🏴☠️ ⚡️ Issue #19 - 12x Content that Hit Me hardest in 2023 (Musings)
Welcome! This newsletter is dedicated to acquiring and operating Micro SaaS firms. Join us every Saturday morning for Deal Tear Downs, Operating Concepts and more!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Part 1 — 🎯 DEAL TEARDOWN - [Off-Market] Established SaaS for Countertop Fabricators
Part 2 — ⚙️ OPERATING CONCEPT - The Flavors of a Buyout Investment Thesis
Part 3 — 🛠️ OKR TEARDOWN - Execute UGC Tactical Experiment to Inform Go-forward Strategy
Part 4 — 🤔 MUSINGS - 11x Content that Hit Me Hardest in 2023
🤔 MUSINGS
📺 WATCH:
📻 LISTEN:
12x CONTENT THAT HIT ME HARDEST IN 2023
As we head into the tail-end of 2023, ‘tis the season to reflect on the year. Most of us subscribe to power law so I thought it made sense to highlight the subset of content that had an outsized impact on me.
T2D3 (Book) — This is one of the most thoughtful and overarching collections of GTM-centric frameworks /toolkits I’ve come across. For non-marketers, I would consider this a bible that stays on your desk. The content covers: creation of ideal customer profiles, product marketing positioning and strategy, pricing, content / SEO, acquisition tactics based on business maturity…the list goes on.
The Pricing Roadmap (Book) — The above serves as a nice foundation / primer, but for those who want to go deeper on pricing and monetization, this is a good north star.
The Messy Marketplace (Book) — If you haven’t read HBR’s Buying a Small Business or Buy Then Build, I would start there. If you have, this book is an excellent take on similiar substance, though from the seller’s view. It’s also an excellent peak into the mind of Permanent Equity’s Founder, which you hate to miss out on.
Buy Back Your Time (Book) — This is written by the Founder of SaaS Academy, though the subject is productivity frameworks for CEOs. The book does an excellent job incorporating / instilling time management and outsourcing concepts, hiring and playbooking to delegate and elevate, and so on. For a quick preview, here’s a link to the framework collection.
The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts (Book) — Farnam Street’s entire mission statement is to collect the most enduring mental models across disciplines and their first volume does not disappoint. If you subscribe to “the quality of your thinking depends on the models in your head” then this is right up your alley. It’s also a beautiful book and makes for an excellent gift.
The Game w/ Alex Hormozi (Podcast) — I am on a pretty hardcore Hormozi kick, like most of my peer group. It’s rare you encounter a mind that blends philosophy, business acumen, vulnerability re hard lessons and grand vision like Hormozi. He gives away elite content as a mechanism to attract deal flow so this is among the most premium and accessible content around. Highly recommend you dive in.
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg (Podcast) — Listening to this podcast every week is a non-negotiable for me. The perspectives are unique and they play so well together. Further, the substance covers an amazing range across business, politics, and science. It definitely skews ‘billionaire-y’ so you’ll have to look past that.
No Mercy, No Malice (Newsletter) — I first encountered Galloway when taking his Brand Strategy course at NYU-Stern and I’ve been a disciple ever since. His beats get a little repetitive but he gives zero f***s and does not hesitate to share a controversial point of view, which will guaranteed give you a laugh or two along the way. This weekly newsletter is the edge of his perspective. His books are outstanding as well, I’d start with The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.
CS50 - Harvard’s Intro to Computer Science (Youtube Series) — For my non-technical, revenue operators, say hello to your saving grace. This free online course provides 22hrs of absolutely world class content, which will leave you with a very solid fundamental grasp of computer science. Simply put, this is off the charts and will change how you look at the category we play in.
Shape Up (Book) — A CTO mentor / advisor recommended this book as foundational knowledge when I stepped in to monitor and guide an engineering team for the first time. It’s written by the Founder of Basecamp.com and built on ~7x years of experience. The book entails zero fluff and will leave you with actionable methods to ship better SaaS in the most efficient manner possible.
The Power of Now (Book) — I like to blend industry and skill based content with the macro, in hopes it will yield a more well rounded me. If you share this intention, though can only dedicate one book per year, I’d suggest this be it. This is one I plan to re-read at least once a year. Wow.
A Gentleman in Moscow (Book) — As an extension of the above, I try to make room for 'brain candy’ as well. This is one of the best written things I’ve ever engaged with. It has changed my writing and world perspective. If you need something to stimulate inspiration while checking out a bit during the holidays, look no further.