2pm SportsCenter Posts Biggest YoY
Interesting. The 2pm ET @SportsCenter saw the biggest YOY growth of any ESPN studio show in April. Gets just under 400K viewers these days. ESPN seeing potential opportunity there for @PSchrags ?
Hidden Fees Destroy Trust, Prioritize Partnership Pricing
Hidden costs and punitive #fees are trust killers. Algorithm-driven revenue might help Q4, but it erodes long-term #loyalty. Here's how to price for partnership > What the fees customers hate reveal about your pricing strategy @MarTechIsMktg https://t.co/DN9n1Tqk8r #cx #marketing https://t.co/2RMTYCQ15Q
Three Participants Test Shared Productivity System for 30 Days
For the first time, Forte Labs ran a productivity challenge Three Second Brainers, 30 days, three projects under real pressure One shared system: Capture, Organize, Distill, Express https://t.co/s6d8jtRWri
Sony Nears $4B Catalog Deal Amid Blackstone Dispute
Sony Music is on the verge of one of the largest catalog acquisitions ever: nearly $4B for songs from Justin Bieber, Neil Young, Justin Timberlake, etc. Other parties are crying foul, saying Blackstone wouldn’t listen to their offers. https://t.co/F6dTuBwJke
Even After Early Struggle, I'd Build Again
“Knowing what you know today, would you still build your business?” Someone on my team asked me this question recently. My first few years of running entrepreneurship, I was miserable. I wasn’t making much money and I was jealous of my...
McDonald's CEO Quits to Join Anthropic’s AI Kitchen
SCOOP: McDonald’s CEO will resign from the chain to join Anthropic. “I treasure my decades in the food industry,” he said in a statement. “But AI is moving so fast, I want to explore more creative work as an individual contributor.” He...
AI COGS Redefine SaaS Finance After Decade
Last month marked 10 years of creating SaaS finance content. I grabbed an open domain name, and that accidentally became my brand today. You could say things have changed a bit over the past 10 years. Did I think I'd...
Beyond Salary Cuts: Rethinking People’s Value in Work
The assumption seems to be that the best use we have for people is eliminating their salaries. I don't think that's the only option. New Still Burning episode with @techgirl1908 https://t.co/ep0rVWhSMx
Integrate AI Deeply, Transform Business Operations
AI becomes powerful when it stops being a tool you occasionally use… and starts becoming part of how your business actually operates.
Is $2.1 B Worth a Central Florida Crown?
There is presumably a value to being "the preeminent city in Central Florida" — assuming the presence of the Rays is how that crown is awarded — but is it worth $2.1 billion, let alone potentially billions more? https://t.co/QAu0DpoMr8
From Missed Flight to Nostalgic Reminder of Humble Beginnings
I was a hot, sweaty mess sprinting through the SLC airport. Trying to make my connection to Palm Springs to host eCom Camp — @ecomfuelco’s 8 and 9-figure store owner event. I missed it by 60 seconds. Stuck overnight in Salt Lake, I...
War Dragging Pushes Global Pivot Toward China, Russia
My view on @soarfinancial on the REAL WINNERS of the US-Israeli war on Iran: "The longer the war goes & the more pain that's imposed around the world, the more people are going to PIVOT towards China & Russia... The US...
Organic Power Drives Sales, While Ad Attribution Conflicts
Lately, around 2 months ago, an established brand came to us after replacing 2 agencies. They were spending around ₹6 lakh/month and generating ₹36 lakh in Shopify sales. But nearly ₹24 lakh was coming from organic traffic and the strength...
One LinkedIn Creator Drives AI‑search Visibility and Leads
$48K. Six months. One creator on LinkedIn. That's what it took for a mid-market B2B SaaS company to go from invisible in ChatGPT and Perplexity to showing up in answers for their category's most-asked prompts. AI-driven demo requests? From <2% of pipeline...
