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Dear <<First Name>>,
Check out this powerful clip from an interview with Martin Luther King Jr. where he talks about how American society made it a stigma to be black and how, after 244 years of slavery, African-Americans were told to pick themselves up by the bootstraps with no support at all. Super eloquent and thoughtful.
Last week's newsletter got a 46.3% open rate and the most-clicked link was my post on downstream impact of new business decisions on agencies. The most-clicked link not by me was the Quillete piece "Build Your Own Intellectual Oasis" about quitting most forms of media and participating in a private shared list network.
Consumed
Your Life is Driven by Network Effects by James Currier (blog post)
Nice long read on the impact of networks on our lives. Currier talks about the crossroads in our lives that really shape who we become. They are:
- Crossroad #1 - What Family You’re Born Into
- Crossroad #2 - High School Network
- Crossroad #3 - College Network
- Crossroad #4 - First Job
- Crossroad #5 - Marriage/Choosing a Life Partner
- Crossroad #6 - Where You Live
- Crossroad #7 - Reassessments
I enjoyed reflecting on my own networks through each of these crossroads and also thought hard about #7 Reassessments and what I could change about my network looking ahead.
Why Customer Network is the next big thing that every startup needs to master by Alex Iskold (blog post)
"Instead of thinking of customers as a set of rows in your CRM, we should think of them as a Network." Iskold, an early stage investor and entrepreneur, says direct-to-consumer businesses need these three elements in place for the Customer Network to form:
- Truly exceptional product, which is so great it leads to a word of mouth
- Strong focus on early adopters and fans
- Ongoing and deliberate nurturing of community of customers to create a network
I would argue (from having seen hundreds of requests come through Barrel from new brands needing digital help) that most DTC businesses can't get past #1 because they have an unexceptional product. The products might be high in quality, but they are not truly differentiated or haven't achieved the right product/market fit. In many cases, people just rip off existing products and slap a different logo.
Money Dials: Why you spend the way you do by Ramit Sethi (blog post)
The most successful people I’ve met are all very conscious about how they spend their money. That doesn’t mean they don’t spend at all. It means that they choose HOW and WHERE to spend their money, and are unapologetic in allocating significant resources to live a better life.
Created
Lessons from Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen
Getting Things Done was a very impactful book for me last year. I made over 220 highlights in the book. I went back and curated a handful that I thought were very good and shared my thoughts on takeaways and why I think having a robust system for staying organized is so important both personally and at work.
Cheers,
Peter
P.S. You can check out my list of books read right here. My hope is to get a good mix of challenging reads with some that are entertaining, inspiring, and instructive.
If you like what you've read, please share with your friends. They can sign up for the list here. Also, I always welcome recommendations of any kind–books, podcasts, movies, etc.
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