---

Unit economics 9

Business models 6

• High revenue can hide terrible margins once operational costs are counted
• Opportunity cost: complex programs drain bandwidth from more profitable work
• Ask if every revenue stream can be done with less effort for more money

Read more →

Pricing psychology

YouTube

Sell the feeling, not just the product, to increase perceived value

StoryBrand With Donald Miller June 10, 2019

---

Pricing psychology 9

Copywriting 7

• Words cost nothing but can double your product's perceived value.
• Place a feeling-driven phrase next to the price, not buried in a brochure.
• Ask: does your product make people feel peace, confidence, or nostalgia?

Read more →

PR & media

YouTube

How to Recover From Bad PR by Escaping the Villain Label

StoryBrand With Donald Miller June 10, 2019

---

PR & media 9

Communication 6

• Denial cements the villain label; nuanced honesty breaks it.
• Admit what's true, deny what's false, act immediately.
• Starbucks store closure shows exiting villain territory, not winning fans.

Read more →