Hello everyone,
I'm so excited to be back here with all of you and I have to say that we are growing, slowly but surely. It's pretty cool to get the notifications from Substack - "You have a new subscriber". I think it's a recognition of my time and I'm happy that more people have the chance to explore what I think is some of the best content out there.
Thanks for being here. (and please, share!!)
Last week I posted on Linkedin that my #1 KPI for this work is how many clicks I get on each article. I use the Startup Dictionary; it's my North Star. Why? Because it confirms to me that you have given me some of your time and I have given you something worth reading in return. It's a perfect trade-off for my newsletter endeavor :-)
I'm now devoting a good part of my productive hours to more intensive reading and writing. I'm in the process of organizing and processing as much information as I can in order to structure a line of work and develop more scalable frameworks. The end goal is to be able to work with multiple founders and leaders and have a structured methodology that I can replicate.
I'm focusing on leadership and teamwork. I believe this duo is responsible for what makes an organization thrive and grow!
Do you have a Kindle? It's a life hack.
I still love the old-fashioned paper book, but the Kindle device has given me three clear advantages: multiple books in one device, the highlighting feature that allows you to send the best parts of a book in one document, and cost reduction.
It has given me an edge.
So what's going on?
I'm back with The Atomic Habits. I read it once before and took valuable notes, but I don't think it had the right attitude at the time. I've been trying out a few hacks to improve my overall performance - from sleeping to going into flow whenever I want - and I think the book can add a few tricks to my repertoire.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni came up in my last class at Harvard and I jumped right in. It has been around for 20 years, but it is still relevant today. I think the biggest impact any founder and leader can have on an organization is in leading and guiding a group of people towards a common goal and this book is all about that. Easy to read, and has such a great story and I highly recommend it.
Scaling People by Claire Johnson is a new book and has been featured in my previous work. She is the former COO of Stripe and the book is an operations manual for hyper-growth companies written from her personal - and successful - experiences. It's dense and heavy - I mean, it's the kind of book you need to read and re-read and take notes on.
If you ask me, which one should you pick first if you haven't read any of them? The Atomic Habits. Why? First, take care of yourself and hack your behavior and then add knowledge to it.
THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS
I believe that the ability to ask great questions will be one of the most powerful elements for humans in the future.
If ChatGPT already has more knowledge and the ability to process vast amounts of information faster, more accurately, and more precisely than humans, what can set us apart? The quality of our questions, because will lead to better answers! This is what I believe in and this is what I have decided to work on. It's actually I big part of my work with my two daughters.
Let me give you an example. Do you listen to podcasts? If you do, how do you rate your favorite host? Is he a good interviewer? Does he have a well-defined structure for his guests, and then the ability to build on each of their answers, digging deeper and giving you the information you as a listener want to explore? Asking questions is an art and the best part is that you can get good at it. The challenge is that before you get good at asking questions, you need to improve your listening skills and that's a challenge! But we can explore that later.
So today I bring you two amazing podcasts on the subject of interviewing. One is with Nadia Singer, she is the Chief of People at Figma and his approach is more about interviewing candidates and identifying the best ones the second is with Jeanette Melinger who has a very scientific approach to asking the right questions so you get the answers you NEED, not necessarily the ones you want to hear.
I loved Nadia's favorite interview question for job candidates:
“As you think about what's next for you in your journey and the next opportunity that you are looking for what's something that you hope is the same and what's something you hope is different about the next place, the next opportunity, the next culture?
Nadia Singer
In Janette's interview, she shared a framework for research that I think is easy to understand and implement. It has three simple steps:
1. Focus
2. Ask better questions
3. Analyse
A caveat, she talks a lot about how people struggle with confirmation bias, which I also see a lot with founders - in my case I see founders asking the questions and leading the interviewees to give them the answers they then want to hear to validate what they believe.
Nadia's episode with First Round Review
Janette's episode with First Round Reviews [if you are a founder or just someone thinking about starting a business but first want to validate your idea, this one is for you!!]
Bonus from First Round Review
Claire Johnson, from the book Scaling People, is touring the best podcasts to talk about her book and her interview with First Round Review is one of the best I have come across.
By the way, congratulations to First Round Review for featuring three women in the last three episodes of the podcast. As a father of two girls, I can see they will have great footsteps to follow in the future!
Best from Linkedin
[Venture Capital] The dry powder fallacy: why there is 50% less startup capital than we think - Read it here
[AI + SEO + Hacking Content] - 0 to 750K/mo SEO traffic with GPT-4 AI content - Read it here.
[Venture Capital + Sequoia + Storytelling] - 📸Newsflash: Sequoia Capital, one of the world’s best venture funds, has a “storytelling team” whose job is to coach founders how to refine their stories…
🔥As backers of Apple, Google, Instagram, Whatsapp, LinkedIn, Zoom & Paypal –most of us interact with a Sequoia backed product every day!
💡So, it’s always worth paying attention when they have some tips[AI + the future of Google] - In under 6 months, a fun AI project has caused a multi-trillion-dollar company to start disrupting the very product that made them a powerhouse. - Read it here
[Leadership + People + Scaling Teams] - When we scaled Coinbase from 100 to 1000 people, and revenue from $1M to $1B annually, my fraud ops team stayed at 6. - Read it here.
[Entrepreneurship + Sam Altaman] - Want to win at entrepreneurship? - Read it here
[20VC + Heart to Heart + Massive Exit] - This is one of the most honest, true, and heartfelt discussions we have ever done on 20VC and I was very nervous to show another side of myself with it.
Scooter Braun is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of a generation.
💰 Sold Ithaca Ventures for $1BN+ to HYBE
🤝 Early personal investments in Pinterest, Spotify, Uber
Top Content
[B2B + Growth + Strategy] - The multiplier effect: How B2B winners grow by McKinsey - Read it here.
[Leadership + Hiring + Future of Work] - The Performance Management Revolution - The focus is shifting from accountability to learning. - Read it here.
EXTRA on Future of Work with Simon Sinek
[Society + Social Media + Shift in Behavior] - The Influencer Economy Is Warping the American Dream - Social-media influencing is both an alternative to traditional American capitalism and an embodiment of it. The Atlantic - Read it here
[AI + Fintech + Finance + Disruption] - Financial Services Will Embrace Generative AI Faster Than You Think by A16Z - Read it here.
BONUS - MENTAL HEALTH
The global mental health crisis is old news. The truth is that our hyper-connected and urban lifestyles are changing the way we manage our emotions and relationships. I'm no expert, but I'm curious about the subject.
I have been open about my burnout, my panic attacks, and my anxiety. There is a lot of content out there for people to explore and I think becoming aware of what it is a great first step.
I will share this piece here with you all and I hope it can lead to much more. Take care of yourself.
Startup of the Week
Healf - Two brothers from the UK are on a mission to help people make better choices and live better lives. I've never seen anyone more driven to achieve their dream. Lestat and Max are running Healf, growing like crazy and building a community.
On the other hand, emerging brands are jumping on board and riding with them. They are creating value for both the brands and the consumers.
Made with Love in Madrid, Spain.