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Dear <<First Name>>,

I've been loving All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur on Amazon Prime. In the style of HBO's Hard Knocks (NFL) or 24/7 (boxing), it's a show that follows English Premier League team Tottenham as they try to turn around a failing season with a mid-season change at manager. The show actually goes beyond the pre-season stakes of Hard Knocks and goes deep into the inner workings of a professional sports team mid-season, showing the impact of real wins and losses and what it does to the psyche and interactions within the team.

The parallels between running a team and a sports organization are endless, and I believe they are more alike than they are different. The core lessons from watching All or Nothing apply to running Barrel: bring together the right group of people, set them up for success, provide the necessary guidance, and be supportive as they live up to their full potential. And a big one for me: continue looking towards the future beyond the current "season" and keep building the infrastructure (talent, resources, etc.) to ensure continued success.

Shows like this make me love my job even more.

Last week's newsletter got a 55.7% open rate. The most clicked link was my Stock Watch List spreadsheet (I've added some new ones since). The most clicked link not by me was Charlie Munger Is Right, Haul Ass For Your First $100k by Jay Vasantharajah.

Consumed
Stripe: The Internet's Most Undervalued Company (Not Boring newsletter)
In 7 Powers, Hamilton Helmer writes about the seven moats that a business can leverage to make itself “enduringly valuable.” The case studies in the book highlight companies that use one or maybe two of the seven to build moats that sustain profits over a long time period. 
  • Netflix takes advantage of scale economies and counter positioning.
  • Facebook and LinkedIn build network economies. 
  • Oracle has high switching costs.
  • Tiffany’s has a powerful brand. 
  • Pixar’s “Brain Trust” is a cornered resource.
  • Toyota’s Toyota Production System demonstrates Process Power.
Stripe has all seven. 

The Quiet Revolution: Charles Etoroma looks back at the history of New Balance (blog post)
I'm not a sneakerhead so I'm not sure how folks really feel about New Balance, but thought this was an interesting look at a company that's been around for 100+ years and how they've stayed relevant with collaborations while staying true to their brand's core attributes.

Alpha Bridge Deck Review - By SuperLP Chris Douvos (Substack newsletter)
Whether you're looking to raise a fund or not, it's worth reading through this critique of a VC's deck from the perspective of a potential limited partner (LP) investor. I love how the LP hammers in the desire to see results, who the people behind the fund are, and what differentiates the VCs from others. Whether it's a capabilities deck, a fundraising deck, or any other kind of presentation, it's worth asking yourself "am I clearly showing what the audience most cares about"?

Created
Small Agency Owner Compensation
We had a record-breaking month at Barrel in August for new work booked. The last 6 months have been a whirlwind of navigating COVID-related client cancellations to then seeing a sharp rise in new project opportunities. We're now taking steps to hire for key roles and expand our freelancer pool. It's been a crazy year.

I revisited my blog post from last November and added a new scenario to the agency owner compensation model. The latest scenario explores a company that's scaled to making over $20 million and what it means for the owners if it can maintain profitability. We're a long ways off from this, but given our recent uptick in business, it was a fun exercise to map out what the possibilities of scaling might be.

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.

About me: Peter Kang is co-founder of Barrel, a digital agency in New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, son, and dog.
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