5 July 2021
This week's additions focus on mindset, founder stories, and strategy, with new digests from The Daily Stoic, Founders, and Masters of Scale. Highlights include Real-time news is designed to keep you watching, not informed. Ford's one idea — cheap cars for everyone — took two decades to crack
Showing 13 digests for 5 July 2021.
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Four strategies for achieving calm in turbulent times
The Daily Stoic
July 11, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
8
Relationships & family
6
Real-time news is designed to keep you watching, not informed.
A trusted close relationship is your most underrated source of stability.
Win the morning phone-free — tackle your most important work first.
Henry Ford and Thomas Edison: lessons from a decade of vagabonding
Founders
July 10, 2021
Case studies
9
Business models
7
Identity & self-belief
5
Ford's one idea — cheap cars for everyone — took two decades to crack
Edison invented the modern world but failed to capture any of the value
Unchecked self-belief built Ford's empire, then slowly destroyed it
How BuzzFeed turned a pandemic crisis into record profitability
Masters of Scale
July 8, 2021
Pivoting
10
Case studies
8
Fundraising & VC
6
From near-bankruptcy to $30M profit in one year
Media creates value; Google and Expedia capture it
Patience and a profitable flywheel unlocked the SPAC and acquisitions
Getting fired from Facebook as employee #30: lessons from a $1B mistake
Noah Kagan
July 8, 2021
Case studies
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Forfeiting $1B in equity because you wanted your own show
Facebook Status — the feature that became Twitter — was his idea
Early-stage people often can't scale; know which one you are
Productivity & habits
Podcast
The productivity baby steps for mastering your professional life
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
July 8, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
7
Goal setting
5
Seven-step system for moving from disorganization to complete mastery of your professional workload
Break long-term projects into discrete work chunks: aim for one to four days per task maximum
Daily shutdown routines create mental closure and prevent work bleeding into your personal life
Prospecting & outreach
YouTube
How to ask for what you want by advocating for yourself first
Bill Gallagher
July 7, 2021
Prospecting & outreach
8
Identity & self-belief
6
Persuade your inner jury before you can persuade anyone else
Listening beats presenting — the best listener wins every negotiation
Play with evidence seven ways to expose weaknesses before others do
Ethereum: how a teenager built the world computer
Acquired
July 6, 2021
Origin stories
9
Competitive analysis
7
Business models
6
Bitcoin is a calculator; Ethereum is a programmable computer with money built in.
A $150M DAO hack forced a chain-splitting hard fork that redefined Ethereum's philosophy.
ICOs, DeFi, and NFTs each bootstrapped the network through chaos before going mainstream.
How Mellody Hobson accelerated expertise from intern to co-CEO
Masters of Scale
July 6, 2021
Case studies
9
Delegation
6
Vision & mission
5
Deliberate practice explains only ~1% of entrepreneurial performance variance.
Shadowing the right mentor beats years of solo repetition.
Capital without customers can't scale minority businesses to close the wealth gap.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Finding happiness by starting with the end of your life in mind
Bill Gallagher
July 6, 2021
Identity & self-belief
9
Goal setting
6
Having everything you wanted but still feeling trapped is common.
Imagine the end of a successful life — who would you be?
Becoming that person now dissolves suffering faster than solving problems.
How to build wealth and direction in your 20s
Noah Kagan
July 6, 2021
Niche selection
9
Goal setting
8
Prospecting & outreach
6
Big markets matter more than raw talent in your 20s
Tracking net worth monthly is enough to improve it
Creation compounds; consumption doesn't
Accounting basics
Podcast
Retirement investing for founders: a simple, autopilot approach
Startups For the Rest of Us
July 6, 2021
Accounting basics
9
Bootstrapping
5
Starting 20 years earlier turns $5,000 into four times the final wealth.
Roth IRAs and business SEP-IRAs shelter far more than most founders realise.
One total-world index fund on autopilot beats most active strategies.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Taming Distracting Thoughts: The Inner Dialogue
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
July 5, 2021
Deep work & focus
9
Resilience & grit
6
Your wandering thoughts aren't distractions—engage with them through solitude and journaling.
Creative rituals and the ramp technique sustain deep work without daily exhaustion.
Rumination differs from healthy solitude; therapy helps when internal dialogue spirals obsessively.
David Ogilvy's unpublished writings on advertising, leadership, and craft
Founders
July 5, 2021
Copywriting
9
Branding
7
Culture building
6
Why brilliant advertising still fails without a 'big idea' behind it
Ogilvy's 12-step copywriting process, including half a bottle of rum
Deals kill brands — only advertising builds lasting market share