31 July 2023
This week's additions focus on strategy, finance, and marketing, with new digests from Lenny's Podcast Product Career Growth, Rob Walling, and TK Kader. Highlights include Ramp hit $100M ARR with 50 people — here's the operating system behind it Three bootstrapping paths exist — only one direction of travel is possible.
Showing 35 digests for 31 July 2023.
How Argenix builds billion-dollar antibody therapies from llamas
Business Breakdowns
August 2, 2023
Case studies
9
Fundraising & VC
7
Business models
6
Argenix uses llama antibodies to create precision treatments for autoimmune diseases mainstream medicine can't solve.
Patient-centered development and deep academic partnerships reduced drug failure rates from 90% to 30%.
Pipeline of 13+ programs targeting a single mechanism could generate $20+ billion in lifetime revenue.
Hiring & recruitment
YouTube
The seven types of COO and how to find the right one
Cameron Herold
August 2, 2023
Hiring & recruitment
9
Management
7
Business operating systems
5
No two COOs have the same job — the role is defined by the CEO
Seven distinct COO archetypes from Executor to Heir Apparent
Start the COO search with the CEO's gaps, not the candidate
Founder interviews
YouTube
Monetising your passion: vending machines, side hustles, and play
GaryVee
August 2, 2023
Founder interviews
10
Business models
8
MVP & prototyping
6
Two nightly hours on your passion can replace your day job.
Vending machines: 250M units sold, zero shelf space needed.
$750 buys a machine you place in someone else's store for profit.
Four KPIs to monitor for email campaigns
Joanna Wiebe
August 2, 2023
Email marketing
9
Conversion rate optimisation
6
Four metrics cover the entire email funnel end to end.
Open rate diagnoses subject lines; click-through rate diagnoses body copy.
Average sales price reveals whether content drives high- or low-value buyers.
How to lead for well-being without sacrificing performance
Masters of Scale
August 1, 2023
Culture building
10
Management
7
Work-life balance
5
Burnout comes from toxic culture, not long hours or hard work.
Micro steps — not overhauls — are what actually shift workplace habits.
Leaders set cultural permission; your own behaviour is the policy.
Founder interviews
YouTube
From homeless immigrant to $250 million real estate portfolio
Noah Kagan
August 1, 2023
Founder interviews
10
Bootstrapping
7
Market research
6
Selling at peaks and buying in recessions built a $250M portfolio
Offering seller certainty wins deals at millions below asking price
Five failed businesses before real estate — credit kept him from bankruptcy
How to make your first million dollars: a four-step framework
Brett Malinowski
August 1, 2023
Business models
9
Long-term planning
8
Bootstrapping
6
Every income level is gated by skills you've actually used.
Agencies scale to $100k/month, then become a people-management trap.
Software is the only business model with an uncapped ceiling.
CAC and LTV: the two metrics that drive sustainable business growth
Semrush
August 1, 2023
Unit economics
10
Growth hacking
7
Retention & loyalty
6
CAC has risen 60% in five years — and will keep rising.
Segment customers by LTV to target high-value lookalikes in ads.
Low CAC plus high LTV is the only formula for lasting profit.
Bootstrapping, selling, and acquiring SaaS: lessons from John Hainstock
Startups For the Rest of Us
August 1, 2023
Bootstrapping
9
Business models
8
Exit strategy
7
Why founders lose their identity — not just income — after selling
Selling before you're forced to beats grinding through the growth inflection
Buying a $10k–$50k SaaS beats building for learning speed and bounded risk
Content marketing
YouTube
A six-step YouTube strategy for business owners prioritising clients over views
Sunny Lenarduzzi
August 1, 2023
Content marketing
9
Funnels
8
SEO
6
12,000 ideal viewers beats 200,000 random ones for sales.
Bottom-of-funnel content drives the most revenue with fewest views.
Long-tail titles and metadata build compounding search authority.
Social media is the biggest opportunity small businesses are ignoring
GaryVee
August 1, 2023
Social media
9
Growth hacking
8
Competitive analysis
6
Big brands ignore social media — that gap is your competitive opening.
Linear TV is already dead; YouTube replaced it for every generation.
One TikTok video sold out Ocean Spray across America.
Business structure
YouTube
What a CP-575 letter is and how to get one
HR Party of One
August 1, 2023
Business structure
9
Banking and financial setup
6
Processes & SOPs
5
Your EIN is the linchpin of your organisation's ability to run.
Without a CP-575, you cannot open bank accounts or run payroll.
Apply via Form SS-4 online or by mail; allow four to six weeks.
Productivity & habits
Podcast
Time Management Essentials: Building Purpose-Driven Productivity
Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life
July 31, 2023
Productivity & habits
9
Time management
8
Goal setting
7
Start with purpose and vision, not your calendar, to make time management stick.
Distinguish boulders (non-urgent but vital), big rocks (urgent and important), pebbles to prioritize ruthlessly.
Seven to nine hours of sleep is the ultimate productivity hack most people dismiss.
How to Replace Paid Ads with SEO: Neil Patel's Practical Playbook
Neil Patel
July 31, 2023
SEO
9
Content marketing
8
Give away paid course content as free blog posts to rank.
Target high-CPC keywords; publish three articles weekly for a year.
Earn backlinks manually — outreach, infographics, and free tools work.
Closing techniques
YouTube
How Taki Moore helps coaches build scalable, profitable businesses
Dan Martell
July 31, 2023
Closing techniques
9
Business models
7
Content marketing
6
Why courses fail clients — and how group coaching fixes both problems
Reuse your client training as free marketing — stop creating twice
Price on the cost of not hiring you, not your confidence level