⚙️ Ops Playbook #26

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Good Morning Operators ⚙️

I’ve been pulling all nighters with the newborn. She’s an angel, but going to bed at 6AM has got to stop. I have been MORE productive than ever though…

Maybe building at night is better for the creative juices?

Who knows. If you have a kiddo, would love to learn how you handled those long nights.

Anyways, here’s what we got going on today:

• #1 on Product Hunt → Don’t buy upvotes. You might hit number #1 but with no conversions. Try building a community of makers around you instead

• Blindly Following → Famous companies broke through by finding their edges. Don’t blindly follow them

• Consumption vs Invoice Pricing → To hit $1M ARR, set yourself up with invoiced pricing. Once you hit $1M, try switching to consumption pricing

Lets jump in.

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Operators Library

• Jason Levin, the meme master himself, dives into 5 examples of how founders-led marketing is the new growth hack. Everyone needs to be a creator to grow, even Mark Zuckerberg. (Come for the hacks, stay for the memes)
  
  

• Selling your own business can feel great and bad at the same time. Reaching the "Freedom Line," where you've saved enough money to live really well without working, is a huge deal and can make you much happier. But once you're past that line, having even more money doesn't make you much happier. (Selling is the smart move.)
  
  

• Marc Lou is a solopreneur who was Product Hunts Maker of the Year. He reviews the lessons he has learned on his journey of shipping 21 products over the past year. I love his launch videos so I definitely recommend checking this out just for that (Ship it)
  
  

• Ever wonder why time seems to speed up as we get older? This essay dives into how we have less novel experiences as we age. This causes the brain not to register days as much as when you were a kid (Miss being a kid?)
  
  

• The niche industry of helping wind down a business is booming. Many founders have run out of runway for their business. With the hangover from the pandemic era, fundraising has fallen off a cliff. (Time to wind down)
  

P.S. To get featured in this section, share the newsletter 10 times using this referral link, and I'll include you in a future issue. 

1. Getting to #1 on Product Hunt

Insight from Marketing Ideas

When I launched a product called Firstbase Agent at my last startup, we hit 4th place on Product Hunt, sparking the question:

How do we clinch the #1 spot?

Tom Orbach's, Head of Growth at Wiz, success story offers valuable tips on what to do.

If you’re unaware, Product Hunt is where digital products battle it out over 24 hours. The community upvotes products to get to the top listing.

Success can catapult a product into the limelight like Loom and Notion.

Some people do resort to buying votes and comments. Here are the first two companies that appeared when I googled “Buy Product Hunt votes.”

You can easily see when a person buys Product Hunt upvotes though. Check out this graph as an example.

The neon green line booms upward during the day to first place.

Seems sketch, right?

Sure, you get to the top. Unfortunately, this won’t drive conversions on their website.

So then what would I recommend?

Try leveraging direct messages on Linkedin and Product Hunt.

Unlike broad, impersonal channels like social media or paid advertising, the real impact is one-on-one interactions.

Here's the strategy:

1. Target the Right Audience: Focus on Product Hunt regulars. Random messages won't cut it; a tailored approach is essential.

2. Build a Support Network: This involves engaging with the community well in advance. Tom suggests dedicating about 15 minutes daily for 4 to 8 weeks before your launch.

3. Engage and Offer Support: Participate in Product Hunt, supporting other makers by voting and commenting on their products. Connect with them on LinkedIn to offer your support and gently request their backing for your upcoming launch.

This works because you support others during their launch, creating a sense of indebtedness and making them more likely to support you in return.

Is this tedious? Yes

Does this work? Yes

Also, I bet that fellow-maker votes carry more weight in the Product Hunt algorithm.

2. Don't follow big companies blindly

Insight from Stripe

Let's dive into a scenario that's both familiar and a bit nostalgic. You're knee-deep in LEGO bricks, trying to assemble the most epic, jaw-dropping castle known to kid-kind.

But like every kid ever, you're doing it without the instruction manual.

At first, it's all fun and games. You're eyeballing what your buddies are doing, clicking pieces into place, fueled by imagination and a healthy dose of "I've got this."

