23 February 2026
This week's additions focus on mindset, ai, and marketing, with new digests from Matthew Volkwyn, Rob Walling, and Starter Story. Highlights include Calculate an internal hourly rate to sanity-check every offer before the call. Early AI ad costs are low — the window closes fast
Showing 59 digests for 23 February 2026.
Hiring & recruitment
YouTube
Why your best sales rep will likely make a poor manager
The Science of Scaling
February 26, 2026
Hiring & recruitment
9
Management
8
Outsourcing & delegation
5
Top rep skills and great coaching skills are inversely correlated.
A structured three-step audition lets candidates self-select out early.
Skipping the promoted rep creates a flight risk — build an IC ladder.
AI strategy & adoption
Podcast
AI is critical for humanity's survival: Cisco's AI-first transformation
Lenny's Podcast Product Career Growth
February 26, 2026
AI strategy & adoption
9
Management
8
Business models
6
Demographic collapse makes AI essential: 60% elderly populations need care systems we don't have
Platform strategy beats silos: loosely coupled integration drives innovation at 90,000-person scale
Stamina trumps intellect: hunger and persistence matter more than raw talent for long-term success
Amazon's DSP consolidates streaming ad inventory with purchase data
Neil Patel
February 25, 2026
Paid ads
9
Growth hacking
6
Amazon knows what you bought — not just what you searched for
Netflix, Spotify, and Roku now all pipe inventory through Amazon's DSP
Streaming ad inventory is still underpriced — early movers build the playbook
How to roll out leadership training across your entire company
Cameron Herold
February 25, 2026
Management
9
Processes & SOPs
5
Train leaders first, managers second, emerging leaders third — in sequence.
Repeating the programme after 90 days doubles what actually sticks.
Untrained people who stay cost more than trained people who leave.
How one developer grew a niche open source tool to $9K MRR
Starter Story
February 25, 2026
Case studies
10
Business models
7
Zero friction beats big vision: no sign-up, no credentials, instant value.
Open source GitHub presence as acquisition; cloud version as the paywall.
Let usage patterns reveal what to monetise — don't guess upfront.
Identity & self-belief
Podcast
Five skills that will make you more promotable in 2025
How I Work
February 25, 2026
Identity & self-belief
9
Communication
8
Productivity & habits
6
70% of workplace skills will change in the next five years
Why using a single word transforms how you handle conflict
How to use AI as a research partner without outsourcing your judgment
Lincoln's leadership: humility, resilience, and the power of reading
The Daily Stoic
February 25, 2026
Communication
9
Resilience & grit
8
Origin story
7
How Lincoln's habit of going deep, not just getting the gist, shaped everything
Suffering didn't harden Lincoln — it became his well of compassion and forgiveness
Being right on an issue means nothing without the public behind you
How Unrivaled is rebuilding women's basketball from a clean slate
Masters of Scale
February 24, 2026
Business models
9
Branding
7
Vision & mission
6
Player equity turns athletes into invested brand partners, not just competitors
No city teams, no legacy rules — the clean slate is the competitive advantage
Sponsors get to do what they were told was impossible in traditional sports
AI tools & automation
YouTube
Reid Hoffman on using AI to adapt, earn more, and stay relevant
Silicon Valley Girl
February 24, 2026
AI tools & automation
10
AI strategy & adoption
9
Pivoting
6
Most AI users aren't going deep enough — here's what serious use looks like
Get AI-proficient in a domain, make it visible, and help companies transform
Small businesses that adopt AI have a structural edge over large incumbents
AI strategy & adoption
YouTube
AI privacy risk is a dial, not a switch: a three-idea framework
Dylan Davis
February 24, 2026
AI strategy & adoption
9
Compliance & regulation
7
Banning AI doesn't stop leaks — employees use personal accounts anyway.
Delaying adoption creates a compounding gap rivals can't close.
Data exposure has four notches; start at two, graduate upward.
Content marketing
Podcast
Founder-led marketing: how to build an audience that reaches your actual customers
Startups For the Rest of Us
February 24, 2026
Content marketing
9
Identity & self-belief
5
Post for your customers, not for other entrepreneurs
Social algorithms should funnel people to email or podcast
Only do founder-led marketing if you're genuinely pulled toward it
Founder interviews
YouTube
Navy leadership and autonomy: how a veteran built a $450M defense startup
EO
February 24, 2026
Founder interviews
9
Management
7
Niche selection
5
China's shipbuilding capacity is 230x the US — so compete on software instead
Deck plate leadership: earn trust by troubleshooting alongside your team
Bad news never improves with time — surface it fast or it kills startups
How to get clients and revenue without relying on social media
Sunny Lenarduzzi
February 24, 2026
Growth hacking
9
Prospecting & outreach
7
1,000 targeted views can outearns 1 million viral views ten-thousandfold
Four compounding pathways replace social media: search, partnerships, direct, referrals
Clarity on your offer and ideal client unlocks all four pathways immediately
AI tools & automation
YouTube
AI is the biggest financial opportunity for people under 25
GaryVee
February 24, 2026
AI tools & automation
9
Niche selection
7
Being young when AI hits is an advantage, not a threat
A 19-year-old can charge $500 for work AI builds in minutes
Treat ChatGPT like a conversation, not a search engine
Resilience & grit
Podcast
Stoic responses to blame, injustice, and adversity
The Daily Stoic
February 24, 2026
Resilience & grit
9
Identity & self-belief
7
Blaming others is how you stay stuck in the past.
Stoics act against injustice — passivity is its own moral failure.
Every hard experience is a rep; difficulty builds capacity for worse ahead.