Friends of Dave: Stuff I Learned This Week
For me, the first weekend in February usually brings some angst. It's the middle of winter. After nearly a half century on the planet, I still don't get the whole groundhog thing. I become increasingly grouchy about my kids being inside most of the time. And, worst of all, it is the last weekend of football until August.
On the bright side, we do have the Super Bowl. Whether you watch it for the ads or the game, the NFL championship game is right up there with Thanksgiving and July 4th as one of the few non-religious days of festive eating, gathering and wagering celebrated nationwide. It's gotten so big that there is currently a petition to make the day after a national holiday (or more like a national day of recovery). But if that happened, what would Corporate America do without "Super Bowl Ad Recap Monday" to make their weekly staff meetings run 30 minutes longer than normal?
So enjoy the Big Game in all of it's American, super sized glory this weekend. I predict a close one -- Falcons and fellow BC grad Matt Ryan look really good, but hard to bet against Belichick and Brady with two weeks of prep. And if Lady Gaga's halftime show doesn't strike your fancy, remember you can read a few of the articles included here as my gift to you.
Finally, a special edition planned for next week. Scroll to the bottom for a slight hint at what the theme will be.
XOXO
Dave
For the Deep Thinkers...
The realization that the narcissist, not so much selfish as not really having a self, changes everything. Suddenly you can see them for what they are: puppets or clowns.
Not naming names, here folks....
The Growing Importance of Employee Activism — theringer.com
“At the end of the day, everyone wants to work at a company that supports the same values that they have individually." Is political activism now going to be something companies discuss on your "Careers" page?
For The Startup Aficionados...
Breaking Down the Importance of Early-Stage Startup Revenue Projections — medium.com
“What would happen if you hired three more salespeople?” To answer this question, you need dynamic revenue forecasts.
For All My Sales Peeps...
The Greatest Sales Deck I’ve Ever Seen — medium.com
What attracts human attention is change. …if the temperature around you changes, if the phone rings — that gets your attention. The way in which a story begins is a starting event that creates a moment of change.
I absolutely hate Powerpoint decks. But this is an interesting breakdown of what makes for a compelling presentation.
For the Marketing Nerds...
How to ‘get’ inside your customer’s head, reduce churn and effectively test pricing — conversion.com
If you are currently or have ever grappled with how to get the right mix between price and value, you will appreciate this deep dive into the art of tweaking a price page.
For the FinTech Folks...
Four ways the connected car will change banking — www.americanbanker.com
From frictionless payments to improved underwriting models, connected cars will rewrite the rules for how and where banks interact with their customers.
Stock research moves past PDFs as customers demand more for their money — www.reuters.com With investment firms cutting costs and portfolio managers combating a barrage of information, financial research shops around the globe are looking for new ways to keep their product relevant.
For the Data Geeks...
Why the promise of big data hasn’t delivered yet — techcrunch.com
Frankly, #bigdata is still a lot of corporate BS. To make material headway, C-level execs need to take a bold, but necessary, step into the future by nominating the parts of their enterprise they’re prepared to make truly “data driven” — and surrendering them to the science.
Your Weekly Dose of Random Knowledge...
At Home With the Couple That Launched the Doomsday Bunker Industry — psmag.com
This is admittedly a bit of a long read, but oddly fascinating nonetheless. You want to make America great again? Make it a bucket list item to send your kids to go trick or treating at the Peden house.
Music helps dogs chill out, especially if it’s reggae or soft rock — www.washingtonpost.com
Dogs are generally “less stressed” when they hear music, and they show a slight preference for reggae and soft rock. I also hear they absolutely HATE when you play "Who Let The Dogs Out."
'Cuz This is the Last Football Weekend for a While....
The Tale of Tom Brady and Johnny Foxborough — mmqb.si.com
If you thought you were going to get through this week without the obligatory Tom Brady piece, you are not as wicked smaht as you look. Love him or hate him, though, he is good at throwing the pigskin -- and after reading this, you will have a deeper appreciation for it.
The NFL Has a Full-Blown Crisis on its Hands — civicscience.com
JUST IN: Football is a dangerous sport and you can get seriously hurt playing it. And yet, we still watch, but not like we did a few years ago. Here is some very compelling demographic data to consider as you chomp on way too much chips and guac this Super Sunday.
How the XFL Basically Predicted the Rise of President Trump — www.esquire.com
And by the way, pay no attention to the rumors that the Iron Sheik will be nominated as special envoy to Iran should things heat up there. #FakeNews. You heard it here first.
Got feedback? Questions? Suggestions? Email me: dave@slingstonegroup.com