8 June 2020
This week's additions focus on mindset, founder stories, and marketing, with new digests from Deep Questions with Cal Newport, Founders, and Masters of Scale. Highlights include Facebook traded its network-effects moat for an addictive scroll feed $700k invested, $4.1 billion returned — through staged disclosure and leverage theatre
Showing 11 digests for 8 June 2020.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Cal Newport answers deep work, social media, and career questions
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
June 14, 2020
Deep work & focus
9
Productivity & habits
8
Niche selection
6
Facebook traded its network-effects moat for an addictive scroll feed
Rare, valuable skills are career capital — relocate them, don't abandon them
Structure beats motivation: task boards, calendars, and time blocks outperform inbox-driven work
Robert Friedland: How a penny stock promoter sold a $4 billion nickel discovery
Founders
June 14, 2020
Case studies
9
Closing techniques
7
Exit strategy
6
$700k invested, $4.1 billion returned — through staged disclosure and leverage theatre
Friedland shaped Steve Jobs' charisma before becoming a mining promoter
Lower production costs, not geology, forced Inco to overpay at auction
Founder interviews
Podcast
GM's Mary Barra on speed, crisis response, and lasting change
Masters of Scale
June 13, 2020
Founder interviews
10
Management
8
Processes & SOPs
6
GM built a working ventilator line from scratch in one month.
Bureaucracy slows companies — distinguishing approval from awareness fixes it.
Crisis-era speed only sticks if people are empowered to act without sign-off.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
How Tom Bilyeu thinks about money and spending wealth
Noah Kagan
June 12, 2020
Getting rich didn't fix a single insecurity — money never does.
His real safety net is skill, not savings.
Wealth matters only as fuel to build what you believe in.
Writing button copy that converts: calls to value vs calls to action
Joanna Wiebe
June 12, 2020
Copywriting
9
Conversion rate optimisation
8
Vague CTAs like 'Get started' fail because visitors can't predict what's next.
Top-of-funnel buttons should name the desired outcome, not the action taken.
'Buy' and 'sign up' are scary words that quietly kill your conversion rate.
Founder interviews
YouTube
Tom Bilyeu on the meaning of life, desire, and building skills
Noah Kagan
June 11, 2020
Founder interviews
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Desire is built through repetition and embodiment, not discovered within.
Skills are the only wealth that can't be taken from you.
Progress is a biological requirement for happiness, not a lifestyle choice.
Simple data-driven marketing that actually scales
Bill Gallagher
June 10, 2020
Growth hacking
9
Automation & tools
7
Unit economics
6
Calculate true cost per customer — total budget divided by new customers acquired.
Build repeatable marketing playbooks before chasing new channels or tactics.
Point marketing at your highest-margin products, not everything at once.
26 fast-growing business ideas backed by Google search data
Noah Kagan
June 10, 2020
Niche selection
8
Business models
6
All 26 ideas are validated by real Google Trends search growth.
Piggybacking on platforms like Shopify, Webflow, or TikTok beats creating demand.
The strongest opportunities serve people spending more time and money at home.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Cal Newport answers productivity, technology, and deep life questions
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
June 9, 2020
Deep work & focus
9
Productivity & habits
8
Identity & self-belief
6
Social media rewires your brain to fear judgment — here's the fix
Why Newport went from lazy student to straight-A Ivy Leaguer
Working backwards from a positive vision beats eliminating negatives
Walter Chrysler: From Mechanic to Automotive Pioneer
Founders
June 9, 2020
Origin stories
9
Resilience & grit
7
Identity & self-belief
5
Self-taught mechanic rises from poverty to lead the Chrysler Corporation and build an iconic skyscraper.
Master your craft completely, then leave comfort to chase harder opportunities where you can keep learning.
A boss who delays angry letters for three days transforms an impulsive young worker into a calculated leader.
How to land big podcast guests using a give-first approach
Noah Kagan
June 8, 2020
PR & media
9
Prospecting & outreach
7
Give value — donate, promote, review — before you ever ask
Two months of authentic engagement landed Jeff Ross; days won't
Start small shows first, trade up to bigger names gradually