Iran War Spikes Supply‑chain Pressure; Tariffs Stay Flat
Tariffs did not register any meaningful move last year in the New York Fed's index that measures global supply chain pressures. The Iran war, on the other hand, moved the line up notably in April https://t.co/kDmPxpgitg https://t.co/92UmxGrKV4
Turner Mulls CNN Reacquisition, Malone Reveals in Memoir
As John Malone wrote in his memoir, Ted Turner had contemplated trying to buy back CNN as recently as 2018 https://t.co/Ld8BHK4yPG
Create Sale Urgency: Chris Bond’s Amazon Exit Tactics
How do you create urgency in the sale of your business? Do what Chris Bond, founder of Thinkbox Software, did. Hear firsthand his story of feigned interest from buyers and his eventual sale to Amazon: https://lnkd.in/gd9ZJygN #founders #entrepreneurship #startups #mergersandacquisitions
Anthropic, OpenAI Mirror Enterprise JV Playbook, Signaling Market Shift
Anthropic and OpenAI announced enterprise joint ventures on the exact same day. Both with private equity firms. Both using the same playbook. That's a market signal.
Bigger Agency ≠ Better: Creative Fatigue Hurts Performance
One of our clients swapped to a larger well known agency around 6-7 months ago but kept us on as view access to the account. 6 months later and our ads are still spending 45% of the total budget. Very little...
Turner‑owned ESPN Would Spotlight Braves, Hawks over LeBron
Imagine Ted Turner purchased ESPN? First Take would have been debating the Braves and Hawks instead of shitting on LeBron for a decade-plus.
Empathy Enhances Direct Communication, Not Weakness
Can you be direct without being a jerk? Is being "strategic" just code for being soft or manipulative? No. Having empathy doesn't make you weak. It gives you a better chance of actually landing your (direct) message with the recipient. Good...
Star MLB Player Backs Salary Cap for Baseball
When a star MLB player -- even a retired one -- says a salary cap would be good for the game, it's news. https://t.co/VukIz66YHt
Shipping Firms Doubt Trump's Project Freedom; Iran Controls Hormuz
The New York Times reports that shipping companies have ZERO confidence in Pres. Trump's Project Freedom. Contrary to Pres. Trump's statements, CONTROL of the STRAIT OF HORMUZ is in IRAN'S HANDS and will probably remain so. IRAN REMAINS LOCKED AND LOADED. https://t.co/HOyQSr31S1
Delegate Authority, Let Employees Drive Productivity
Empower Employees to Increase Productivity - CX Journey™ https://t.co/Qpgwd8jN2U The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they...
Labor Market Outperforms Expectations with Hiring Surge
We've been in the camp the labor market was stronger than what most thought. Big jump in hiring last month and a tick up in quits. We don't think people would be quitting if they didn't have better options. A big...
Re‑engaging Passed Candidates Rarely Works as Expected
The silver medalist concept is one of recruiting's most seemingly sensible ideas - vetted candidates plus warm pipeline equals faster time to fill. It's also one of the most reliably underexecuted ideas we've ever devised. And the candidates you already put...
K‑Shape Myth: Unequal Groups, Not Balanced Arms and Legs
When people talk about the K-Shaped Economy, they talk about its arm and leg. That characterization unknowingly suggests a reasonable equivalence in population between those on the arm and leg. Nothing could be further from the truth.
KKR Founders Reflect on Private‑market Boom and Looming Crunch
The FT spoke to Henry Kravis and George Robert as KKR turned 50. We spoke about the private markets they helped create and which now face a crunch, and how their once rebel partnership had changed the corporate mainstream before ultimately...
Ops Management Skills Translate Directly to Tech Projects
The skills that make someone good at managing physical operations are almost identical to what makes someone good at implementation or project management in tech. Same thinking, different environment. Stay Dangerous.
War Fuels Profit Swings, Leaves Iran Richer
So then the outcome of the war is that some people make money off of price swings and Iran ends up better off than before.
Annual Rocket Ship List: 900 Top Startup Employers, 35 Supernovas
pleased to share my annual rocket ship list -- the ~ 900 companies startup joiners should work for, including 35 insane "supernovas" https://t.co/5rtGTmasBJ
BWEN Sells Wind Assets, Cash Use Remains Unclear
$BWEN finally selling wind business is what it should have done a long time ago, or at the very least, last year when they disposed of a related asset. Will they burn through $19M in cash from the sale or...
Navigating Constant Change: Bachynski’s New Leadership Playbook
With longtime CIO Marianne Bachynski whose new book on leadership in today's constantly changing world I review on my website today. (With a cameo by Tony Soprano surveilling us... 😂)
Ted Turner: Media Maverick Who Revolutionized TV and Sports
Ted Turner was one of one. His impact on the American media landscape and US sports cannot be overstated. A brilliant entrepreneurial mind, he was at the forefront of so many innovations. In the definitive history of television, he deserves...
