Crashing Up - K(no)w Board, Crisis Management & Command E
Welcome to all of the new Crashing Up family members who’ve joined since Monday. If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed, make sure to do so here.
Hi friends,
Greetings from New York! It’s officially March and Spring is in the air. Vaccinations are up, positive cases are down, and the Knicks are sitting at over .500 35 games into the season for the first time since 2013. Life is good.
Here’s what I have to share this week:
I spent this weekend creating my K(no)w Board, a better version (imo) of a vision board. If you want to learn more, I wrote a blog post about the idea behind the K(no)w Board.
Next week I’ll be releasing my interview with Mindy Zemrak, Supervising Casting Director for Shark Tank. She’s a ball of energy, which made for a great interview. I’m excited for you to hear it. If you haven’t checked out last week’s episode with Taylor Offer, founder of Feat Clothing, you can catch up through the links below.
Now for the fun stuff. Here’s a weekly collection of things that I’ve been learning from or enjoying recently.
📕What I’ve Been Reading:
In fashion, exclusivity sells. If an item is limited, people will buy it regardless of the aesthetic or functional appeal. Brands like Supreme have built their fortune upon this idea with weekly limited drops that garner insane secondary resale prices. But as society continues to champion inclusivity, new incumbents are starting to eat their lunch. The most well-known is Madhappy, a streetwear brand with a purpose and ambition to use its clothing as a means to spread its message to the masses. Initially started by a group of college students in 2017, it has quickly become one of the hottest brands in the world earning itself LVMH’s first investment in the streetwear space. In his article, A Tale of Two Streets: Supreme vs. Madhappy, Jerry Lu does an amazing job breaking down Madhappy’s business model and outlining whats expected to be the blueprint for streetwear brands of the future.
📺What I’ve Been Watching:
Note to founders: Before you spend thousands of dollars on an agency to create your video content, seek out hungry college students (or even teenagers). The price for quality is unmatched.
🔥Crisis Management 101
Reputation is built in years, and lost in seconds. Since 2015, Web Smith has grown 2PM into one of the top DTC-focused media companies on the internet. He’s generated millions of dollars in revenue, advised and invested in dozens of successful startups, and built up a powerful paid community of senior media and advertising leaders. Last week, due to an uncontrollable third-party software glitch, all of the goodwill Web had built with current and future customers was put in jeopardy. The error is estimated to have cost the company over $70,000 in short-term and nearly $1 million in long-term revenues.
As a founder, you need to take responsibility for every problem. Even if it isn’t your fault. Web’s response, which he addressed over Twitter and in this open letter is a perfect example of how to lead in crisis. It’s honest, shows sincere humility, and shines light on how low the lows of entrepreneurship can be.
✍️Write by Example:
An easy way to lose credibility fast is to use a word or phrase confidently and incorrectly, so here’s a writing tip to help you in your next email or blog post (h/t Tina Donati).
E.g. and I.e. are frequently used when introducing examples, but what’s the difference?
E.g. stands for "exempli gratia" in Latin, meaning "for example." I.e. stands for "id est," meaning "in other words." The best way to remember it?
E.g. = Example Given
I.e. = In Essence or AKA
🧰Tool of the Week:
Calling all remote workers!
Command E is an application that lets you search through all of your cloud-based files and documents at once with a quick keyboard shortcut (yup, you guessed it). Slack, Google Drive & Calendar, Teams, Figma, Asana, Spotify. You name it, you can search it all in one place.
Most of my waking hours are spent using a combination of Slack, Google Drive, Asana, and Dropbox. Around half of these hours are spent sifting through hundreds of digital folders and chat records just to find the files themselves. So when I found Command E, I had a Rihanna moment. Hopefully this brings you the same joy it’s brought me.
That’s it for this week. I welcome any feedback you have and would appreciate if you clicked one of the links below to let me know how you felt about today’s edition. If you enjoyed it, I’d love if you passed it along to your most ambitious business minded friends.
Until next time,
Randy