15 March 2021
This week's additions focus on marketing, founder stories, and strategy, with new digests from Bill Gallagher, Founders, and The Daily Stoic. Highlights include Why slow, deliberate decisions can outperform speed in the long run Three rockets failed before the fourth saved the company.
Showing 18 digests for 15 March 2021.
Founder interviews
YouTube
From aspiring novelist to IT firm founder: Noam Birnbaum's slow-growth path
Bill Gallagher
March 21, 2021
Founder interviews
9
Niche selection
6
Why slow, deliberate decisions can outperform speed in the long run
The only IT firm purpose-built for venture-backed startups
Firing someone on their birthday — and what it taught him
How Elon Musk built SpaceX from nothing to orbit
Founders
March 21, 2021
Case studies
10
Hiring & recruitment
7
Processes & SOPs
5
Three rockets failed before the fourth saved the company.
Musk collapsed engineering and spending decisions into one head.
Missionaries took pay cuts to join before SpaceX proved anything.
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Seven journaling strategies from Marcus Aurelius
The Daily Stoic
March 21, 2021
Resilience & grit
7
Mental health & wellbeing
6
Marcus journaled for himself — never for an audience or publication.
Repetition builds the muscle memory that turns philosophy into action.
Evening review, not just morning prep, drives measurable performance gains.
How to write blogger outreach emails that actually get backlinks
Ahrefs
March 19, 2021
Why most outreach emails are spam and get zero response
A five-part email structure that starts real conversations
Strong value propositions beat direct link requests every time
Conversion rate optimisation
YouTube
Using VideoAsk to personalise on-site chat for lead generation
Joanna Wiebe
March 19, 2021
Conversion rate optimisation
9
Growth hacking
6
Your face beats a bot — video builds trust static chat can't.
Short branching scripts outperform complex chatbot decision trees.
Capture visitor segment early; feed it straight into your CRM.
Link building for beginners: three proven tactics and the outreach process
Ahrefs
March 18, 2021
Every link earned comes down to a clear value exchange
HARO gets you links from Forbes-level sites with zero cold outreach
Vet 10x more guest post sites than you plan to pitch
Six celebrity alcohol brands ranked and their business models compared
Noah Kagan
March 18, 2021
Case studies
8
Branding
7
Exit strategy
6
Diageo paid $600M for Aviation Gin just two years after Reynolds joined
The Rock set the biggest spirits launch ever in under nine months
Fame opens the door — product quality and repetition drive the sales
MVP & prototyping
YouTube
Six digital product ideas for creators and small businesses
Silicon Valley Girl
March 18, 2021
MVP & prototyping
8
Content marketing
7
Pricing strategy
6
1,000 paying fans beats 1,000,000 passive followers every time.
Workbook collaboration generated $25K on a single launch day.
Over-delivering is the only reliable edge in a crowded market.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Recovering from hard days and doing deep work the next morning
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
March 18, 2021
Deep work & focus
9
Productivity & habits
8
Physical & cognitive performance
6
Exhaustion comes from open loops, not the hard thinking itself.
A shutdown ritual and recharge morning unlock your next deep day.
Productivity tools help ~10% — hard work stays hard regardless.
What makes a backlink high-quality: five key attributes
Ahrefs
March 17, 2021
A link from a relevant, authoritative page beats dozens of low-quality ones.
Keyword-stuffed anchors look unnatural and can trigger a Google penalty.
Use these five attributes to filter prospects before spending time on outreach.
Founder interviews
YouTube
Warren Rustand: Tried and True Leadership Principles That Actually Work
Bill Gallagher
March 17, 2021
Founder interviews
10
Management
7
Five daily disciplines rebuilt a bankrupt builder to $75M.
Humility ranks above IQ in every great leader observed.
Self-change is the only reliable lever for different results.
Three link building strategies: create, buy, or earn
Ahrefs
March 16, 2021
Buying links costs ~$353 each and risks Google penalties
Harder links to earn are more valuable for SEO rankings
Waiting for organic links lets outreach-active competitors pull ahead
Airbnb's rebound: Crisis leadership and the second inflection point
Masters of Scale
March 16, 2021
Case studies
9
Management
7
Pivoting
6
Lost 80% of revenue in eight weeks; rebounded through deliberate principle-driven crisis management.
Laid off one-third of staff while providing year-long health coverage, severance, and job placement help.
Committed $100 million host endowment to ensure community shared in IPO upside and future growth.
Customer experience
YouTube
Four questions to diagnose why your numbers are down
Bill Gallagher
March 16, 2021
Customer experience
8
B2B sales
6
Ask customers about competitors — most founders never do.
Sequence matters: earn context before asking how you're doing.
A Bain-developed framework that surfaces gaps your data won't show.
Bootstrapper news: Twitter Spaces, Indie.VC closing, and Shopify platform risk
Startups For the Rest of Us
March 16, 2021
Business models
8
Bootstrapping
7
Niche selection
5
Shopify demanded 20% back-revenue from app developers dating to 2019.
Indie.VC's closure shows how hard bootstrapper-friendly fund terms are to sustain.
Platform-dependent businesses get discounted valuations — acquirers know the risk.