Every thing new is some thing old. 5000 years ago, children in cities of the Indus Valley Civilization played a game called Pithu Garam. Made by broken terra cotta utensils and a ball made of old cloth strips. 5k years on whilst we move to 5G we still have fun the good old fashion way. Today not played from broken terra cotta but stones and broken pots. Old plant pots or stones can provide this much entertainment gives us the view that simple things can result in fun/positive outcomes. We have to think away from complicated things to bring pleasure or happiness. A key milestone is when you un-bundle happiness from expensive or complex. To win big you have to find joy in the small. Like small data, gratitude in small doses over time results in better outcomes.

For more details on the original content, link here.

Outcomes

My favorite thing in the world to ask young professionals is "What is the worst thing you think that can happen when you ask some one to do some thing for you". People have varying degrees of answers and most are reflective of their internal state vs true outcomes. I tell them that the worst possible answer is a "No". If you can program your self to handle the no, use it as a force multiplier and try harder then you will win. I read a brilliant thread on how ones outcomes can change if one tries. This is what happens when you don't give up. I wish you have similar outcomes in life.

One New Thing (That I Learnt today)

That Norway post was founded in January 17, 1647 . That boggles the mind. They have captured their heritage and future in a fantastic online ad.It has been around long enough to see changes in everything from the country’s rulers to methods of delivery. Celebrating a legacy so impactful requires taking a look back in time.

In a direct reference to the 1994 movie Forrest Gump, the video kicks off with a charmingly naïve postman sitting on a park bench next to an apparent stranger. A letter arrives at his feet and he observes,

Video here. (Scroll down the article, its worth the watch)

Boring stuff that Scales

Getting people to engage. Especially online.

Use this strategy

1. Just arrived!

2. Our new collection is here!

3. Show items

4. Get a [X%] discount if you order our collection bundle now

5. CTA to check out the entire collection

6. Create an urgency, urgency wins, the best model is hotel reservations sites displaying "this hotel has limited rooms left at this rate, book now"

7. Value is every thing and price is nothing, if people see you are giving value they will appreciate the price no matter what the product

8. Premium clubs or first-in-line strategies do well for most products

9. Limited stock and merch drops do well too that drive dopamine hits(I wrote an entire blog post on the subject that you can read up on)

10. Let your audiences find you by enabling vs you finding and targeting all audiences and the wrong audiences. Heres a fantastic read on the subject on target audiences.

What you should be watching/reading

The headlines that are emerging from Pakistan on the tech and funding space. Why? Because it will give you insights into what ancillary industries will likely flourish as an outcome of cash being spent in primary ones.

Some examples:

With fast delivery startups or the b2b ones:, look at the products and services they use:

1)Bikes & Vehicles

2) Carrier bags

3)Uniforms

4)Boards + signs

5)Training facilities

6)Setting up customer support

7)Pick pack and interfacing with local merchants & partnerships

8) Cell phones and data plans

9)Cash management & handling

10)Returns and cold chain

11) Bulk sms + data plan needs

This is just one example but could you as a startup or potential startup, service the above needs? Can you build an on-ramp service for other startups coming to market? Can you service the existing players? Can you build a service, to service the needs for people scaling in Pakistan? You could be, if you paid attention to the news and tried to list down and break down the services of others. You could build your own "new service delivery business". It pays to be attentive.

Monetize your time

We need to start seeing the Rich for what they are, community builders and enablers vs a curse. The tone of the conversation has to change for us to benefit from it. For us to progress we cant treat them as a derogatory thing. It would benefit us to figure out how they got rich and do even better than them, it is possible. In most cases there is no hidden truth to their success. Every billionaire is backed via a community of millionaires or better. Focus your time around the millionaires and figure out how to service them so that you rise to that level. Even the not so appetizing Billionaires create multiple millionaires on the way. Billionaires already figured out what we in the internet age are figuring out today "community". Communities are king, figure out how to break into it. This is how you should be monetizing your time vs hating on the billionaires. There are no shortcuts. Do not waste your time on elaborate shortcuts.

Made in Pakistan (Things that we aren't exporting-yet)

Agriculture products and by-products that go to waste.

About, 50% of the agricultural products are wasted in Pakistan due to unavailability of sufficient cold chain, logistics and processing facilities.

Pick a product any product that you can source and see how much of it are really exporting and can you process, package, certify and export it. Start here https://oec.world/. Look at trade data, identify the gaps and get started, no you do not need to build a tech company, you need to get started and pick the lowest hanging fruit(literally and figuratively) and get in to the export value chain. If you want a detailed perspective, read this to get started.

One Last Thing