20 September 2021
This week's additions focus on strategy, founder stories, and mindset, with new digests from Founders, Rick Fawcett - Expert EOS Implementer, and Masters of Scale. Highlights include Advertising is salesmanship at scale — measure cost per customer ruthlessly A 36-metric scorecard creates more red than any team can resolve
Showing 17 digests for 20 September 2021.
Claude Hopkins' Scientific Advertising: principles of salesmanship in print
Founders
September 26, 2021
Copywriting
10
Conversion rate optimisation
8
Pricing psychology
5
Advertising is salesmanship at scale — measure cost per customer ruthlessly
Specific claims always outperform superlatives; numbers make arguments credible
Sell the result people want, not the problem you solve
Business operating systems
YouTube
How to strengthen and simplify your EOS scorecard
Rick Fawcett - Expert EOS Implementer
September 24, 2021
Business operating systems
9
Management
6
A 36-metric scorecard creates more red than any team can resolve
Cutting funnel redundancy alone can shrink a scorecard by a third
Less scorecard visibility forces greater accountability from domain leaders
Leading a college through COVID, racial reckoning, and reinvention
Masters of Scale
September 23, 2021
Management
8
Case studies
6
Vision & mission
5
Preparation before a crisis hits is what makes rapid response possible
Black women's businesses are the most underfunded — Spelman built a center to fix that
Slow, broad consultation produces decisions that hold when tested under pressure
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Nir Eyal: why distraction is a pain problem, not a willpower problem
Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life
September 23, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Time management
8
All distraction is driven by the desire to escape discomfort — not weakness
Time management is pain management; productivity hacks fail without this insight
The 10-minute rule lets urges dissolve without willpower or strict abstinence
Business operating systems
YouTube
How to build a great EOS scorecard for your department
Rick Fawcett - Expert EOS Implementer
September 23, 2021
Business operating systems
9
Processes & SOPs
7
One metric made Tesla the world's most valuable car company
Five to 15 measurables — tracked weekly with owners — transform departments
A wrong goal beats no goal: it forces the right conversation
Business operating systems
YouTube
Building an Early Warning System with Leading Indicators in EOS Scorecards
Rick Fawcett - Expert EOS Implementer
September 23, 2021
Business operating systems
9
Processes & SOPs
7
Lagging metrics report the past; leading indicators buy time to act.
100 February leads predicts 50 March deals — weeks of early warning.
Pick one or two leading metrics; the full funnel adds noise, not clarity.
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Managing non-work tasks and personal productivity systems
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
September 23, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Processes & SOPs
6
Optimising non-work hours is counterproductive — keep your head above water.
Structured teams can survive chaotic organisations with light-touch interfaces.
Weekly planning is the glue that makes every other productivity system work.
Albert Lasker and the invention of modern advertising
Founders
September 23, 2021
Case studies
9
Copywriting
7
Business models
6
Advertising agencies were brokers — Lasker made them into salesmen.
One copywriter with great copy could outperform 10,000 average ads.
Bipolar disorder, three breakdowns, and 44 years building a cash machine.
How Rockefeller built Standard Oil into America's first great monopoly
Acquired
September 22, 2021
Origin stories
10
Business models
7
Rockefeller reached 90% market share without ever drilling a single well.
The trust structure invented here became the template for all modern corporations.
Secret railroad deals and pipeline ownership made Standard's monopoly legally untouchable for 21 years.
Pricing psychology
YouTube
Six ways SEO consultants can earn more without new clients
Ahrefs
September 22, 2021
Pricing psychology
8
Pricing strategy
7
Outsourcing & delegation
5
Free consultations cheapen your value — charge full rate from day one.
Upsell and outsource to earn more from clients you already have.
Transparent cost breakdowns make higher rates easier to justify and defend.
How to tell stories that captivate and stick
Bill Gallagher
September 22, 2021
Public speaking
9
Copywriting
7
One unexpected moment is the engine of every memorable story.
A single distilled sentence — the silver bullet — creates the audience's aha moment.
Opening with crisis then jumping to transformation beats any slide of bullet points.
Resilience & grit
YouTube
How Noah Kagan dealt with depression after being fired from Facebook
Noah Kagan
September 22, 2021
Resilience & grit
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Founder interviews
6
A decade of depression while watching Facebook teammates become billionaires
Small controlled wins — gym, blogging, helping one person — rebuild self-worth fast
Use the chip on your shoulder as fuel, then find a better motivator
Five secrets to keeping your best employees
Masters of Scale
September 21, 2021
Culture building
9
Management
7
Lead with authentic vulnerability to build trust across your team
Distribute decision-making power to junior employees as you scale
Celebrate wins visibly and invest in wellness as business necessities
Two tools for navigating crisis and dramatic change
Bill Gallagher
September 21, 2021
Pivoting
9
Long-term planning
6
Triage first: cut costs and preserve cash to buy thinking room
SWT replaces SWOT by centering trends over opportunities
Connecting trends to strengths and weaknesses reveals real pivot options
MailChimp's $12 billion exit: lessons for bootstrapped founders
Startups For the Rest of Us
September 21, 2021
Case studies
9
Exit strategy
8
Bootstrapping
7
$800M ARR, zero institutional funding — the largest bootstrapped exit ever.
Founders always sell eventually; the right number changes everything.
Profit-sharing beats equity — until your former colleagues cash out without you.