12 October 2020
This week's additions focus on strategy, mindset, and leadership, with new digests from Noah Kagan, Founders, and Joanna Wiebe. Highlights include Frankl's three-part formula: project, optimistic suffering, community Four men built billion-dollar oil empires in a single five-year Depression-era window.
Showing 11 digests for 12 October 2020.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Finding meaning through projects, perspective, and community
Noah Kagan
October 18, 2020
Identity & self-belief
9
Resilience & grit
6
Frankl's three-part formula: project, optimistic suffering, community
The 'if it weren't for me' exercise reveals your irreplaceable impact
Building a company is building a community — pressure forces growth
The rise and fall of the great Texas oil fortunes
Founders
October 18, 2020
Origin stories
9
Business models
6
Four men built billion-dollar oil empires in a single five-year Depression-era window.
Hunt's one field out-produced the entire Axis powers during World War Two.
Only one second-generation heir grew the fortune — everyone else destroyed theirs.
How to pitch event organisers and land more speaking gigs
Joanna Wiebe
October 16, 2020
Public speaking
8
Prospecting & outreach
8
Cold pitches fail — research the organiser before you ever reach out.
Engage and be helpful for weeks before asking for anything.
Rejection is normal; consistent long-game touchpoints eventually get you booked.
MVP & prototyping
YouTube
Three zero-dollar businesses you can launch this weekend
Noah Kagan
October 15, 2020
MVP & prototyping
10
Niche selection
5
Validate any business idea in under 30 minutes with no money
Post where customers already are — Marketplace, Reddit, your network
The weekend challenge: three customers, $100, zero excuses
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Cal Newport habit Q&A: life admin, deep practice, reading, and metric tracking
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
October 15, 2020
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
7
Processes & SOPs
5
Time block planning survives unpredictable days better than any perfect schedule
Two chapters a day rebuilds lost reading focus within two months
Paper metric tracking captures 90% of the benefit with near-zero friction
Gather hits $8K MRR and navigates the move up market
Startups For the Rest of Us
October 15, 2020
Pricing strategy
9
Niche selection
8
B2B sales
7
Raising prices repeatedly with zero pushback confirms the right market.
Higher-priced customers churn less and require less support.
Cash burn is the founders' biggest fear despite record growth.
Business operating systems
YouTube
Scaling Up Insights: Pandemic pivots, purpose, and company culture with three coaches
Bill Gallagher
October 14, 2020
Business operating systems
9
Culture building
8
Resilience & grit
6
Coaches who gave services away freely early in lockdown attracted more clients long-term.
Core values only work when embedded in hiring, rituals, and daily coaching conversations.
Giving wealth away while alive beats posthumous philanthropy — you see and shape the impact.
Business operating systems
YouTube
Four principles from Good to Great that scale any business
Noah Kagan
October 13, 2020
Business operating systems
9
Hiring & recruitment
7
Management
6
Build a self-reinforcing flywheel loop that compounds growth automatically.
Hire like a sports team, not a family — wrong people off the bus fast.
Great leaders are quiet and humble, not charismatic — and plan their succession.
EOS and the ceiling every growing business hits
Rick Fawcett - Expert EOS Implementer
October 13, 2020
SEO
9
Automation & tools
6
Every business hits a ceiling — working harder won't break it
Growth requires redesigning the system, not increasing effort
EOS tackles ceilings at individual, department, and company level
LinkedIn ads strategy for SaaS founders targeting agile teams
Startups For the Rest of Us
October 13, 2020
Paid ads
10
Funnels
7
Conversion rate optimisation
5
LinkedIn ads work best for B2B SaaS with LTV above 10K and niche targeting.
SAFE program consultants, scrum masters, and engineering managers are high-value prospects.
Content-first offers outperform direct demo requests; expect $1-2K minimum budget per campaign.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Deep work, quitting Facebook, and thinking independently in the information age
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
October 12, 2020
Deep work & focus
10
Productivity & habits
7
Identity & self-belief
5
Facebook's shift to newsfeeds accidentally killed its own network-effect advantage.
Exposure to information is not the same as actually knowing something.
Managers need sequentiality, not deep work — and email destroys both.