The Content Library
Strategy & Fundamentals
Every piece we've published on growth strategy and fundamentals.
Strategy & Fundamentals — page 1 of 7
Avoid shrinkflation, what to do when building in public stops working, and how to make your product a ritual.Greetings, friends.Over the weekend I went to a drive-in, admittedly for the first time in my adult life, to see the new Spider-Man.I went in without many expectations. But it blew me away. Felt like
How to increase desire, why Bezos picked books, exclude your refunders.Hey y'all,Before we dive in, some exciting news: we're hiring. The role? Growth Strategist (Paid Marketing). Who? A paid marketing expert who designs engines, not just campaigns. With a long track rec
We've got some updatesWhat’s up everyone!As Nick teed up last week, some changes are coming to the newsletter. Here's one we think long-time subscribers will be particularly stoked about: we're bringing back the OG format.
How breakout companies actually pull awayHey y'all! Nick here.Longtime readers might recognize me. I used to run DC's content back in the day. I did my own thing for a while, and took a break to ride a bike across New Zealand (a shout to all
Why better products keep losingYour conversion rates, your sales cycle, even your retention: all of them sit downstream of one asset most startups neglect. Their story.A quick test. Put your homepage next to your closest competitor
Opinionated defaults, loosely heldHappy Tuesday! Last week we broke down the activation gap, and the lightbulb moment: the first real win that flips a new user from skeptical to hooked. A bunch of you replied asking us to go deeper on
Build vs. buy: marketer's editionA new class of marketer is building their own tools with AI. Bespoke software tailored to exactly how they work. No engineering team required.Jonathan Martinez, founder of GrowthPair and longtime DC p
Welcome (back) to the frontierOne brand shipped 299 net-new ad concepts in a single month. Not variants. Not resizes. New concepts.Is that the bar now? Or is there more to the story? That's what we're exploring in this edition.P.S
A PSA to the growth and marketing industryI've been talking with a lot of agency operators lately. Probably a dozen in the last two months. Most of them are struggling. Some are closing shop completely.One conversation in particular stuck wit
Welcome to the frontierFor years, this newsletter has been a series of tactical deep dives. That’s not changing.But we’re experimenting with something new over the next few weeks. Here’s why:The questions we get have shifte
How to identify your highest-impact growth opportunitiesA good doctor doesn’t see high blood pressure and immediately prescribe drugs. A good doctor investigates the root cause, considers the patient’s constraints and preferences, and synthesizes the broad
Your Growth Experiments Are Lying to You"What we're doing seems to be working. The problem is we have no idea why."A founder of an up-and-coming startup reached out to me to advise their growth team. This is how she started the conversation
When does a growth advantage turn into a flywheel?Here’s a pattern that's common in startup land:A company grows quickly early on. Things feel easier than expected. Customers show up. Word spreads. Channels work. There’s momentum.And somewhere along
The cheapest growth lever most teams ignoreYou’ve probably had this moment:You spin up Meta, LinkedIn, or Google.You ship a few solid tests.Nothing hits.So you move on.“Paid isn’t working for us.”“Content is our thing.”“Outbound isn’t a fit fo
The Map Is Not the TerritoryHere’s something most founders don’t realize until it’s too late: the way you see your startup is completely different from how your customers see it.You’re intimately familiar with every feature, eve
Your growth problems aren't tactical. They're structural.Most founders respond to slow growth the same way.They add things.Another channel.Another experiment.Another tool.Another hire.It feels productive, but sometimes it backfires and makes growth harder.R
The real reason your company is forgettable (and how to fix It)You can explain what makes your product unique in a conversation.But the moment you write it down (on your homepage, in your ads, in your deck), it somehow sounds like everyone else.If you’re building
Creative Decision MatrixLast week, we zoomed out and basically said: look, Meta's Andromeda killed the old game.This newsletter is the next step. Less of the “what” and more: “Okay, what do I actually make next?”We’re going
Chasing Growth vs. Engineering ItYou've probably heard the saying: "First-time founders focus on product. Second-time founders focus on distribution."If that's true, then we'd add: third-time founders realize they're the same thing.S
Single vs. Double Opt-In: What Actually WorksMarketers love to debate opt-ins. Some swear by double opt-in for list quality. Others prefer single opt-in for scale.But the truth is more nuanced, and choosing the wrong one can cost you engaged sub
Pick Your Sender: Brand, Human, or Both?There’s a lot of literature about email subject lines, specifically, how to optimize them for more opens.And certainly, subject lines are a big part of what makes someone decide to read an email.…But
Psychology of Conversion: 3 Tactics Worth RevisitingEvery once in a while, it's worth calling back the classics.Today we're revisiting three psychological conversion tactics from past newsletters. They're evergreen, visual, and still underused.Let's di
Why Unsubscribes Aren’t the End of the WorldIt sucks to see people unsubscribe from your email list. We can’t help but feel like we’re losing a potential customer.But what if I told you that unsubscribes aren’t all that bad? And that there’s so
Why Curiosity Beats Convincing in Founder SalesWhether you're building a paid media growth engine or aiming for fully product-led growth, you’re going to need sales skills throughout your entrepreneurial journey.Direct sales conversations with you
10 Tactics for Customer Reviews That Drive SalesHumans are social creatures. Maybe that’s why there’s no such thing as too much social proof.But the phrase “social proof” is kinda funny, because there’s nothing “proof”-like about it. It’s just basi
The Power of the Pattern InterruptYou’ve probably experienced this phenomenon at a red light.The car next to you rolls forward, and for a split second, your brain screams, “YO buddy! You’re rolling backwards!” Your foot stomps the bra
Influencer Marketing Basics for the Traction StageI’ll never forget the first time I saw just how influential influencer marketing could be.I was working at an ad agency in 2019. We were in the midst of launching a national campaign for a well-known
How Beli Is Eating Yelp’s LunchI’ve never thought of myself as someone who lived under a metaphorical rock, but the fact that I hadn’t heard of the Beli app until recently is making me question that.Maybe it’s because I’m not part
The ROI on a failed Techstars startupHey everyone,Today’s newsletter is a bit different. I usually write about growth tactics and strategies, but today I’m zooming out to talk about something more foundational.It's a personal story about
Should You Take the Content Creation Plunge?Content creation has almost become a “checkbox” in today’s startup starter kit. Plenty of creators and founders will tell you that you need to build in public and post every day, so your company can r