26 June 2023
This week's additions focus on mindset, leadership, and strategy, with new digests from Cameron Herold, Rob Walling, and Dr. Grace Lee. Highlights include The picture on the box lid = the vivid vision (four to five pages describing the company three years out) Four corners:… Kickstarter solved a real problem: charging cards 6–7 months before fulfilment.
Showing 30 digests for 26 June 2023.
ASML: Competing with Moore's Law
Business Breakdowns
June 28, 2023
Case studies
9
Business models
7
Pricing strategy
5
Monopoly on extreme ultraviolet lithography machines—only supplier of most advanced chip-making equipment in world
Spent 25+ years and 10 billion euros R&D to pioneer EUV technology; 2019 breakthrough finally enabled next-generation semiconductors
Scrappy 1984 Philips spinoff climbed from number 10 to industry leader by surviving cycles and betting on moonshot innovation
Resilience & grit
YouTube
Getting kicked out of a community forced real personal growth
Cameron Herold
June 28, 2023
Resilience & grit
8
Conflict resolution
6
Alcohol dependency masked marriage pain and caused public misconduct
Six years of incremental limits led to 48 days fully sober
Removing bad actors denies growth to everyone — including victims
Porsche: how a Nazi-founded engineering firm became the world's most loved performance brand
Acquired
June 27, 2023
Origin stories
10
Business models
7
Branding
6
Porsche royalties on every VW Beetle sold funded the sports car empire
From 4,100 U.S. sales in 1992 to a 100X market-cap recovery in one decade
SUVs now drive two-thirds of revenue without denting the brand's Ferrari-adjacent status
How metrics shape culture: Building human-centered companies through intentional measurement
Masters of Scale
June 27, 2023
Culture building
9
Case studies
7
Vision & mission
6
Distance traveled—where founders started versus where they are—predicts success better than pedigree.
Uber proved that aggressive scaling without inclusive culture collapses; Kapor Capital called them out.
Diverse founder thesis delivered top-quartile returns, turning conventional VC wisdom on its head.
Content marketing
YouTube
Content marketing strategy for small businesses: research, create, distribute
Semrush
June 27, 2023
Content marketing
9
SEO
6
Strategy sets intent; tactics without strategy are wasted effort
One well-researched piece of content can drive ROI for years
Distribute actively — publishing alone is not enough
How decoupling yourself from your business increases exit value
Startups For the Rest of Us
June 27, 2023
Processes & SOPs
9
Exit strategy
7
Business models
5
SOPs fail not because owners skip them, but employees never use them.
Jodie Cook turned a 60% earn-out offer into 100% cash at close.
In-context video SOPs triggered inside the software employees actually use.
Identity & self-belief
YouTube
Building self-confidence by valuing your own opinion over others
GaryVee
June 27, 2023
Identity & self-belief
9
Productivity & habits
5
Confidence is a practice — build it by putting yourself out there more
Your negative self-opinion was installed by someone else, not you
Saying hello to one stranger is enough to start the reps
Writing a mid-launch email that earns clicks on a slow Friday
Joanna Wiebe
June 27, 2023
Copywriting
9
Conversion rate optimisation
6
Friday sends need voice and humor to replace launch-day urgency
Naming the exact physical discomfort of buying normalises and converts
A conditional 'if you've done this' structure pre-qualifies before the ask
Resilience & grit
Podcast
How Stoics find balance: temperance, presence, and the golden mean
The Daily Stoic
June 27, 2023
Resilience & grit
8
Identity & self-belief
7
Motivation
5
You only need to hold the Stoic ideal for one afternoon
Zeno's shipwreck loss became the fortune that founded Stoicism
Be strict with yourself; be tolerant of others' unseen struggles
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Productivity systems, figuring things out, and using envy as fuel
Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life
June 26, 2023
Productivity & habits
9
Resilience & grit
8
Motivation
7
Design your productivity system around your actual life, not someone else's
Overnight success is a myth — visible breakthroughs follow invisible reps
Jealousy becomes useful when it motivates action instead of resentment
Hiring & recruitment
YouTube
How to build a marketing team of top revenue-driving performers
Neil Patel
June 26, 2023
Hiring & recruitment
9
Retention & culture
7
Top marketers are defined by revenue impact, not vanity metrics.
Repeated promotions across competitors are the best hiring signal.
Retain top performers with equity, raises, and direct recognition.
Retention & loyalty
YouTube
Five reasons customers churn and how to fix each one
Dan Martell
June 26, 2023
Retention & loyalty
9
Pricing strategy
5
You can't outgrow bad retention — it creates a churn ceiling.
Overselling fit by sales teams drives 20–30% early cancellations.
A customer health index turns silent churn risk into proactive outreach.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Five laws for doing less and achieving more professional impact
Deep Questions with Cal Newport
June 26, 2023
Deep work & focus
10
Productivity & habits
8
Identity & self-belief
6
Your best work determines your standing — volume never compensates for peak quality.
Simultaneous projects breed stress and silently destroy the originality of your output.
Disciplined diligence must be built gradually; motivation follows evidence, not intention.
Deep work & focus
Podcast
Arnold Schwarzenegger's mindset and habits before fame
Founders
June 26, 2023
Deep work & focus
9
Identity & self-belief
8
Origin stories
7
Rejection and a brutal father turned into lifelong rocket fuel
No Plan B: burning the boats creates clarity, not limitation
Formidable people telegraph their obsession — most still underestimate them
Founder mindset, police body camera analytics, and NLP applied to trust
GaryVee
June 26, 2023
Case studies
9
AI tools & automation
7
Officers who explain more have measurably better outcomes in the field
Your success is directly tied to the quality of questions you ask
Crowdfunding creates activated ambassadors who drive B2B sales