Hey Everyone,
It's been a while! I took a one-year hiatus from sending Swipe File. I had a kid, was in the early stages of starting Superpath and didn't have the brainpower to do anything else. Since then, things have eased, and I'm excited to get back to this newsletter. I plan on using a condensed format to keep it sustainable and will be sending every Friday morning.
Okay, here we go! Here are a few things I've been reading, writing and pondering lately. Enjoy!
1. Superpath: Zero to One
Here's the story of my first (almost) two years in business. It's been a journey! But today, Superpath is on a >$500k run rate, has 7,000+ members and is hiring.
I've been wanting to write about Superpath for a while now but haven't because "it's not big enough" and "we have too many challenges to lose focus," and so on. But, I feel now that Superpath has made the leap from "zero to one," and it feels like a good time to share some of the progress (and failures) of the first two years in business. We are still duct-taped together but are making real money. I no longer worry that the whole thing will collapse if I lose focus for five minutes. It's a win that I'm soaking in after months of losing money and sleep, wondering if this thing will ever work.
2. Harder Than It Looks, Not As Fun as It Seems
I love Morgan Housel's writing, but I'm sharing this particular post because of its personal impact. I've thought about this idea—that things are never as wonderful on the inside as they appear on the outside—a ton over the past year. Superpath still feels duct-taped together. (Hopefully, it looks a least little better than that on the outside.)
...almost everything looks better from the outside. I guarantee workers at the competitor find flaws in the way their company operates, because they know about their company what my friend knows about his: how the sausage is made. All the messy personalities and difficult decisions that you only see when you’re inside, in the trenches. “All businesses are loosely functioning disasters” Brent Beshore says. But it’s like an iceberg, only a fraction is visible.
3. Random Links
- Spot-on post from Dock founder Alex Kracov: How to Solve Nine Common Sales and Marketing Problems
- Cool post from Seth Godin: The physical therapy metaphor
- I thought this ebook was really cool, both in its presentation (it's a Notion doc) and content: Burnout Handbook for Sales Leaders
- If this tweetstorm about the downfall of Fast is real, then holy sh*t. (I have not fact-checked this but sources are cited.)
- Speaking of social media: Twitter is not a university
Have a great weekend!
Jimmy
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