Case studies

Podcast

Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors

Founders April 11, 2020

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Case studies 9

Bootstrapping 5

• Master salesman who assembled three auto empires through audacious deal-making, not engineering talent.
• Vertical integration and scale beat suppliers: controlled wheels, axles, paint, and lumber to dominate.
• Lost $90 million speculating on margin; the optimism that built empires destroyed his personal fortune.

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Cash flow management

YouTube

How freelancers and small businesses can survive a recession

Noah Kagan April 9, 2020

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Cash flow management 8

Prospecting & outreach 8

Niche selection 6

• Build 12–24 months of cash reserves before you need them
• Offline businesses are desperate for help going digital — that's your opening
• Avoid generic freelance platforms; get close to companies that are actively growing

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Pivoting

YouTube

Leading through crisis: what four scaling coaches are seeing and doing

Bill Gallagher April 8, 2020

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Pivoting 9

Management 6

Processes & SOPs 5

• Why you must cut costs ruthlessly before any pivot will work
• Crisis events permanently reshape industries — COVID is no different
• Pivot within your existing competence; greenfield bets fail in downturns

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Delegation

YouTube

Building a high-performance team by focusing on unique abilities

Cameron Herold April 8, 2020

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Delegation 8

Productivity & habits 5

• Stop fixing weaknesses — build teams around what energises people.
• Reassign draining tasks to someone who genuinely loves doing them.
• Matching tasks to strengths accelerates growth across the whole team.

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Niche selection

YouTube

23 side hustles you can start today with no upfront cost

Noah Kagan April 8, 2020

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Niche selection 7

Motivation 6

• Start free, ask for a referral — momentum follows action
• Take 5% of savings found reviewing anyone's bills
• Sell people's unwanted stuff on eBay and split the money

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Founder interviews

Podcast

How DonorsChoose pivoted fast to serve teachers during COVID-19

Masters of Scale April 7, 2020

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Founder interviews 9

Pivoting 7

MVP & prototyping 5

• Three-week sprint rebuilt the platform to ship supplies to students' homes
• Crises make donors more generous, not less — confirmed by 2008 recession data
• 75% of donations come from strangers, not teachers' own networks

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AI strategy & adoption

YouTube

10 Practical Tips for Running a Better Zoom Webinar

Noah Kagan April 7, 2020

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AI strategy & adoption 9

Long-term planning 7

Communication 5

• Skip boring openers; engineer participation from the first second.
• The Lion King effect: live peer results inspire the whole room.
• Always close with one specific CTA while enthusiasm peaks.

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