6 December 2021
This week's additions focus on mindset, strategy, and founder stories, with new digests from The Daily Stoic, Noah Kagan, and Masters of Scale. Highlights include Every obstacle is raw material — convert it, don't endure it. All three founders solved a problem they personally experienced first
Showing 11 digests for 6 December 2021.
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Seven stoic principles Ryan Holiday returns to most
The Daily Stoic
December 12, 2021
Resilience & grit
9
Productivity & habits
8
Identity & self-belief
7
Every obstacle is raw material — convert it, don't endure it.
Ego blocks learning; confidence requires knowing your weaknesses.
Remembering death daily clarifies priorities and removes trivialities.
Three founders in their 20s who built billion-dollar companies
Noah Kagan
December 10, 2021
Case studies
9
Product-market fit
6
Niche selection
5
All three founders solved a problem they personally experienced first
Glossier grew from a blog audience before a single product existed
Printful was born by solving an internal printing problem with one printer
Founder interviews
Podcast
GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan on scaling generosity and asking for help
Masters of Scale
December 9, 2021
Founder interviews
9
Communication
7
Processes & SOPs
6
People underestimate others' willingness to help them by half.
For-profit structure delivers 97 cents of every dollar to beneficiaries.
Organising a campaign multiplies your giving impact by 20–25x.
AI tools & automation
YouTube
Web3 business opportunities: industries being transformed by blockchain
Silicon Valley Girl
December 9, 2021
AI tools & automation
10
Contracts & agreements
10
Cash flow management
9
Smart contracts eliminate intermediaries in real estate, banking, and beyond
Musicians can crowdfund albums via NFTs and bypass labels taking 80% revenue
A blockchain wallet could replace passports, visas, and medical records
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Coping with a hyperactive job: listener Q&A on deep work and career
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
December 9, 2021
Deep work & focus
9
Productivity & habits
7
Clarity about interaction structures beats raw accessibility almost every time.
Enduring a hyperactive job for the salary is a trap — leave instead.
Automate recurring work by scheduling it once and never re-deciding.
Enzo Ferrari: obsession, control, and 60 years of singular focus
Founders
December 9, 2021
Origin stories
10
Resilience & grit
8
Vision & mission
6
60 years of unbroken focus on one goal compounds into unreplicable advantage
Ferrari's greatest skill was recruiting and manipulating talented, proud men
He won races by simply showing up everywhere — persistence beat brilliance
Competitive analysis
Podcast
Seven Powers: A Framework for Competitive Advantage
Acquired
December 8, 2021
Competitive analysis
10
Business models
6
Power requires both a benefit competitors lack and a barrier preventing imitation—most startups miss the second part
Seven specific sources of competitive advantage emerge only during market takeoff when strategies can still be established
Counter positioning lets new entrants win because incumbents cannot cannibalize their profitable existing business models
How Paul Polman rebuilt Unilever by redrawing its boundaries
Masters of Scale
December 7, 2021
Pivoting
9
Culture building
7
Pricing strategy
5
Dropping quarterly reporting sent shares down 8% — then built a decade of growth.
Purpose without boundary change is a soapbox speech, not a transformation.
Making every worker a shareholder shifted culture faster than any values program.
Seven practical SEO tips for SaaS founders
Startups For the Rest of Us
December 7, 2021
SEO
10
Content marketing
5
Moving your blog to a subfolder can lift traffic 20–30% overnight.
Feature pages targeting low-volume 'keyword + software' queries punch above their weight.
Ranking for 'best X software' indirectly via review sites beats trying directly.
How to Get Clients to Give You Research Using a Pro Client Portal
Joanna Wiebe
December 7, 2021
Processes & SOPs
9
Prospecting & outreach
6
Clients stall on research when NDAs and delivery feel hard.
A single client portal removes friction and signals professionalism instantly.
One branded template, duplicated per client, replaces scattered email chains.
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Cal Newport on reading habits, career traps, and managing information overload
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
December 6, 2021
Productivity & habits
9
Deep work & focus
7
Identity & self-belief
5
Getting good at the wrong skill creates a trap that's hard to escape.
Let active projects pull your reading — never maintain a backlog.
A small number of reliable sources beats drowning in real-time feeds.