1/ The lessons I learned this year will stay with me forever.
I wanted to share them here so you don't have to go through a year like this one to learn them yourself.
Here are the 5 lessons I learned from running a media company through coronavirus.
Thread 👇
I wanted to share them here so you don't have to go through a year like this one to learn them yourself.
Here are the 5 lessons I learned from running a media company through coronavirus.
Thread 👇
2/ First things first, March was fucking tough.
We shut down our annual event, which wasn't easy.
Events were a decent portion of our revenue and there were huge fixed costs.
Our revenue fell 80% month over month in March.
We weren't sure where Blockworks was going to end up.
We shut down our annual event, which wasn't easy.
Events were a decent portion of our revenue and there were huge fixed costs.
Our revenue fell 80% month over month in March.
We weren't sure where Blockworks was going to end up.
3/ On March 22, we sent this email to the team.
We outlined four main points:
1. This will be a defining moment
2. We’ll come out stronger because of this
3. We have to serve our customers better than ever and leave our ego at the door
4. This too shall pass
We outlined four main points:
1. This will be a defining moment
2. We’ll come out stronger because of this
3. We have to serve our customers better than ever and leave our ego at the door
4. This too shall pass
4/ Lesson #1 — Be transparent with your customers about what's happening. They want to support you.
We quickly got on the phone with every customer.
We were nervous for these calls, but found out that all of our customers wanted to support us!
We were all in this together.
We quickly got on the phone with every customer.
We were nervous for these calls, but found out that all of our customers wanted to support us!
We were all in this together.
5/ Lesson #2 — Cut the products that don't WOW your customers
After dozens of calls, we not only understood why our customers love us, but we found out what they didn't like.
We had multiple products that just didn’t blow our customers away.
We cut the fat and got rid of these
After dozens of calls, we not only understood why our customers love us, but we found out what they didn't like.
We had multiple products that just didn’t blow our customers away.
We cut the fat and got rid of these
6/ Lesson #3 — To move forward you have to take a step back
Mike and I knew we had to get out of the weeds in order to plan for the future.
We sat down with @themuroff and she took ownership over everything: sales, account management, operations, and so much more.
Mike and I knew we had to get out of the weeds in order to plan for the future.
We sat down with @themuroff and she took ownership over everything: sales, account management, operations, and so much more.
7/ This enabled Mike and I to think about where we wanted Blockworks to be 5 yrs from now.
What did the market need?
What did we want to build?
What culture did we want?
We couldn’t have done this without taking a step back, and we couldn’t have taken a step back w/o Julie
What did the market need?
What did we want to build?
What culture did we want?
We couldn’t have done this without taking a step back, and we couldn’t have taken a step back w/o Julie
8/ Lesson #4 — It’s a founder's job to get info out of your head
Once Mike and I formalized the vision, we had to pass that onto others.
This meant communicating to our team and hiring stars who could execute better than we ever could.
Clear communication was key here.
Once Mike and I formalized the vision, we had to pass that onto others.
This meant communicating to our team and hiring stars who could execute better than we ever could.
Clear communication was key here.
9/ Lesson #5 — Empower your team to take action
Once everyone understood the vision, it was crucial that everyone knew they could speak up.
Most of our best ideas this year did not come from Mike nor me
They came from team members who felt empowered to speak up and take action
Once everyone understood the vision, it was crucial that everyone knew they could speak up.
Most of our best ideas this year did not come from Mike nor me
They came from team members who felt empowered to speak up and take action
10/ Today, we’re ending the year on a high note.
We’ve doubled the size of the team this month.
December was our biggest revenue month.
Q4 our largest quarter ever.
We hit our annual revenue goal.
And in less than 2 weeks, we will launch our most ambitious project to-date.
We’ve doubled the size of the team this month.
December was our biggest revenue month.
Q4 our largest quarter ever.
We hit our annual revenue goal.
And in less than 2 weeks, we will launch our most ambitious project to-date.
11/ First, I am so proud of our resilient team who stuck with us through the tough times.
We couldn’t have done this without you.
Second, the lessons I learned this year will stay with me forever.
I hope you all find them helpful.
We couldn’t have done this without you.
Second, the lessons I learned this year will stay with me forever.
I hope you all find them helpful.
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