VCs vs Bootstrappers, the five cultures that matter & a sneak peek at something new

Happy Friday, fam! 🏆

Short email today… trying to hammer this out before running out to pick up the kids and shift into Dad Mode for the afternoon…

New Podcast Episode

You’re busy, I get it. So here’s some highlights to help you skip around to the good stuff…

(4:30) I believe the world is made up of five major cultures divided by language and what that means for high growth companies.

(10:30) Why catching up on local culture is the hardest part of expanding into new geographies.

(12:50) For founders, putting name brand investors on your cap table is no longer a viable defense. And why raising at higher valuations or openly discussing your revenue growth rates may be a better strategy.

(17:30) Google vs Apple on user privacy… and why the “average” person’s 401k performance might be what ultimately drives more government attention on this topic.

(21:00) GDPR: good intentions, billions of inconvenienced people and an arbitrage opportunity for browser extension developers.

(24:30) How Facebook is using Hulu advertising spots to influence public perception about their stance on user privacy. And how Rolls Royce and GE put their logo on the side of airplane engines to do the same thing.

(28:25) Craft your narrative and brand consciously — personally and professionally — or it’ll be crafted for you.

(29:15) Why venture-backed companies won’t be the ones to truly unseat incumbents in mainstream industries. And why I think the “biggest” VC-funded wins of the past few years are actually rounding errors. (If you only have a few minutes, start here and listen till the end of the episode… less than 10 minutes but completely worth your time.)

Grab it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts or Google Podcasts -- and let me know what you think! 🙏🏼

​2022 Speaking & Conferences

I'll be speaking at Entrefest and Enterprise Rising later this year. Where else should I be going?

Let's talk entrepreneurship, venture capital, the future of DTC/ecommerce/retail... or whatever else can add major value to your audience.

FWIW, I'm happy to pay my own way... so, if you know a conference organizer, don't let the lack of budgetstop you from making the intro!

Sneak Peek: (The New & Improved) North Star

About 10,000 people use North Star every ~24 hours to keep an eye on their high-level stats from Google Analytics or Amazon Seller Central. It’s a free app I created a few months ago and it seems to have grown despite my lack of attention on it.

So... I’ve spent the last couple of weekends rebuilding it from the ground up in preparation for the additional of many, many more data sources.

You’ll be able to view this in your browser’s new tab (think: Chrome extension), on your desktop/laptop (think: installable Progressive Web App, if you’re into that sort of thing) and, eventually, on your mobile device (think: native apps).

Don’t worry… it’s going to stay free.

In fact, the primary reason I even hint at paid options is because certain distribution platforms won’t list the app unless there’s a perceived benefit (read: discount) for their own members. More on that distribution-hack later. 🙃

Suggestions or criticisms are always welcome… hit reply if you’d like early access to the new version. I’m hoping to launch it within the next week or so.

That’s it. That’s the email for today. As always, hit reply any time -- I read every response. See ya next week! 👋🏻

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