The New Year is two weeks underway & my 1st issue is finally shipping! I'll chalk it up to 2018 being so great and... being fashionably late ; )
This week's subject line & theme comes from a Simon Kemp post he wrote this post way the hell back in 2009. His point?
‘Safe’ serves no purpose here: messaging or creativity that takes no risks will make very little difference.
Rocking the boat may sink it but it might just get you over that next big wave & weather the storm too. Kemp gives a well-deserved shout out to Godin's post from the same year on risk/reward confusion. So how can you rock it?
I look to outsider.work's advice issue. Favorite advice?
Reveal your weaknesses.
Laugh at yourself.
Poke fun at your industry.
Collaborate with competitors.
Rocking the boat may sound wild but so does doing nothing. By nothing, that might mean reading more too. Keep on rocking!
As always thank you for reading,
Jon
Help me rock the boat: tweet this, share on LinkedIn or share on FB. Merci! 🙏
Cycling
Essential 'Grams: @jbraynard | @Cycleboredom
Chris from Cycleboredom interviews my bud John Braynard.
I'm surprised John didn't sprinkle more bathroom humor in his answers ; )
Ex-Upgrade, Vulpine and British Cycling staff form new company - BikeBiz
4Seasoncollective.
Cool to read about Rich, Bruce & Eloise!
All the best from Amsterdam!
Dirty Reiver!
The Dirty Reiver 200 (200km) and Dirty One Thirty (130km) are off-road cycling challenges based on the Gravel Grinder format found predominantly in the midwest of America.
Bonus: 2018 will see the first edition of the Dirty Reiver Gravel Expo. A display by sponsor brands and related businesses of all things gravel.
Hoping I can make it over in April for this!
Startups
The Myth of the “Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None”
“the more free time you have, the more you can use it to try stuff out and come to your own conclusions on what it is you would like to master”entropyMihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow
2017’s Best and Worst Brand Names—And 3 Naming Trends For 2018
Naming a brand is one of the most important things a company does, yet many people just go with what “feels good.”
The author developed Onym to make naming things easier. It’s open source, and they have a mailing list about names. You can subscribe here.
Competing with BigCo: 2018 Edition – Learning By Shipping
The opportunity exists because when big companies becomes successful is when collective leadership becomes most focused on maintaining success. Leadership tends to see more risk in downside of the current plan and than upside in taking on new things.
Sales & PR
International Business Development at Twona
You are...
Twona is...
You’ve Decided To Raise Your Rates - Now How Do You Tell Your Clients?
It is a tough conversation for everyone.
012: Alex Pang - Prioritizing Rest & Reflection • Hurry Slowly
downtime activates your creativity.
Radness
The Servatius Bikepacking Weekend
My bud Rob is putting on a really rad event in May. Check it out:
The Servatius Bikepacking Weekend's maiden edition will be held in May 2018. This 3-day gravel cycling event in the beautiful hills of Zuid-Limburg (NL), the Belgian Ardennes and the German Eiffel, will start at the Vrijthof in Maastricht, right in front of the Basilica of Saint Servatius. The finish will be on Maastricht's scenic Market square.