#startup #founder #sethgodin
Wes Kao has worked with Seth Godin (where she co-founded the altMBA and served as executive director), David Perell on his Write of Passage course, Professor Scott Galloway on Section4, and Morning Brew. Currently, she’s the co-founder of Maven, a cohort-based learning platform where I taught my own course. Wes is passionate about telling stories that stay true to the creator’s intentions while keeping your audience listening. In today’s episode, you will learn how to use state changes to keep your audience engaged, how to communicate more clearly by focusing on the how more than the why, how to manage up for success, and how to communicate your priorities to set a boundary. — Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/persuasive-communication-and-managing-up-wes-kao-maven-seth-godin-section4/#transcription — Where to find Wes Kao: • Website: https://www.weskao.com/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/wes_kao • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weskao/ — Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ — Thank you to our wonderful sponsors for making this episode possible: • Modern Treasury: https://www.moderntreasury.com/ • Berbix: https://www.berbix.com/start • Makelog: https://www.makelog.com/lenny — Referenced: • The Super Specific How: How to make your cohort-based course more rigorous: https://www.weskao.com/blog/super-specific-how • It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences: https://www.amazon.com/Was-Best-Sentences-Worst-Crafting/dp/158008740X • Guide to Better Business Writing (HBR Guide Series): https://www.amazon.com/HBR-Guide-Better-Business-Writing/dp/142218403X • Seth Godin’s blog: https://seths.blog/ • The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking, and Problem Solving: https://www.amazon.com/Minto-Pyramid-Principle-Writing-Thinking/dp/0960191038 • Doctor Foster: https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Foster/dp/B01DT0WQ2C • Suzy Batiz: https://www.suzybatiz.com/ • Amanda Natividad’s Marketing 201 course: https://maven.com/amandanat/content-marketing • Dr. Marily Nika’s course: https://maven.com/marily-nika/technical-product-management — In this episode, we cover: [00:00] Wes’s early career [07:08] How to land a job with Seth Godin [09:56] What makes Seth Godin stand apart [14:50] Wes’s framework for better writing: the super-specific how [18:08] Writing and teaching without the BS [21:45] State changes: how to keep your audience engaged when teaching [25:51] The data of “eyes light up” moments [29:27] What managing up can do for you [32:51] How to manage up effectively [34:17] Lenny’s template for proactive communication [36:19] The skills you need to communicate clearly through writing [43:50] How to protect your bandwidth (without having to say no to your boss) [47:32] How Lenny sets priorities and communicates them [48:24] Lightning round! — Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquires about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
Seth Godin is a legend. He’s a marketer, teacher, entrepreneur, and author of more than 20 books, including Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, and Linchpin. He also writes one of the most popular and longest-running blogs in the world (approaching publishing 10,000 in a row!) and continues to shape how we think about marketing, brand, product, and creating lasting change in the world. In our conversation, we discuss: • How to build remarkable products that spread • The four critical strategic choices that determine your future • How to develop good taste and high standards • The role of tension in great strategy • How Seth used Claude to write his newest book • Much more — Brought to you by: • DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity: https://getdx.com/lenny • Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny • Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want: https://www.useparagon.com/lenny Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seth-godins-tactics-for-building-remarkable-products Where to find Seth Godin: • Blog: http://seths.blog/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethgodin • Website: https://www.sethgodin.com Where to find Lenny: • Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com • X: https://twitter.com/lennysan • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/ In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Seth’s background (05:17) Understanding good taste and upholding high standards (08:09) Become the best at whatever you do (09:48) Seth’s journey as a product manager (14:09) What people often get wrong when building products (16:00) Building a brand in the age of AI (19:04) Using AI to enhance writing (22:40) Four critical elements for an effective strategy (27:38) The role of tension in strategy (29:15) The concept of the purple cow (33:11) "Safe is risky" (34:56) The power of systems (37:07) Better waves make better surfers (38:10) Rebranding vs. re-logoing (43:07) Empathetic leadership (44:14) Conclusion and farewell Referenced: • Seth Godin on the Tim Ferriss Show: https://tim.blog/2024/03/20/seth-godin-3/ • Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/persuasive-communication-wes-kao • Spinnaker: https://spinnaker.io • Ray Bradbury: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury • Arthur C. Clarke: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke • Isaac Asimov: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov • Roger Zelazny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny • Herbie Hancock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancock • Fahrenheit 451 (game): https://www.filfre.net/2013/09/fahrenheit-451-the-game/ • RTFM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM# • Intercom: https://www.intercom.com • Claude: https://claude.ai • ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com • Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com • Steam: https://store.steampowered.com • P.F. Flyers: https://pfflyers.com • Steve Blank’s website: https://steveblank.com • Marissa Mayer on X: https://x.com/marissamayer • Jaguar unveils new logo ahead of electric relaunch: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr0pw00n7qo • IHOP Becomes IHOb, the International House of ... Burgers: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/11/618844977/ihop-becomes-ihob-the-international-house-of-burgers • Oreo’s Super Bowl Power-Outage Tweet Was 18 Months in the Making: https://www.businessinsider.com/oreos-super-bowl-power-outage-tweet-was-18-months-in-the-making-2013-3 • Tesla’s New ‘Ludicrous Mode’ Makes the Model S a Supercar: https://www.wired.com/2015/07/teslas-new-ludicrous-mode-makes-model-s-supercar Recommended books: • This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans (Create a Strategy to Elevate Your Career, Community & Life): https://www.amazon.com/This-Strategy-Better-Elevate-Community/dp/B0D47T8S7N • Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable: https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-New-Transform-Remarkable/dp/1591843170 Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com. Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.