5 August 2019
This week's additions focus on finance, strategy, and founder stories, with new digests from Founders, Y Combinator, and Bill Gallagher. Highlights include Escaping war at 16 forced Onassis to grow up — and get resourceful. Recruit co-founders only after convincing yourself first
Showing 11 digests for 5 August 2019.
Aristotle Onassis: how adversity, inversion, and speed built a shipping empire
Founders
August 11, 2019
Case studies
9
Competitive analysis
6
Escaping war at 16 forced Onassis to grow up — and get resourceful.
Working backwards from oil contracts unlocked $2 billion in shipping finance.
Idle ships boycotted by oil companies became a $70M windfall during Suez Crisis.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
How to convince someone to join your startup
Y Combinator
August 9, 2019
Identity & self-belief
9
Hiring & recruitment
5
Recruit co-founders only after convincing yourself first
Ambitious and incremental ideas are roughly equally hard to execute
Teams without deep conviction quit at the first rough patch
Buy Then Build: Acquisition Entrepreneurship as a Growth Strategy
Bill Gallagher
August 8, 2019
Business models
10
Fundraising & VC
7
Scaling infrastructure
6
Buying beats building: 75% of VC startups fail; acquisitions offer built-in margins of safety.
$10 trillion in Boomer-owned businesses will change hands over the next 19 years.
Know your skills first — the right business is one your strengths transform.
Content marketing
YouTube
Getting more YouTube views without an existing audience
Ahrefs
August 7, 2019
Content marketing
9
SEO
7
Paid ads
6
Series playlists let small channels claim the auto-play Up Next slot
Retargeting ads turned viewers into subscribers at near-zero incremental cost
Niche focus builds a binge-watching audience, not one-off visitors
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Key economic concepts founders can use from EconTalk
Y Combinator
August 7, 2019
Identity & self-belief
7
Long-term planning
6
Business models
5
Emergent order: many business problems solve themselves without your intervention.
Measuring only what's quantifiable makes you forget everything else exists.
Founders' irrational ownership of their company makes rational handoffs nearly impossible.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Shopify went from snowboard shop to $35B commerce platform
Acquired
August 6, 2019
Founder interviews
10
MVP & prototyping
7
Business models
7
Shopify began as a snowboard store, not a software company
Toby resisted venture capital for years — and admits it cost them
Shopify's take rate rises as merchants grow, not falls
Pricing psychology
YouTube
Why you should never give your product away for free
StoryBrand With Donald Miller
August 5, 2019
Pricing psychology
9
Pricing strategy
6
Every disengaged workshop attendee had come for free — no exceptions.
Zero cost means zero respect, and zero respect means zero results.
Discounts beat free: even half-price preserves the emotional stake.
How to keep your company from crashing
StoryBrand With Donald Miller
August 5, 2019
Case studies
9
Automation & tools
6
Overhead is the silent killer — it crashes companies, not bad products.
Think of your business as an airplane: wings, engine, body.
Fund sales first, product second; let overhead grow last.
Cash flow management
YouTube
How to predict future revenue using lead and lag measures
StoryBrand With Donald Miller
August 5, 2019
Cash flow management
9
Processes & SOPs
7
Revenue is a lag measure — you can't change yesterday's number
Lead measures like emails sent predict future revenue before it happens
Daily lead measure data lets you fix problems weeks before revenue drops
How to calculate and increase your value as an employee
StoryBrand With Donald Miller
August 5, 2019
Unit economics
8
Prospecting & outreach
5
Your worth is your open-market replacement cost — not your tenure
One employee's VIP idea generated $48k extra in a month
Visible, measurable contributions are the only path to raises
How to change someone's mind using a four-step formula
StoryBrand With Donald Miller
August 5, 2019
Communication
9
Objection handling
6
Saying "you are right" is almost magical for opening minds
People ask subconsciously: does your position affirm my identity?
Affirm the person after disagreeing — it signals respect, not weakness