Work in and on the business
August 23, 2024newsletter
Hi there,
I'm starting a regular newsletter! My goal with this newsletter is to give you insight into how I operate while building a long term, independent, profitable business with big ambitions.
I'm Joel Gascoigne, Founder CEO of Buffer. Buffer is a freemium SaaS tool which helps creators, entrepreneurs, professionals and small businesses to grow and build community on social media.
Read on for my most-discussed recent social posts, links I saved recently, highlights from a couple of interviews I watched, the latest at Buffer, something that’s been on my mind, and a general personal update.
If anything resonates for you in this newsletter, or you have a specific thought or question on something I've included, don’t hesitate to hit reply and say hello.
And if this isn’t for you, unsubscribe anytime with the link at the bottom of the email.
💬 My most-discussed posts
Something you may not know about Buffer:
We've raised just $4M in total funding over our almost 14-year journey, and generated over $170M in total lifetime revenue. Our last round was almost a decade ago in 2014.
… view full post: LinkedIn • Threads • 𝕏 • Bluesky • Mastodon
My personal opinion: once you see a business offering incentives for customer research (e.g. a starbucks voucher), it's a sign that a few things have gone wrong. And ironically, it likely means they're not very good at genuinely listening to customers.
I've found that there are much better ways to drive engagement and excitement to connect with us as a business, than gift cards or financial rewards. For this reason, at Buffer we have generally not offered any of these sorts of incentives for providing feedback.
… view full post: LinkedIn • Threads • 𝕏 • Bluesky • Mastodon
It’s a good idea to aim to progress in other dimensions of life throughout the duration building a company.
I have a belief that while working on a company, in my case Buffer, you should be progressing in other dimensions of your life. Generally, any sort of progress is not linear. Meaning that sometimes you’re going through a flat patch, sometimes you’re seeing significant growth and progress, and other times you’re even declining or going backwards.
… view full post: LinkedIn • Threads • 𝕏 • Bluesky • Mastodon
🔗 Links I saved recently
1.0 Is the Loneliest Number
→ I recently rediscovered this almost 14 year old article, which had a profound impact for me when I was starting out building Buffer. I've never forgotten the line "Usage is like oxygen for ideas", and often refer to it when talking about the importance of not going too long building before releasing and getting input.
Changing My Approach to Meetings to Take Back Control of My Attention
→ I've been reflecting on how I can approach meetings with my direct reports, various teams and groups at Buffer, and individuals with snowmelt meetings. These thoughts and conclusions from Albert Wenger were helpful for me as I consider how to balance synchronous time alongside reflection and writing time.
Worse, but unique
→ We're in the midst of strategy discussions and putting together our roadmap for the rest of 2024 and into 2025. This article cemented my conviction to play on our own terms and focus on being unique rather than trying to do everything.
📚 What I’ve highlighted recently
The culture I’m trying to create is one where every year when we celebrate another record result, I get up on the beer box and I say, “Thank you for doing all of the things I never asked you to do.” I don’t want to control. I want to create context. I want to create clarity of culture and strategic choice, but then I want people to surprise me. I don’t want a place where people are doing what they’ve been told to do, because that stifles, that creates bureaucracy, that creates fear.
– Jørgen Vig Knudstorp in At LEGO, Growth and Culture Are Not Kid Stuff
If you're going to do something that's weird, and potentially disadvantageous in some ways, then find the inverse way to leverage it and make it an advantage
– Tom Preston-Werner in an interview with Bryce Roberts (29:00)
👨🏻💻 New and noteworthy at Buffer
We added Bluesky to Buffer! Bluesky is an important new social network pushing forward an era of decentralized social media. Bluesky puts a focus on individuals maintaining ownership over their content, the connection to their audience, and control over the algorithm and experience. With Buffer, you can easily add Bluesky to the networks you're participating in. Bluesky is a special place, so I encourage you give it a try.
→ Learn more and get started
🧠 Something that’s been on my mind
I've been reflecting on working in, vs working on the business. Many will advise you to get out of the business, and work "on the business" instead of "in the business".
My experience of achieving the best outcomes has been different. No doubt, you need to ensure you are spending enough time working on the business at a higher level, setting the vision and strategy, and spotting new opportunities. But I've found the best way to do that is to be in the business enough to have the context to arrive at great high level conclusions and decisions.
The times when I fully stepped out of the business and attempted to mostly work "on the business", were the times that I had the worst ideas and the least clear strategy. Those were the times the team felt the most disconnected from me, and I lost a strong institution on the best initiatives to move the company forward. And those were also the times I lost my passion for the work we were doing.
These days, I've arrived at a very blended approach to leading Buffer. I work in, and on, the business. And in fact, in recent years I've really sunk back into the business and work very actively with every team. It's the best way I've found stay connected to the details, have that context to arrive at strong strategic decisions, and maintain my passion for what we're doing.
🙋🏻♂️ A general update from me
Our toddler Milo started back at his Montessori school this week. They do a gradual ramp up week especially for the younger kids. On Monday we accompanied him to meet his new teachers 1:1 for 30 minutes. And then he ramped up with 1 hour on Wednesday, a half day on Thursday, and his first full day on Friday. I love how thoughtful his school is, and in general the Montessori approach is, in helping kids thrive. He would have certainly struggled with the transition to new teachers and friends if he was abruptly attending for full days. It has made things tricky for us to juggle as parents who both have their own businesses to run too. We're looking forward to having more of a routine again as we get back into the school year flow.
This weekend my wife celebrates one year since she opened her cafe in Boulder. It's been very inspiring to watch her go all-in on a dream and observe her in her element providing wonderful hospitality. She's been putting together some exclusive celebration menu items and decorations. It has also been a time of reflection on the first year of business. If you're in or around Boulder, Colorado, we'd love for you to stop by Creature Comforts Cafe to say hello and enjoy the festivities. See the Instagram account for all the details.
Have a great weekend,
– Joel