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Hey — It’s Charlie.

Welcome to the latest edition of Great Startups! Here’s what’s in store:

• Selective Listening: Why Most Startups Listen to the Exactly Wrong People.

• The Silent Startup Killer: Lazy Content Marketing

• The Physics of Sales: 11 Ways You’re Breaking the Laws

• No AI, No Job: The Future Is Already Here

• Targeting Made Simple: A step-by-step guide to finding your perfect customer.

• Hidden Startup Debt: The silent killer that’s slowing growth.

Get ready to dive into these power-packed insights for founders and growth enthusiasts!

Resources

• Lazy content marketing for startup founders (LINK)

• The physics of sales and 11 signs you’ve got it backwards. (LINK)

• Your next job will require AI skills. (LINK)

• David Politis on doing whatever it takes to stay in the game (LINK)

• Sam Blond on how to generate more demand. (LINK)

ICYMI

• Nvidia reports record sales as the AI boom continues. (LINK)

• Netflix is getting into short videos with a new vertical feed for mobile. (LINK)

• Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping. (LINK)

• The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained. (LINK)

• 1X will test humanoid robots in ‘a few hundred’ homes in 2025. (LINK)

Quick Links

• Ray Dalio built a $14B empire by following core success principles that took him from humble beginnings to founding the world’s largest hedge fund.

• Iman Gadzhi and Pierre de Preux launched a SaaS and hit 7-figure ARR in 9 months by moving fast, using Iman’s audience, and solving a real problem.

• Lenny Rachitsky and Jen Abel on how to approach founder-led sales.

• Carta shares 50 slides packed with insights for founders from 45,000 startups.

• How One AI App Founder Makes $20K+ Monthly—and How You Can Too!

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Your Attention is Your Most Valuable Asset. Stop Wasting It on Noise.

Great founders don’t grow thicker skin—they build better filters. Brian Chesky literally kept two lists: VCs who said Airbnb was nuts, and hosts asking for features—and he tuned to the people closest to the problem. Treat feedback like radio frequencies: crank up users, mute non-users, and remember your feelings are loud but not always useful. The game isn’t “ignore haters” vs “listen to everyone”—it’s choosing whose pain you prioritize. Amplify real user pain over advisor hot takes, or you’ll build for applause instead of adoption.

How to apply it fast: run three filters—Proximity (who’s affected daily), Pattern (how many say it), Price (what’s the cost of being wrong). Early stage: any user signal matters; growth: chase clusters; scale: segment by user type and value. Add a “high‑consequence” lane for regulatory/safety risks so your filters don’t become blinders. Try the 3‑day bootcamp: Day 1 log and feel, Day 2 categorize and spot patterns, Day 3 act on one high‑signal item and ignore three noise items. Write your “Chesky Test” to gate decisions (e.g., “Will this help customers win?”); if no, it’s noise. (LINK)

Ok that’s it for this week, We keep refining our newsletter content, just hit reply to let us know what you think about this issue.