Seeking Useful Game Contract Data for Newsrooms and Researchers
Would be curious what other type of information would be useful to newsrooms/athletic departments/researchers/mega nerds about game contracts at scale. I've got a ton of data entry ahead of me but adding/tweaking some things shouldn't be THAT hard?
LinkedIn Evolves Into Powerful Ad Network for Software Buyers
Everything is an ad network, and LinkedIn is getting *really smart* about how to leverage authority and creator audiences there. I think we're going to see more brands lean into this, esp. in the software space, because it's *the* social network...
VCs Demand AI-Native Startups While Staying Barely AI-Enabled
VC's are urgently pushing their portfolio companies to become AI native (as opposed to AI enabled). But they themselves are only trying to be AI enabled, and barely so at that.
LLMs Thrive on Unstructured Text; GEO/AEO Merely SEO Rebrand
LLMs read unstructured language by design. The GEO/AEO playbook is SEO best practices repackaged as novelty. https://t.co/XINrtRZXdM via @pedrodias, @sejournal
Iran's Sole Leverage: Oil Price Spikes, Trump Counters
Thanks to @HolmanJenkins from the @WSJ for including me in this piece. Iran's only weapon in this standoff is to spike oil prices. The Trump administration has done a good job neutralizing this by periodically reminding markets oil prices can...
Tariffs Threaten Small Businesses, Forcing Indiana Music Store to Close
"For some small businesses, tariffs don’t just mean higher costs — they mean shutting down. A music store in Indiana is facing exactly that reality." https://t.co/raU0cyVQzu
IBM Leaders Discuss Quantum-Classical Computing Intersection
Next up... a deep discussion w/ head of @IBM Research Jay Gambetta and CTO Jerry Chow on quantum computing and where IBM research is today with their quantum journey. Lots of discussion around the intersection of classic and quantum computing. #CIO...
Recession Forced Focus, Fueled 18-Year Success
I quit my job and started Heinz Marketing Inc in November 2008. In retrospect: one of the better decisions I've ever made. The conditions were objectively terrible in hindsight. The financial crisis was reaching its nadir. My wife was finally...
Bundle Sponsorships Across Platforms for Steady $10K Income
The approach I take that has turned sponsorship revenue into a (fairly consistent) $7-10k/mo stream: Multiple touch points. My channel is small (31.6k), but I have my mailing list, my socials, and my website with a fairly high domain authority. Combine that with...
China's Domestic Coal Shields It From Energy Price Shocks
Because of its heavy reliance on domestically-mined coal, China is far less vulnerable to global energy price shocks than the EU. This and more featured in the Chartbook Top Links today. https://t.co/XIXIgRqQmP
Webby Livestream Creator Award Misattributed to Bieber
The Webby Award for Best Livestream Creator went to... Justin Bieber. However, Bieber didn't actually win as he's nowhere on the list of credits. Instead, Twitch and Stagepilot received the award.
30‑Minute Validation Saves Millions on Projects
I lost millions on a video game. (Project Kyzen. Still building it. Won't launch again until late 2027.) The mistake that's costing me this much? I should've caught it on day one. Here's what I do now to validate every business...
Speak Requirements, AI Generates PRD Instantly
This is genuinely wild. Rezonant just dropped a PM layer for Claude Code and Cursor and it might be the end of spec docs. Record your screen, talk through what you want built, and it generates a structured PRD your AI coding...
From $100K to $1.64M: 20 Sales Secrets
My first few years in sales I never made more than $100,000. I thought "features, advantages, and benefits" were all I needed to know. 10 years later? I made $1.64 million in a year. 20 ways I learned to double your...
Early Season End Right, but AFCA Ignores Bowl Power Shift
Ending earlier is the right move, but AFCA plan doesn't address the Woolly mammoth in the room: Champ game that early means SFs on NYD and moves the QFs to a pre-Xmas window, and the sport hasn't shown any willingness...
Zero‑tariff Apples Land in Shenzhen, Boosting SA‑China Trade
The first shipment of South African apples arrived in Shenzhen, China on May 1. Benefiting from zero-tariff treatment, the 24-ton consignment received a tariff saving of approximately R50,000. More South African products are expected to enter the Chinese market as...