Take a Simple Idea and Take It Seriously
The story of Nomad is worth retelling: in 2001 a young man named Nick Sleep partnered up with another young man named Qais Zakaria to form an investment firm, first under Sleep’s employer, Marathon Asset Management, and then later on as the Nomad Investment Partnership. They were uncommonly principled investment managers, both in terms of style, but also in terms of their compensation — Sleep and Zakaria charged 10 basis points as a management fee for their fund, far lower than the industry standard of 1-2%. They also committed to earn their 20% share of the profits after generating a 6% annual return. A few years into the firm’s life, they stacked the deck further against themselves: they placed their 20% share into a bucket for a few years, and told investors that they would refund a portion of those previously earned fees if Nomad ever fell short of its 6% annual hurdle rate.
^ADJ: So much in this article, from conviction through to one of my favourite books: 7 Powers - encourage you to all read.
How To Transform Difficult Relationships
How do you turn an adversary into an ally? We may want to change other people, says Bob Burg, but we’re far more likely to succeed if we first reset our own attitude. Knowing how to transform difficult relationships didn’t come naturally to him, and doesn’t to most people. That’s why, in his new book Adversaries into Allies: Win People Over Without Manipulation or Coercion, Burg developed five principles to help others connect, even when there’s conflict.
^ADJ: So much to learn - enough said
Monzo Makes Money Work For Everyone
Scaling a startup is hard. Scaling a startup bank is even harder. Scaling a consumer-focused financial platform—that is also now the primary bank account for millions of UK consumers—in the midst of a once in a century pandemic is close to impossible.
^ADJ: FinTech's are hot, this is an interesting case study on what has worked for Monzo and the approach they have taken
Make the Most of One-on-One Meetings with Your Manager
One-on-one meetings with your manager present valuable career opportunities. How can you make sure you’re getting the most out of that time with your boss?
^ADJ: Good reminder as to the power and usefulness of well structured 1:1's
The power of defaults
The world’s most successful companies all exhibit some form of structural competitive advantage: A defensibility mechanism that protects their margins and profits from competitors over long periods of time. Business strategy books like to refer to these competitive advantages as “economic moats”.
^ADJ: Why this matters - Some interesting insights into why some companies have maximised advantage (Apple, Google etc) and taken a layered approach, as well as understanding 'defaults'.
One of my takeaways from this was how would I invest differently knowing this.
Are Your Marketing and Sales Teams on the Same Page
Sales-marketing misalignment is estimated to cost businesses more than $1 trillion each year. When sales and marketing teams are aligned, not only will the company perform better, but these teams will notice an increased speed of change, more creative problem-solving, and better employee retention. The author identifies how to spot misalignment between sales and marketing teams, and suggests the following strategies to get them on the same page: 1) Audit the content you have to enable revenue generation; 2) Have marketing team members shadow sales calls; 3) Hold regular brainstorming sessions with sales and marketing team members; and 4) Provide the sales team with knowledge about prospects for their sales calls.
How Stripe Scaled - Notes from Office Hours with Claire Hughes Johnson
A few weeks ago, Office Hours at Redpoint welcomed Claire Hughes-Johnson, former COO at Stripe and VP at Google. Claire’s operational experience is one-of-a-kind, and the conversation focused on scaling startups.
^ADJ: Why read: covers scaling, decision making and pricing