The best content library for high output founders

High Output Founder's Library

This is a very well done curated list of some incredible resources for early-stage startup founders. It's filled with some of the best, most thoughtfully selected resources on hiring, investing, fundraising, culture, product, and personal growth. There is so much content on the internet for founders; it's hard to know what's actually worth reading. This is a great starting to point to help you parse through the noise. You'll want to bookmark this one. 

Dreambuilding as a CEO

This is a short and sweet—but really important—read for anyone in a leadership role. This is one of my favorite lines: "It took me years to learn that there's a separation between the words you want to say, and the words that get the job done." In my own experience as a leader, I've found this to be true. Rage never works, but taking the position of curiosity and asking oneself more productive leadership questions almost always does. This is a great mindset shift reminder. 

Remote Work Is a Platform

I appreciate the way Basecamp founder Jason Fried can explain well-discussed problems in a way that adds fresh perspective. It's like putting glasses on a person who has gotten used to the world being blurry. He does just that in this succinct essay on remote work. I think he's right—the companies that will survive this pandemic will be the ones that figure out the right way to work remotely. They will adjust around the benefits and limitations of remote work rather than trying to force fit their office work model into a remote environment. Remote work is, after all, just a platform. Is your company treating it as such?

How to Compete Against Trillion Dollar Goliaths

To-do app Doist has been competing against giants like Google, Microsoft, and Apple for over a decade. Founder Amir Salihefendić had an amazing tweetstorm this week about how to compete effectively and build a successful business in a competitive market. Here are a few of my favorite core principles he listed: Don't compete directly and find a way to build a company structure that looks radically different from a big corporation. Check out the full tweetstorm. 

7 Unconventional Lessons in Product-Led Content Marketing

SaaS company Ahrefs generates over $50M in ARR and took on no outside funding to grow. To what do they attribute their success? Product-led content marketing and SEO. This is a thoughtful list of seven lessons you can learn from the scrappy company that places high value on intentional marketing. 

Effects of Hype and Exclusivity on Launch Strategies

I'm fascinated by the use of hype and exclusivity in product launches. It's tough to do well, but if you can use both strategies authentically, they are incredibly effective. If you're curious about how some brands have executed successful exclusive launches, you'll enjoy this article. I'm particularly fascinated by the Superhuman and HEY launches, both of which used waitlists to elicit interest and build momentum. Read more about both (and more) here. 

Should You Be Using the OKR Technique?

At this point, the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) technique, first made popular by Intel's former legendary CEO Andy Grove, has become widely used by tech companies. But does it make sense for your business to use OKRs? I never quite thought about it, but after reading this, there's a case to be made for not using the OKR model if you're a feature-centered team (which most companies are). Do you agree? 

Design Docs at Google

One of the things I tell founders who come to me for advice is to learn as much as they can from successful companies and leaders, take what resonates, and leave the rest. This read is a good example of what a big company like Google does that you may be able to borrow wisdom and leadership principles from. It's about how one of the main aspects of Google's software engineering culture is the style and use of design docs. If you don't have a practice for using design docs on your team, this might change your mind.