The Sunday Digest: Product-Led Growth’s Failure

Product-Led Growth's Failure

by Evan Armstrong in Napkin Math (8-minute read)

On paper, SurveyMonkey should've had Qualtrics beat in the experience-gauging software department. But, despite having advantages from a three-year head start to deep integrations with software giants, the overdog blew its lead. How did Qualtrics take the crown? Partly, Evan writes, by inventing a new category for its competing functionality: "Experience Management." Read on for why sales and marketing was the dark-horse element needed to win the battle for Qualtrics.

Brittany Chavez: Make vulnerability your leadership style

by Sherrell Dorsey & Annaliese Griffin in Free Radicals (15-minute read)

For Brittany Chavez, becoming a Founder was intuitive—having noticed the lack of centralized options for discovering Latinx-owned businesses online, she started Shop Latinx, an online marketplace and platform selling products from more than a dozen different brands owned by women of color. Speaking with Sherrell, she discusses breaking tech stereotypes, the customers she's trying to appeal to, and which market gaps she might try to fill next.

Alex Lieberman opens up about his move from CEO to Executive Chairman

🎧 Talk Therapy with Dan Shipper & Nathan Baschez (47-minute listen)

As co-founder and CEO of Morning Brew, Alex Lieberman's identity has been rooted in the company for the past 7 years—right up until he sold it to Axel Springer this year. But as he tells Dan and Nathan in this remarkably raw and honest special episode, the sale bred more than just celebration. Alex doesn't shy away from digging into how his leadership change brought new angles to his experience battling anxiety.

Before Facebook, There Was eCircles

by Fadeke Adegbuyi in Cybernaut (7-minute read)

If you read one curation-centric newsletter this weekend, make it Cyberbits. In this installment, she aims her Internet nostalgia at a proto-social network: the now-defunct eCircles. But what happens when a network dies? Come for the hypotheses on whether our current social giants will last for the decades to come, and stay for the collection of the best free resources on the 'Net.

DeFriday #3: How Arbitrum Solves Ethereum’s Scaling Challenges

by Nat Eliason in Almanack (7-minute read)

Nat's latest dispatch from the decentralized sphere is a quick education in how to work through a roadblock encountered by those looking to get into Ethereum: transaction fees. To learn about Arbitrum, a "rollup" that allows traders to stick with Ethereum's security at a reduced cost, read Nat—so that when Arbitrum becomes available to consumers this month, you'll know what you're looking at.

Community Calendar

What's going down in our Discord this week.

• Wednesday, June 9th from 10am-12pm EST/7am-9am PST: Focused Work Pomodoros with Dan Shipper
• Thursday, June 10th at 4pm EST/1pm PST: Crypto Chat with Nat Eliason & Nathan Baschez

What’s Going On

News you might have caught or missed.

• A new collective will share a podcast feed to make money off Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces
• William Ackman SPAC Nears $40 Billion Universal Music Deal
• Twitter teams with climate vet to launch local weather news service
• ‘It remains purely symbolic’: Why rainbow capitalism can be harmful to LGBTQ people
• AMC bounces between gains and losses to end a wild week where the shares doubled

What We’re Reading

Our favorite writing from beyond Every.

• Why a Failing New Jersey Deli Is Valued at $100 Million: A Theory (New York Magazine)
• Inside Silicon Valley’s Mayo Marketing Madness (Wired)
• How to Negotiate with Ransomware Hackers (The New Yorker)