23 March 2020
This week's additions focus on finance, strategy, and leadership, with new digests from Bill Gallagher, The Daily Stoic, and Masters of Scale. Highlights include Cut costs ruthlessly first — pivoting before cutting is the costly mistake. Temperance, not willpower: self-discipline as freedom from your own urges
Showing 11 digests for 23 March 2020.
Moving from surviving to thriving during business upheaval
Bill Gallagher
March 29, 2020
Pivoting
9
Cash flow management
8
Processes & SOPs
7
Cut costs ruthlessly first — pivoting before cutting is the costly mistake.
Crises birth durable new categories: SARS made JD.com, COVID is similar.
Speed of decision beats quality of decision when conditions change daily.
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Using Stoicism to manage negativity, anger, and lazy habits
The Daily Stoic
March 28, 2020
Resilience & grit
9
Identity & self-belief
6
Productivity & habits
5
Temperance, not willpower: self-discipline as freedom from your own urges
Anger is universal — Stoics used audits, pauses, and outlets to domesticate it
Tommy John's 1-in-100 shot: why the Dichotomy of Control demands full effort
Five crisis leadership moves for founders navigating a recession
Bill Gallagher
March 27, 2020
Management
9
Cash flow management
7
Pivoting
6
Radical requests to landlords and suppliers beat cost-cutting for speed.
Lead without a plan — engage the team before you have answers.
Use SWT trend-spotting to find breakout opportunities mid-crisis.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Leading through crisis: Reid Hoffman on humanity, survival, and opportunity
Masters of Scale
March 26, 2020
Founder interviews
10
Management
8
Cash flow management
6
Why humanity first is a leadership strategy, not a distraction
Accept some companies will die — then take the right risks
Crisis forces experiments in remote work, education, and government
Five crisis leadership moves for founders in a downturn
Bill Gallagher
March 26, 2020
Management
9
Resilience & grit
7
Cash flow management
6
Lead before you have a plan — bring the team with you.
Radical requests to suppliers and landlords beat cutting costs first.
Every recession hides breakout opportunities for trend-spotters.
Long-term planning
YouTube
Recession business strategy: offense and defense in uncertain times
Noah Kagan
March 26, 2020
Long-term planning
9
Cash flow management
7
Growth hacking
6
Pre-set two revenue-drop scenarios before you need them.
Track leading indicators daily — not last month's revenue.
Downturns create permanent winners; position now for the recovery.
Chung Ju-yung: The Relentless Founder Who Built Hyundai
Founders
March 26, 2020
Origin stories
10
Resilience & grit
7
Identity & self-belief
6
Extreme poverty and brutal war couldn't stop him—only determination and relentless work ethic.
Built Korea's first car, highway system, and world's largest shipyard despite zero prior experience.
Conviction: treat a rice delivery job with the same rigor you'd apply running a Fortune 500 company.
Automating link building outreach with Zapier and Hunter
Ahrefs
March 25, 2020
Growth hacking
9
Automation & tools
8
Prospecting & outreach
7
Typing a last name in a spreadsheet triggers the entire outreach sequence
Hunter finds emails; NeverBounce filters out invalid ones before sending
Catch-All emails are ~80% reliable — valid ones hit 98% deliverability
12 tactics to recession-proof an e-commerce business
Noah Kagan
March 25, 2020
Growth hacking
8
Cash flow management
7
Referral programs
5
Assume 30% revenue loss and build your plan around surviving it.
Cheap ad CPCs mean now is the time to spend, not pull back.
Turn customers into a sales team with 80% referral commissions.
Danny Meyer on laying off 2,000 employees during a crisis
Masters of Scale
March 24, 2020
Communication
9
Vision & mission
7
Laying off 2,000 people to save their jobs — the paradox explained
Restaurant margins are 3–10%; fixed costs don't pause when revenue disappears
A single pregnant employee's email reshaped the entire relief fund strategy
15+ business ideas to start during a crisis
Noah Kagan
March 24, 2020
Pivoting
9
Business models
7
Pivot existing assets — skills, spaces, customers — into new formats fast.
Closed venues become packaging hubs, studios, or remote-service launchpads.
Cost-cutting consulting and DIY kits are among the highest-leverage moves.