Origin stories

Podcast

Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan: Contrasting Visions of General Motors

Founders April 19, 2020

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Origin stories 9

Management 7

Business operating systems 6

• Founder's genius built GM; administrator's discipline made it dominant for 35 years.
• Vertical integration forced: suppliers' survival hinged on manufacturer goodwill and capital.
• Financial speculation destroyed Durant twice; Sloan's profit reinvestment created stability.

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Pivoting

Podcast

Lyft's crisis playbook: keeping ride share running during COVID-19

Masters of Scale April 16, 2020

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Pivoting 9

Communication 8

Processes & SOPs 6

• Transportation is the root of economic activity — crisis amplifies that.
• 120,000 drivers joined a task force in one day to fuel essential rides.
• Daily founder AMAs drove employee engagement to an all-time high.

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Long-term planning

YouTube

How to identify and fix the vital need in your business right now

Bill Gallagher April 15, 2020

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Long-term planning 10

Pivoting 7

Resilience & grit 6

• Most crisis responses move you further from the real problem
• A five-level hierarchy tells you exactly which need to fix first
• Peel back your offering one step at a time to find what you can sell now

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Crisis leadership

Podcast

Crisis leadership and the pivot: Ellen Kullman on leading through uncertainty

Masters of Scale April 14, 2020

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Crisis leadership 10

Pivoting 8

Case studies 7

• Four crisis principles distilled from leading DuPont and Carbon through chaos.
• Carbon went from Adidas shoe soles to 20,000 medical face shields per week.
• Why short-term earnings focus left industries dangerously without surge capacity.

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Growth hacking

YouTube

Ten websites to find customers and launch a side hustle today

Noah Kagan April 14, 2020

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Growth hacking 8

Business models 6

• Your customers already exist on platforms built to find them.
• Sendfox and Substack let you monetise an audience with zero upfront cost.
• Clarity.fm books a business expert every 90 seconds — be one.

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Founder interviews

Podcast

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on leading through the COVID-19 crisis

Masters of Scale April 13, 2020

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Founder interviews 10

Communication 8

Fundraising & VC 6

• Airbnb's IPO was days away when COVID made it irrelevant
• How $250M in host payouts got approved without a financial model
• Crisis forced Airbnb back to its founding purpose: human connection

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Deep work & focus

Podcast

Six apps to reduce distractions when working from home

How I Work April 13, 2020

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Deep work & focus 9

Productivity & habits 6

Automation & tools 5

• Closing email entirely beats minimising it for focus.
• Forest's dying tree makes phone avoidance surprisingly motivating.
• Pocket batches article reading so tabs never multiply.

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