One of the fastest growing SaaS companies is about to IPO

Why Is Everyone Meditating?

Lately, everyone seems to be talking about meditation and how it maximizes performance. From athletes to tech CEOs to investors, meditation seems to be all the rage these days. But why? This piece does a good job of explaining it.

In short, in a world where it's all too easy to make quick decisions and get almost instant results, meditation is a tool for slowing things down and reminding you to be more aware of your thoughts, choices, and actions. Do you have a regular meditation practice? 

Rethinking the App Store

It's been fascinating following the Epic v. Apple case, which started when Epic decided to offer its own payment processor in the popular game Fortnite. The underlying debate is really about freedom versus control. Has Apple's tightly controlled hardware stifled innovation and creativity? Would releasing some control negatively impact the quality, security, and privacy of Apple products? It'll be interesting to see how this case continues to unfold—and how people might begin rethinking the App Store in the process. 

How to Make Money Building Shopify Micro-SaaS Apps

If you are building a micro-SaaS business on the side and eventually want to grow it into something bigger, this guide is a great starting point. It covers everything from how to discover relevant ideas for Shopify apps and how to stand out from competition, to getting your first customers and developing the right pricing model. This is one you'll want to bookmark. 

Inside Marketing Design at Basecamp

I’m a fan of the unconventional way in which Basecamp approaches its marketing and design, so I enjoyed listening to this interview with lead marketing designer Adam Stoddard on his approach to integrated design, copywriting, and managing multiple websites. One of my top takeaways: start projects with copy, not visuals.

The Four Communication Styles and How They Impact Customer Interaction

I was blown away by this statistic: 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees. If we develop a better understanding of different communication styles and learn how to shape and curate them, I suspect we’ll all become more comfortable communicating with one another (and with our customers) at work. Of the four main communication styles, which one do you tend to use the most?

The Top 40+ SaaS Growth Case Studies

One of the most important things founders can do is invest time in learning from the mistakes and successes of other startups. This is a great collection of growth case studies from companies like HubSpot, Canva, Airbnb, and Intercom. One of my favorites is a case study written by the Sumo team about how Slack generates 100 million website visitors a month. Check them all out on this list. 

Snowflake's S-1 and IPO Teardown

Snowflake, a cloud data platform, is about to go public. I didn’t realize this but it’s the second fastest growing SaaS company ever at IPO and is projected to go public at $26-30 billion. I’m always fascinated by S-1 teardowns, and this was no exception. Read on to learn more about the company’s product, challenges, business model, and go-to-market strategy.

The Present and Future of Work

I’ve enjoyed reading about other people’s tips and hacks for remote work, and this is a good collection of them. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Invest in a great chair (you’ll be sitting in it a lot!)
• Set reminders to get up and take a few quick walks during the day to keep you energized
• Try to condense tools in and across teams as much as possible. Otherwise, you’ll spend too much time unnecessarily task switching.

Read the full list here.