JC's Newsletter - Analogy to video games
Dear friends,Every week, I’m sharing an essay that relates to what we are building and learning at Alan. Those essays are fed by the article I’m lucky enough to read and capitalise on. I’m going to try to be provocative in those essays to trigger a discussion with the community. Please answer, comment, and ping me! If you are not subscribed yet, it's right here! If you like it, please share it on social networks! Building a company is sometimes akin to playing a challenging video game.There are easier levels and more difficult ones. When the game becomes too easy, it can get boring and we might stop playing. Sometimes, it's necessary to retry a level once, twice, three times to succeed. We persist until we break through. The ones who win at the end are the ones who played again and again. They didn't drop, they didn't go to the next video game. In video games, there are many paths to success, and ways to solve the problems of a level. At Alan, from the start, we've been passing all the levels, one after the other, without ever stopping, creatively, without cheating, sometimes taking the harder path but one that creates tremendous value. Our growth, product differentiation, and all the challenges we face are well-known. We have a plan that has never been clearer. We have momentum that has never been better. Our positioning, our team. We can be extremely proud. Once again, there is sometimes volatility. A plan is useful for planning. It was Eisenhower who said, "Planning is indispensable, but plans are useless." That's exactly right. We need to iterate, we need to learn, and build the best company with the biggest impact: helping people be healthier and happier. For that, we have to play between different parameters. We cannot invest only in growth. We cannot forget the gross margin, but we also can't forget the way we get there and how we manage our operations, our cost to serve. We need to offer the best experience for members and customers. We need to innovate. Our job is to continuously make the best decisions that optimize for those parameters, to build an extraordinary company. I'm counting a lot on the Alaners, on their energy level, on their extraordinary resilience to be concrete optimists. Let's boost each other. We are a sports team that will win the medals at the Olympics. Beating the video game's final boss, even if we create a new level each time. Let’s be extremely proud of that together and motivate each other to be the best version of ourselves. Some good articles I have read this week👉 An Interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters About Strategy and Execution (Stratechery)
👉Twitter Karri Saarinen (@karrisaarinen)
👉 Reframing Aging as a Disease (the longevity journal)
👉 Apple and the DMC, Apple and "Or", A Reluctant Apple Apologist (Stratechery)
It’s already over! Please share JC’s Newsletter with your friends, and subscribe 👇 Let’s talk about this together on LinkedIn or on Twitter. Have a good week! |
Older messages
External communication combined with radical transparency
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
JC's Newsletter #213 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
17% of the year: how to focus!
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
JC's Newsletter #212 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Walking to be strategic & creative
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
JC's Newsletter #211 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Going upmarket
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
JC's Newsletter #210 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Learnings from Larry Ellison
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
JC's Newsletter #209 ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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