8 May 2023
This week's additions focus on mindset, marketing, and strategy, with new digests from Cameron Herold, Rob Walling, and Founders. Highlights include A 4-page written future-state description outperforms any mission statement Technology risk is a distraction — market and sales risk kill SaaS companies
Showing 28 digests for 8 May 2023.
Business operating systems
YouTube
Vivid Vision, the COO role, and the secret formula for business growth
Cameron Herold
May 14, 2023
Business operating systems
9
Management
7
Productivity & habits
5
A 4-page written future-state description outperforms any mission statement
Focus × Faith × Effort multiplied: 98% each gives 94% success odds
Send your Vivid Vision to candidates before you agree to interview them
The two real risks that kill most bootstrapped SaaS companies
Rob Walling
May 14, 2023
Market research
9
Prospecting & outreach
8
Product-market fit
6
Technology risk is a distraction — market and sales risk kill SaaS companies
Targeting unaware markets without capital is a near-certain failure mode
Five stages of customer awareness determine how expensive your sales channel will be
Rose Blumkin: how an illiterate immigrant built Nebraska Furniture Mart
Founders
May 14, 2023
Case studies
9
Business models
8
Resilience & grit
7
Sell 10% over cost — the rule that beat every competitor
Buffett would rather wrestle Grizzlies than compete with her
Started a rival store at 96 after quitting her own company
Resilience & grit
YouTube
Practical optimism, merit, and building community in Web3
GaryVee
May 14, 2023
Resilience & grit
9
Motivation
8
Community building
6
Optimism is a practiced choice, not a default personality trait
Eighth-place trophies removed the feedback loop that builds resilience
Bear markets are when the real Web3 building and learning happens
Three fatal mistakes when scaling a SaaS business
TK Kader
May 14, 2023
Business models
9
Growth hacking
8
Retention & loyalty
8
What got you to $1M ARR won't get you to $10M.
Churn silently cancels growth if there's no success machine.
Referrals compound only when all flywheel stages work together.
Founder interviews
Podcast
Product differentiation, hiring founders, and going deep on hard problems
Lenny's Podcast Product Career Growth
May 14, 2023
Founder interviews
9
Product-market fit
8
Hiring & recruitment
7
Being different or better alone is never enough — you need both.
Hiring ex-founders raises output but brings brutal honesty and high attrition.
Don't stop at an expert's first answer — push until you reach the real constraint.
Content marketing
YouTube
Human vs AI in Marketing: Stand Out With Authentic, Experience-Driven Content
Neil Patel
May 13, 2023
Content marketing
9
AI strategy & adoption
8
AI homogenises content — lived experience is the only differentiator.
Real-time AI analytics and winner-take-all search reshape ad spend.
Hyper-personalisation consistently fails to lift revenue at scale.
Facebook Reels is the underpriced attention opportunity in 2023
GaryVee
May 12, 2023
Growth hacking
9
Social media
8
Market research
6
Facebook Reels is selling $90 wine — proof, not theory
How to build 40–50 consumer cohorts and cut the losers fast
Why pausing AI development at one lab changes nothing
MVP & prototyping
YouTube
How to productize a service: five steps from idea to first sale
Layla at ProcessDriven
May 12, 2023
MVP & prototyping
9
Closing techniques
7
Sell the result, not the hours — buyers want outcomes, not time.
Validate demand before building landing pages, logos, or systems.
Start pricing at mid-market; raise it as delivery earns confidence.
How to apply and succeed at Y Combinator
Y Combinator
May 12, 2023
Fundraising & VC
8
Vision & mission
6
Case studies
5
Most reasons founders avoid applying are fear-based, not factual.
Technical talent on the team gives 5x better odds of an interview.
The interview is a conversation — treat interviewers as future partners.
B2C social media tactics to drive holiday sales
Neil Patel
May 11, 2023
Social media
8
Influencer & partnerships
7
Growth hacking
6
Personal content beats business content — audiences follow people, not brands.
Embed your landing page copy inside Stories; skip the click entirely.
Scrub your email list before Q4 to recover inbox placement and open rates.
Entrepreneurship advice for college students: mindset, risk, and organic content
GaryVee
May 11, 2023
Motivation
10
Bootstrapping
6
Content marketing
5
Fear of low view counts is the real reason founders don't post content
Your 20s are the cheapest time to take risk — use them
Micro-risks beat all-or-nothing bets every time
How to build a standardised employee termination process
HR Party of One
May 11, 2023
Processes & SOPs
9
Compliance & regulation
7
Management
6
One termination checklist cannot cover both voluntary and involuntary exits.
The manager fires; HR's job is to manage the room, not deliver the news.
Document the process in a manager's manual before the next termination arrives.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Protecting morning time and reading beyond your comfort zone
The Daily Stoic
May 11, 2023
Deep work & focus
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Protecting your morning hour is how serious thinkers stay serious.
Reading only what you agree with is a form of intellectual stagnation.
Understand opposing views fully — arguing straw men makes you look foolish.
Using a vivid vision to set goals and overcome obstacles
Cameron Herold
May 10, 2023
Goal setting
9
Resilience & grit
7
Productivity & habits
6
Write a 3-year vivid vision before worrying about how to achieve it.
Expect obstacles — anticipating them strips their power to derail you.
Fundamentals beat hacks: apply what you know before seeking the next tip.