18 May 2020
This week's additions focus on marketing, leadership, and strategy, with new digests from Masters of Scale, Joanna Wiebe, and Noah Kagan. Highlights include Why closing all 120 stores at once was the only rational move Untagged email traffic silently misclassifies as referral or direct in GA.
Showing 10 digests for 18 May 2020.
How Warby Parker navigated the COVID-19 crisis with Neil Blumenthal
Masters of Scale
May 23, 2020
Case studies
9
Pivoting
7
Processes & SOPs
6
Why closing all 120 stores at once was the only rational move
COVID accelerated consumer behavior shifts by three to five years
How to lead and over-communicate when reliable data doesn't exist
How to use UTM parameters to track email campaigns in Google Analytics
Joanna Wiebe
May 22, 2020
Data & analytics
9
Email marketing
7
Untagged email traffic silently misclassifies as referral or direct in GA.
Medium must be exactly lowercase 'email' — capitalisation breaks the rule.
Assisted conversions report reveals channel value hidden by last-touch attribution.
Leading through crisis: LifeWay Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky on gut instinct and pandemic response
Masters of Scale
May 21, 2020
Management
9
Supply chain
7
Resilience & grit
6
Stockpiled seven weeks of inventory before U.S. panic buying hit
Personal refugee history shaped faster crisis instincts than any algorithm
Why boards should put more women in leadership roles right now
Content marketing
YouTube
How to grow a podcast to 2 million downloads: what actually works
Noah Kagan
May 21, 2020
Content marketing
9
Email marketing
7
Growth hacking
6
Being a guest on other podcasts is the single highest-leverage growth channel
Titles drive more downloads than celebrity guests — spend 20–30 minutes per episode on them
Build an email list first; podcast listeners are earned last, not first
Content marketing
YouTube
Content promotion checklist: seven tactics to get more eyes on your posts
Ahrefs
May 20, 2020
Content marketing
10
SEO
7
Email your list first — subscribers want updates and can amplify your reach.
Re-share on social media with varied copy; soundbites extend content lifespan.
Quora answers targeting high-traffic questions can drive tens of thousands of visits.
How DSP Concepts scaled an audio platform from consulting shop to Series B
Bill Gallagher
May 20, 2020
Case studies
10
Business operating systems
8
Hiring & recruitment
6
90% of audio engineering time wasted on chip code, not invention
Becoming the default platform standard wins a fragmented market
Hire senior management early — spreading exec function prevents founder stretch
Resilience & grit
Podcast
The mindset of an extreme winner: Larry Ellison's relentless competition
Founders
May 20, 2020
Resilience & grit
9
Motivation
8
Identity & self-belief
6
Extreme winners create games within games to sustain competitive intensity over decades
Will and desire to win trump talent every time—how Ellison rebuilt Oracle and won America's Cup
Sports provide unmistakable feedback; business's endless quarters lead nowhere without competition
How Angela Ahrendts united Apple's global retail team
Masters of Scale
May 19, 2020
Culture building
9
Communication
7
Management
6
Weekly unedited iPhone videos built trust with 70,000 retail employees
Reframing stores as a community OS unlocked a new leadership mandate
Giving managers local ownership turned employees into mission advocates
Prospecting & outreach
YouTube
How to make $1,000 profit in 24 hours selling beef jerky
Noah Kagan
May 18, 2020
Prospecting & outreach
9
B2C sales
7
Business models
5
A basic budget reveals bulk and subscription sales are the only path to $1,000.
Active outreach — calls, texts, DMs — beats passive posting every time.
Get to your first dollar before obsessing over pricing or infrastructure.
How to write better headlines by generating at least 50 options
Joanna Wiebe
May 18, 2020
Writing one headline and moving on guarantees you miss the best one.
Five techniques — time limits, questions, surprising words, word pictures, formulas — break creative ruts.
When ideas stop working, delete everything and start from scratch.