웨스 카오
Co-founder of Maven and the altMBA; writes on marketing and communication
1,100 records in all
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Episodes are real events from public sources, summarised by us.
During a job interview before starting her own company, Wes found herself giving a long, boring answer to a behavioral question. She noticed the interviewer's eyes glaze over and realized she was sharing irrelevant details.
LessonIf you feel bored by your own story, your listener is likely already disengaged.
A COO's team refused to improve confusing and ugly emails because the unsubscribe rates were 'average.' Wes advised them that they must use their own judgment and taste rather than waiting for data to confirm what they can already see.
LessonMetrics can provide a false sense of security; if your eyes tell you a product is bad, you don't need a data spike to fix it.
A talented engineering manager struggled to have a strong perspective, believing that any 'decent' idea was worth pursuing. Wes challenged this by pointing out that with finite resources, 'decent' is often not a high enough bar for a strategic bet.
LessonBeing a high performer requires the conviction to choose 'great' over 'decent' when allocating limited team resources.
Wes co-founded the altMBA with Seth Godin as one of the first successful online cohort-based courses. Within three years, they achieved a 96% completion rate with over 2,000 students globally.
LessonHigh completion rates in online education are possible through structured, cohort-based learning models.
Wes originally published her thoughts on strategic asking in March 2020 to help professionals avoid the social costs of poorly planned requests. She realized that rejection isn't just a numbers game but a result of poor targeting and framing.
LessonFounders should treat every outreach as a strategic move rather than a low-effort volume game.
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See membershipMarketing, brand and copywriting
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