John Doherty’s Weekly Entrepreneurship/Growth/Product Links — Issue #23
Hello, and welcome to another week inside my Pocket queue! Every week I read a ton of articles so you don’t have to, and these are the best pieces I’ve read on entrepreneurship, product, and growth. Enjoy!
Entrepreneurship
I Was Excited About an Idea, and Now It’s Dead
www.indiehackers.com
I’ve read lots of stories about entrepreneurs validating their ideas and going on to launch successful companies. But what about the ideas that don’t pan out? It feels better than you might expect. You should try it. ;-)
Why Women Aren’t C.E.O.s, According to Women Who Almost Were
www.nytimes.com
A year ago, dressed in suffragette white and addressing a cheering, weeping convention, Hillary Clinton stood for possibility. Now she is a reminder of the limits women continue to confront — in politics and beyond.
Product-Related Articles
Lifecycle Emails Are Magic Pixie Dust for User Onboarding
medium.com
And since user onboarding isn’t merely the process of introducing your new signups to your product’s features, but instead the process of driving people to success, getting there will take many follow-up trips.
Never Mix Up Features with Benefits Ever Again
ux.useronboard.com
One thing I come across time and time again when reviewing onboarding experiences is the company trying to sell me on the features of their product instead of how it actually improves my life. People don’t buy products; they buy better versions of themselves.
Growth
What I Learned From Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox and Thumbtack
firstround.com
There are plenty of theories for why YouTube became one of the fastest growing startups in Silicon Valley history. Julie Supan says the reason is simple: “We sold the emotion.”
There’s a problem with SaaS startups and marketing
medium.com
This article is a collaborative effort between Claire Suellentrop and Georgiana Laudi. Claire runs Love Your Customers and was previously Director of Marketing at Calendly. Gia runs A Better CX and was previously VP of Marketing at Unbounce.
My Content This Week
Forget Cost Per Lead — Credo — www.getcredo.com
Too many marketers look at “cost per lead” as a measure of success, when in actuality it’s a small directional metric. Are you watching cost per lead, or how much money
Entrepreneur’s Schedule: How I Manage My Day | John Doherty — www.johnfdoherty.com
I’ve written some about productivity as an entrepreneur on this blog before, but in recent months as my schedule has become busier I’ve had to become quite good at managing not only my time but also my energy. I run two companies actively and try to have a life outside of work, as I have a wife and dog who love spending time with me and going on adventures.
Thanks
Thanks for reading! I’d love your feedback on what you want to see more of, less of, or added to this weekly email. If you hit reply, you’ll get my inbox directly.
