Initiator Creator - Issue #137

​By Saurabh Y. // 08 October 2023

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Entrepreneur

​Mediocre Success Is Worse Than Outright Failure - Every

Avoid the messy middle and aim for unambiguous results

​You Can't Hack Product Positioning - Felicis

This problem is acute in SaaS where it is exceedingly rare for there to be true product moats; many startups end up competing on distribution and positioning.

​Big Tech’s Biggest Bets - Matthew Ball

Or What It Takes to Build a Billion-User Platform

​Next-gen content farms are using AI-generated text to spin up junk websites - MIT Technology Review

More than 140 brands are advertising on low-quality content farm sites—and the problem is growing fast.

​Things to keep in mind when preparing a launch - Substack

Today was supposed to be the launch of a product my team and I worked on for almost two quarters. This is the type of product you launch because you see an opportunity for your business to capture, but you're not sure yet that it will accurately fulfill your customer's needs. I call this type of product "surprise egg."

Marketer

​Why is contextual advertising on the rise? - MarketingBrew

It’s exactly what it sounds like: Buying an ad based on the context of the placement, rather than targeting an individual based on their past viewing or purchasing behaviors. This kind of ad-buying is usually done with little to no user data.

​HubSpot Marketing vs. Klaviyo: Two Titans, Two Paths - SaaStr

Both are incredible winners that huge industries rely on — but Klaviyo is much more a vertical play, and HubSpot far more horizontal.

​Marketing Security - Substack

how to highlight your product's security or data management

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Developer

​Building machine learning products: lessons from Papercup's product team - Papercup

There is certainly no shortage of product building advice out there, but the majority of it doesn’t hold for products with machine learning (ML) at their core.

​In a git repository, where do your files live? - Julia Evans

this blog is in a git repository, and it contains a file called content/post/2019-06-28-brag-doc.markdown. Where is that in my .git folder? And where are the old versions of that file? Let’s investigate

​Product Development Instincts Are Bad for Building Platforms - Kronopath

there’s a subtle but important mindset shift that’s needed when switching between product development and platform development.

​Learn and Test DMARC - Learn DMARC

a visual breakdown of how email servers communicate, giving you a better understanding of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and how they work together.

Designer

​Logo Rewind - Trademarks of Medieval Norwich - Logo Design Love

A book about the visual language of Medieval Norwich, England. It preserves the city’s medieval “logos” and documents the history of Norwich’s past and its impact upon the earliest era of commercial branding.

​How to Spot AI-Generated Images - Every Pixel

Insights and tips, guiding you on how to spot AI-generated images.

​The case for AI hallucination - UX Collective

AI tool makers have been working hard to limit AI hallucinations. For large language models (such as ChatGPT), fighting hallucinations means making sure the chatbot won’t cite fake science publications or judicial decisions.

​Framing Effect: Why context affects decisions - Growth Design

How your present information shapes people's perceptions and decisions. Like, 20% retention and 80% churn are mathematically equivalent. But positive framing makes the former seem better.

​tttexture - A Collection of Free Grunge, Vintage & Concrete Textures - FFFuel

From real photographs captured using a macro lens, this collection offers genuine high-res textures from aged walls, concrete slabs, and grounds.

Interesting Read

​AI-assisted Decision-making - Every

How to use ChatGPT to master the best of what other people have figured out

​Burnout or Boreout? It’s Always About the Lack of Control - Ness Labs

There is no silver bullet, but it helps to understand that burnout is first and foremost emotional, and then ask yourself whether it comes from a lack of alignment and if you could brainstorm and experiment with different ways to better align your work with your emotional needs.

​How I rewired my brain in six weeks - BBC

There is growing evidence that simple, everyday changes to our lives can alter our brains and change how they work.

Community Submissions

If you like to share a project or article with the rest of the readers then please DM me at @ICforpreneurs or hit reply

​Silly Co Valley - Silly Co Valley A fast-paced startup simulation game where you play the founder of a tech startup.

Outro

🙏Thank you for reading Initiator Creator issue #137

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