Every Sunday, I send a newsletter with ideas on business and life. You can sign up below and read this edition from February 7, 2021.
Hello my friend,
Welcome to The Grind, a newsletter sharing the best ideas and insights on business and life I’ve learned each week.
Let’s dive in.
Ideas and Inspiration
In the spirit of curating your inputs as we shared about last week, remember that whoever you follow influences how you think. In this thread, Julian Shapiro of Demand Curve has done some of that curation for you, with great suggestions on who to follow. And for those looking to stay up to date with the Creator Economy, in this thread, Hugo Amsellem of Arm The Creators! shares 230+ accounts to follow, including thinkers, investors, journalists and founders, among others.
In this thread, Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund shares some great tips for founders on outbound sales strategy from Aaron Ross’ book, Predictable Revenue.
Here are some of my favorite communities and those who built them, as well as some recommended by others.
Investor Shaan Puri shared an important lesson on cold outreach—essentially, create value instead of reaching out with an ask, and do so without expectations.
The “future of work” is now, and Pietro Invernizzi of Stride has done us a great service by Mapping “The Future of Work” Startup & Investor Ecosystem, including startups, investors and ideas.
In an eye-opening article from James Currier of NFX, he details how network effects impact nearly every aspect of our lives, and how exactly to have agency in our own big decisions.
Check out Sriram Krishnan’s project The Observer Effect (which launched last year) in which he interviews interesting people and how they work. In this one with Marc Andreessen they discuss how his approach to productivity has shifted over time—a topic I often dig into on the Just Go Grind podcast!
What Gagan Biyani wish he knew as a first-time founder:
• The right strategy > great execution (work less, think more)
• Play the long game w/ people: don’t underestimate anyone, but pick your favorites + invest in them
• Understanding yourself = better leadership (ie. get a exec coach)
Opportunities from this Week
If you are a strong up-and-comer from the New York tech scene who is resourceful, data-driven, intellectually curious, and ready to hustle, Primary Venture Partners is looking to fill multiple positions within their investment team!
Potencia Ventures is hiring someone interested in impact investing and financial markets. Spanish or Portuguese speaking applicants highly encouraged to apply!
Cameron Hardesty of Poppy is looking to hire an experienced sales leader to advise on commission structure for a paid consulting opportunity. Reach out to her if you are interested or with referrals!
Lerer Hippeau is looking for a full-time Marketing Manager, who will manage their firm’s public presence and digital footprint and help support their portfolio companies. Read here about the position and how to apply.
Product Hunt is hiring a Head of Community and Content in San Francisco.
For individual investors with smaller amounts of capital looking to invest in startups, fill out this Angel Community Interest form from Vitalize Venture Group.
This Week’s Just Go Grind Episodes
Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts
Joe Mahavuthivanij is the Co-Founder and CEO of Mythic Markets, an investing platform enabling anyone to buy, sell and trade fractional shares in alternative assets with enormous fandoms. Starting with pop culture collectibles, they are securitizing vintage comic books and collectible cards, allowing fans to invest in the things they love. Mythic Markets is a venture-backed startup based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their team first met in San Diego, California, and since then have worked at places like Apple, Fandom, Google and Uber.
Josh Snow is the Founder and CEO of Snow, a direct to consumer (DTC) leader in oral care and oral cosmetics. Snow produces premium oral care products including patent pending teeth whitening systems, premium floss, anti-aging lip care products, and more. The perfect storm of beauty, technology, and oral care.
Snow® is proud to have over 1 million fans, and customers in 175+ countries around the world. Their videos have gone viral with over one billion views cumulatively. Snow has been featured on The Doctors, Wendy Williams, The Kelly Clarkson Show, VOGUE, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, WebMD, Harvard Medical, and more, and is a top selling brand on Target.com, in Best Buy, Neiman Marcus, Bed Bath and Beyond and is now the most popular oral cosmetics brand on Instagram. In May of 2020, a Snow product was sold every 29 seconds.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter and I’ll see you next week Sunday. Have a wonderful day!
Much love,
Justin
P.S. Who am I? I’m the founder of Just Go Grind, host of the Just Go Grind Podcast, and the Director of Marketing & Community at Vitalize Venture Group.
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