But then, your LEGO behemoth starts getting complex. We're talking drawbridges, secret passages, the works. And that's when it hits you – maybe, just maybe, those instructions weren't just fancy paperweights.

This LEGO saga isn't too far off from building your startup. It's easy to fall into the "let's do it because they did it" mindset, especially when looking at the heavy hitters like Stripe.

Early on, Stripe took a path less traveled by not appointing official product managers. Instead, they had a next man up mentality to handle PM duties.

Now, this approach worked wonders, given Stripe's DNA as a developer-centric product crafted by, well, developers.

However, as Stripe began to scale and its user base started to diversify (hello, accountants and customer support reps), the need for specialized PMs became as clear as day.

The delay didn't just lead to a few operational hiccups; it brewed internal skepticism and a bit of an identity crisis about the PM role when it finally made its debut.

Stripe's journey underscores the pitfalls of waiting too long to bring in dedicated departments.

So, while it's tempting to mirror the giants, the key lesson is to adapt, not adopt. Stripe's early "no PM" badge wasn't about the absence of product management but rather a different approach to how to serve their customers.

Don't mindlessly follow others down the pit.

3. Coffee vs a Gym Membership Model?

Insight from Maxio

How do you get the most bang for your buck while ensuring your customers leave satisfied?

We have consumption-based pricing in one corner, the "pay-as-you-go" model. It's like buying coffee; you pay for what you consume. Simple, right?

But then, there's the other corner: subscription invoicing or the "all-you-can-eat" model. This is your gym membership, where you pay a flat rate regardless of usage.

Now, some brainy folks have tried to combine these models, aiming for a pricing Frankenstein that captures the best of both worlds.

Imagine a coffee shop subscription where your first ten coffees are covered in your monthly fee, but the 11th latte costs extra.

Tempting, but tricky to pull off without giving your customers a headache.

Based on a report by Maxio, breaking through the $1MM Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is a big barrier for most businesses.

The data suggested that subscription models might give you an edge, outpacing pure-play consumption models with a dazzling 33% growth.

But once you've crossed the $1MM ARR bridge, it's time to reassess. That same research shows that your pricing model should flip.

When the market's booming, consumption models soar, immediately capitalizing on the upswing. But when the tides turn, subscription models, with their predictable revenue cushion the blow of economic downturns up to a year later.

Choosing between consumption and subscription (or some alchemical mix of the two) isn't just about flipping a coin. So, what's it going to be?

The flexibility of consumption, the predictability of subscription, or the daring dance of hybrid pricing? 

4. How to automate your swipe file

Insight from Mike Cordana

To write this newsletter, I have to read 100+ articles a week about all things operations.

To keep myself organized, this is what I use. Steal this for your own use!

Every Sunday, I used to do the following:

• Review Gmail for emails labeled "swipe file".

• Open each email and decide if it should go into the swipe file.

• Manually copy and paste the email content into the Airtable swipe file database.

To get this automated, I then set this up:

• Trigger: When a new email is labeled "Swipe File" in Gmail.

• Action 1: Extract email content (subject, body text, attachments).

• Action 2: Add the extracted email content to the Airtable swipe file database.

The key data points were:

• Email subject → Airtable record ("subject line").

• Email body → Airtable record ("content").

• Email attachments → Airtable record ("attachments").

I used Zapier but I’ve heard Make is solid as well. Once you pick your tool you should:

• Create a New Automation (called a Zap in Zapier and a Scenario in Make):

• Set the Trigger: Look for the Gmail app and select the trigger event as "New Email Labeled". Specify the "Swipe File" label.

• Set the Action(s):

  • Choose Airtable as the action app.

  • Configure the action to "Create a Record" in your swipe file database.

  • Map the data points from Gmail to the corresponding fields in Airtable.

• Test the Automation: Run a test to ensure that emails labeled "Swipe File" are correctly added to your Airtable database.

By following these steps, you'll automate the task of transferring emails from Gmail to Airtable, saving time in managing your swipe file.

Something Fun

Feel free to reply with your meme; I might add yours to next week’s edition.

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