16 March 2020
This week's additions focus on strategy, finance, and leadership, with new digests from Noah Kagan, Ahrefs, and Founders. Highlights include Plan for 20 months of cash runway, not weeks. Traffic is a vanity metric — sales per month is the only KPI that matters.
Showing 12 digests for 16 March 2020.
Cash flow management
YouTube
Recession-proofing your business: stash cash and prepare for a long downturn
Noah Kagan
March 22, 2020
Cash flow management
9
Long-term planning
6
Plan for 20 months of cash runway, not weeks.
Revenue pain lags — cut costs before the dominoes reach you.
Position now for the recovery, not just survival today.
Content marketing
YouTube
Blogging for business: focus on customers, not traffic
Ahrefs
March 21, 2020
Traffic is a vanity metric — sales per month is the only KPI that matters.
Ahrefs grew 10x in visits by targeting buyers, not maximising reach.
Your blog is a customer acquisition channel, not a traffic channel.
Sam Bronfman: From immigrant poverty to building a whiskey empire
Founders
March 21, 2020
Origin stories
9
Long-term planning
6
Branding
5
Rose from Canadian frontier poverty to dominate global whiskey through obsessive quality standards
Built inventory buffers and weathered Prohibition, temperance movements, and World War II by thinking long-term
Repositioned whiskey as luxury product, mastered competitor tactics, and created generational wealth dynasty
Adapting in crisis: Canlis transforms for community during COVID-19
Acquired
March 20, 2020
Case studies
9
Pivoting
8
Culture building
6
Fine dining restaurant pivots to drive-through, bagels, and delivery within two weeks
Entire 115-person staff volunteers to stay employed despite uncertain, radical business changes
Leadership decision rooted in military values prioritizes people over profit during crisis
Crisis leadership
YouTube
Verne Harnish's five Cs for leading your team through a crisis
Bill Gallagher
March 20, 2020
Crisis leadership
10
Cash flow management
7
Daily fact-based communication builds trust when panic spreads fastest.
Radical cash requests — like a year of free rent — are negotiable in a crisis.
Engaging the whole team in clean-up cuts costs and prevents disengagement.
How to be a winner during economic disruption
Noah Kagan
March 20, 2020
Pivoting
8
Resilience & grit
7
Wealth is being redistributed right now — position yourself to receive it.
Essential businesses survive; non-essentials get cut — know which side you're on.
Pre-plan action/trigger decisions to remove emotion from crisis choices.
Execution during a crisis: staying focused when chaos hits
Bill Gallagher
March 19, 2020
Communication
9
Vision & mission
7
Resilience & grit
6
Leaders who stay calm in a crisis prepared 12 months earlier.
Keep meeting rhythms — stability signals the team is not panicking.
Change goals only as last resort; most companies quit too early.
Content Hubs: Where SEO and Content Marketing Meet
Ahrefs
March 18, 2020
SEO
9
Content marketing
8
Content hubs link a broad pillar page to focused cluster subpages internally.
Backlinks to any cluster page benefit the whole hub through internal links.
Hub topics need 5–20 subtopics, strong search volume, and informational intent.
Recession-proofing your business and life during a crisis
Noah Kagan
March 18, 2020
Pivoting
8
Cash flow management
7
Growth hacking
6
Society has permanently changed — business will never return to normal
Seven concrete sectors where new businesses can be built right now
Prove your ROI before your boss asks, or risk being cut first
Cash flow management
YouTube
Cash reserves and crisis strategy for small business owners
Bill Gallagher
March 17, 2020
Cash flow management
10
Long-term planning
6
Two months cash on hand separates survivors from buyers in a downturn
Stock market drops don't reflect the true underlying economy
Pent-up demand surges fast once short-term disruption ends
Crisis leadership
YouTube
Mental health strategies for leaders navigating a crisis
Bill Gallagher
March 16, 2020
Crisis leadership
9
Resilience & grit
8
Chronic stress — not acute stress — is the real immune and cognitive threat.
Social bonding during stress triggers neurogenesis, not breakdown.
You cannot lead others through a crisis while running on empty.
Ben Franklin: An American Life
Founders
March 16, 2020
Origin stories
9
Business models
7
Identity & self-belief
6
How Franklin built a vertically integrated media empire through reputation and strategic thinking.
Why he retired at 42 and shifted ambition from business to science, politics, and diplomacy.
Master techniques for influencing people: Socratic questioning, favors, and appearing visibly industrious.