Copycat
Is copying a smart way to build a business or is it theft? Jury's out...
Hey, Must Readers š!Ā Ā Ā
This weeks newsletter hasĀ 11 must-readĀ stories for you to enjoy and share with friends and colleagues. Ā
Must Read Articles Of The Week
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The Hidden Costs Of Being A Leader š
Leaders get a bad rap, however, there are many hidden costs to being a leader, sleepless nights, the constant feeling of anxiety & the fight for 5 minutes to yourself. There are many more listed and find out what you might need to do
- Read the full story -
Why Copying Is The New Cool š
Subject line explained: Being original is great, being the canonical is even better - until the copying starts and is so close you cannot tell the difference. Happens in almost every industry and it is not much you can do about it. In comes - fashion, an industry that was built on inspiration, remixing and in high street stores outright dupes, is this ok? Do genius steal? Ā - Read the full articleĀ ā¬ļø is a prime example of why being first is great, until it ends up being copied -
A. Rich Peopleās Surveillance Addiction šµļøāāļø
A really interesting take on those who donāt think they have anything to hide and then the ripples buying fitness trackers have on other classes:
āWhen people believe that social power is on their side and such technology works in their favor, they worsen the conditions that made the technology seem attractive to them in the first placeā - Read the full essayĀ Ā
B. Facebook Surveillanceā¦Below is a first look at the Facebook Raybans smart glasses. Facebook will be pushing into more wearables & trying to capture more content on the go, snapchat still inspiring them years later š -
Ye, Going Where The People Go š¼
Kayne West tends to lead in fashion and in music, his team have always had a test and learn approach to their marketing, and with Donda release alongside listening parties and teasing a beef with Drake (who won hands on)ā¦smartly leveraged discord (the slack like tool) to gain feedback and have a more direct relationship with his fans.
Tip: If you are in a B2C business & looking for channels that others are leveraging ācommunityā you should dive into Telegram groups & Discord servers and understand how to leverage in your space - Read the full storyĀ
(Here is a good read to pair with why brands flirt with discord) -
Amazon Innovation š
Amazon has been on a rampage lately, seeing huge growth in their own advertising platform, successes in Prime Video and offering to sell cars, to building a virtual showroom for cars, to selling Amazon-branded TVās. Amazon might not be a direct competitor, however, seeing their drive and innovation will either have to inspire you or fill you with some dread. Especially now it is testing buy now pay laterā¦ -
Future Of The Automated Home š
This is probably the best press irobot and roomba have had in a number of years, they believe they are going to be the future of smart homes, not Google or Amazon (Or Apple). Smart homes tech has stalled and can the automated vacuum cleaner be the answer to our smarter homes?
- Read the full breakdownĀ
(Here is a funny TikTok where a roomba bites the dust š) -
Wild Ride From Internet Marketing To Legal Cannabis Empire To Failure šØ
This is potentially the most ludicrous story I have read in years, from having cancer, being an internet marketer to creating a legal cannabis empire to it becoming a flop (this has to be turned into a podcast) - Read the long readĀ
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Shop Local Vs Downtown š¤
Twice this week I have been into (the centre and west of) London, both days were BUSY, you could struggle to think there is a pandemic still happening.
With many cities reporting ghost towns, there is ongoing marketing messages to shop local and support the community, but is this something we should do? Will we see the return of independent stores? More than the oneās we occassionally buy our coffee from? Will you continue to buy artisan bread from the local bakery? Actively pick the local craftsperson creation over a marketplace or chain in a large city? In an ideal world yes, in a world based on convenience no- Read the short readĀ -
Ever Wondered What A Dark Store Looks Like? š
Ever ordered from a rapid food delivery app? Getir, Gorillas, GoPuff etc, this article shows you the inside of Getirās London operation & provided insights into the operating model. These companies lose a lot of money currently, will ordering continue when things normalise? Likely not! However VC money & scale is there for the taking! - Read the full article -
Wikipediaās Evolution š
A good deep dive into how Wikipedia handled and evolved during the 2000ās, from 9/11 and throughout the different terror attacks and importantly how it attempts to handle misinformation - Read the deep dive -
TikTok Mystery šāāļø
Here is an interesting use of TikTok thatās grown one account by over a million followers in a month, can you guess what Natalieās job actually is?
- Read the thread
Micro Blog: Price For (Big Tech) Privacy? š°
As covered in the last few must reads, Apple iOS15 update is privacy based, focusing in on blocking tracking and overly personalised ads.
There is a but, Apple charges a huge (but smart) premium to Google to be the default search engine on Safari across Apple devices.
The current deal is $10b 2020, the predicted estimates are $15b for 2021, and as high as $20b for 2022. Remember being the default matters, even to industry giants and especially for dominant players.
Question to ask internally: How can we leverage being the default or partnering to become the default.
The Latest From Me š
- Do you know that you need Growth but donāt know how to start building out a team or department, here is my š Growth Framework.
- What the future of work looks likeĀ
- š§ Listen to the latest fixing the broken world of work podcast with TedX Coach Peter Hopwood š§
"Quote Of The Weekā Ā
"Don't settle for average. Bring your best to the moment.
Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had.
We need to live the best that's in us" ā Angela Bassett
šØ More Than Just Another NewsletterĀ Ā
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Donāt Forget The Podcasts:Ā
- The fixing the broken world of work podcastĀ - helping you to improve work! Ā
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The future state of podcastĀ - where Nick Walter and I discuss the future of industries, verticals and businesses.
Next weekās pod is on the future of social media!
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Until next weekās Must Reads,
Danny Denhard
