The Final Five Faves Friday - 28th June 2024

🛑⚠️ Welcome to the final edition of Five Faves Friday ⚠️🛑

This week, I’m sharing not five but ten of my favourite things, along with a few reflections on running a weekly newsletter.

Don't forget to sign up for my new newsletter, Attention Please.

Newsletter That I Read Every Article: Stratechery

If you work in the tech industry and don't read Stratechery, you're at a disadvantage. Ben Thompson’s newsletter offers well-thought-out analysis and insightful commentary.

My favourite articles include:

• Aggregation Theory
• What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong
• The End of the Beginning

Podcast that gives me a dopamine hit every time - Acquired 

I’ve spotlighted the Acquired podcast several times before and for good reason. Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal take listeners on a multi hour journey exploring the greatest businesses.

My favourite episodes are:

• LVMH
• TSMC
• The NBA
• Stratechery

Business book that blew my mind - The Innovator's Dilemma

I've heard this book bandied around on several podcasts and newsletters. Last week, I finally finished reading The Innovator's Dilemma and it was eye opening and thought provoking. Professor Clayton Christensen thoroughly examines the challenge that established companies face when they need to innovate in the face of emerging disruptive technologies.

In this current AI hype cycle, it’s extremely relevant and timely. 

Most impactful business advice

Talk to your customers. 

It seems so straightforward and obvious but most businesses forget to do it.

At Smokeball, we recently held our first customer advisory board and talked to customers both in person and online. Boy, was it eye opening and incredibly valuable.

YouTube show I watch the most regularly

I’ve been watching The Philip DeFranco show for over 10 years and it’s still my go to source for news. 

Best community I’ve joined - Generate - The B2B Marketing Community in ANZ

Generate is “where ANZ’s B2B marketers gather and collaborate” and I’m glad I joined last year. It’s been so helpful and fun to have a community to geek out on B2B marketing. 

Best purchase I’ve made - Hoka shoes

I first remember seeing Hoka shoes on TikTok a few years ago. The specific video was a doctor asking his colleagues what shoe they wore and Hoka was the clear favourite.

I decided to purchase a pair of the Men's Hoka Clifton 9 and wow. No cap, it actually feels like you’re walking on a cloud.

Best experience I’ve had this year - Meeting my favourite YouTubers

Meeting my favourite YouTubers in real life still feels like a fever dream. Back in April, I hung out with Illy and Lean, and showed them around Sydney for a day.

Check out the video of my outing below! FYI the video is completely in Mandarin.

They even sent me photos all the way from Taiwan.

Best restaurant I’ve dined at so far - Kam’s Roast Goose

When I visited Hong Kong earlier this year, I knew I had to dine at Kam’s Roast Goose. I actually visited this affordable Michelin starred restaurant 8 years ago and it was just as delicious this time round.

Be warned, you will have to wait in line, especially during peak hours but the succulent, rich roasted goose is worth it.

Writing advice I keep returning to

Five thoughts on running a weekly newsletter

1. Not your email, not your audience. This is mostly my fault as I picked LinkedIn as my newsletter platform and they do not provide the emails of my subscribers.
2. A curation newsletter is "easy" to write but harder to grow.
3. Niche down. In hindsight, it would have been better to focus on a specific niche, say AI or marketing for this newsletter.
4. Hot takes. I realised that what I enjoy most is writing hot takes. This is one of the reasons I'm launching Attention Please.
5. Writing helps clarify your thinking.

Thanks for reading the final edition of Five Faves Friday. Don't forget to sign up for my new newsletter, Attention Please!