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Good morning to all new and old readers! Here is your Wednesday edition of Faster Than Normal, exploring one short story about a person, a company, a high-performance tool, a trend I’m watching closely, and curated media to help you build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself. 

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Today’s edition:

Cheers,
Alex

P.S. Send me feedback on how we can improve. I respond to every email.

Stories of Excellence

Person: Danny Meyer

Danny Meyer, the renowned restaurateur and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, has revolutionized the dining industry with his unwavering commitment to hospitality and employee empowerment. Born in 1958 in St. Louis, Missouri, Meyer's passion for food and service led him to open his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe, in 1985, setting the stage for a culinary empire built on the principles of excellence, innovation, and generosity.

Key Lessons from Danny Meyer:

• On hospitality: "Service is delivering on your promise. Hospitality is making people feel good while you're delivering on that promise."

• On leadership: "Leadership is about being a servant first and a leader second."

• On purpose: "Whoever wrote the rule that work has to be serious was missing the point. The workplace should be fun."

Read More.

Company: Survey Monkey

SurveyMonkey, the online survey giant, was founded in 1999 by Ryan Finley - then a 21-year-old University of Wisconsin student. Frustrated by the lack of affordable tools to conduct online surveys for his research, Finley coded the first version of SurveyMonkey himself. He launched it as a part-time project, charging $20 per month. Word spread and by 2009, without any outside funding, SurveyMonkey hit $30M in revenue. That year, Dave Goldberg came on as CEO, leading the company through a decade of explosive growth - reaching 25 million users and a $2 billion valuation. Tragically, Goldberg passed away in 2015, but his legacy lives on in SurveyMonkey's culture of curiosity and customer obsession.

Key Lessons from SurveyMonkey:

• On branding: SurveyMonkey's quirky name, chosen on a whim by Finley, helped the company stand out in a sea of bland B2B software. "It's a real asset for us," Goldberg said of the memorable moniker.

• On hiring: "We hire people who are curious, who ask questions, who use data to make decisions," said Goldberg. This data-driven mindset permeates the company culture.

• On customer acquisition: SurveyMonkey grew largely through word-of-mouth in the early days. "Our customers became our marketing department," Finley recalled. The self-serve, low-friction model fueled viral growth.

• On competition: While SurveyMonkey faces rivals like Qualtrics and Google Forms, its brand recognition and ease of use give it an edge. "We want to be the first thing people think of when they need to get answers," said Finley.

Read More.

How to start an affiliate marketing program for SaaS:

1. Target audience: define your ideal affiliate profile

2. Software: focus on ease of setup and fraud detection features

3. Incentive: offer competitive and sustainable commission structures

Read the step-by-step guide.

Accelerants

High-performance tool

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SignFree

Every few weeks, I’ll share a tool or hack I’ve been trying that’s improved some aspect of my life. I have no affiliation with these and will always clearly share when that’s false.

This week, it’s SignFree for document signing. SignFree lets you upload a document, draw your signature with a mouse or trackpad, add printed text if necessary, and download the results.

The service is free, with optional subscriptions for extra features. It's a great replacement or alternative for more expensive competitors.

A trend I’m watching

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Drones are poised to revolutionize last-mile logistics, offering faster, cheaper, and more eco-friendly delivery options. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, and UPS are investing heavily in drone delivery, with Walmart completing over 6,000 drone deliveries in 2022 alone[16]. Drones can bypass traffic congestion, access remote areas, and deliver within 30 minutes. While challenges like regulations and public acceptance remain, the global drone logistics market is expected to reach $31.84 billion by 2028.

Some promising business opportunities in the drone delivery space include:

• Specialized drone delivery services for urgent items like medication, leveraging the speed advantage of drones. Zipline is already delivering blood and medical supplies in Africa.

• Drone delivery platforms that connect retailers with a network of drone operators, similar to how Uber Eats connects restaurants and drivers. Flytrex and Manna are early leaders here.

• Drone infrastructure solutions like charging stations, drone ports, and air traffic control systems. As drone delivery scales, an entire supporting ecosystem will be needed.

Read More.

Tactical reads

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> When you need to assess your own leadership
Lead, Follow or Get the Fuck Out of the Way (Read it here)

> When investing in consumer products
The reality of consumer products (Read it here)

> When you need to organise your digital information
The PARA Method: A Universal System for Organizing Digital Information (Read it here)

> When understanding healthcare
The State of Healthcare and Medicine (Read it here)

> When improving personal finance method
Assorted tips on personal finance for the modern age (Read it here)

1 question

That’s all for today, folks. As always, please give me your feedback. Which section is your favourite? What do you want to see more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.

Have a wonderful rest of week, all.

Recommendation Zone

⎯

Hire remote employees with confidence

Two years ago, I hired an offshore assistant for the first time. Since then, I’ve recommended many people do the same. It’s been one of the highest leverage things I’ve done, helping with everything marketing and customer support (for The Intelligence Age) and personal matters and email management.

Athyna is a service that quickly (<5 days!) finds remote employees across 150+ countries for you or your team. They cover roles from sales and marketing to creative and product, and have worked with companies like Facebook, Zoom, Uber, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Amazon.

I’ve personally used Athyna and recommended them to my Brother, Will, who runs a fashion label, and several close friends running their own businesses. To date, they’ve all had very positive experiences.

If you’re in the market for talent, visit their website to explore options and cover all your hiring needs.

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Alex Brogan

Find me on X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok

Offshore Talent: Where to find the best offshore talent. Powered by Athyna.

Why Faster Than Normal? Our mission is to be a friend to the ambitious, a mentor to the becoming, and a partner to the bold. We achieve this by sharing the stories, ideas, and frameworks of the world's most prolific people and companies—and how you can apply them to build businesses, wealth, and the most important asset of all: yourself.

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