This edition is brought to you by PuddlePod

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: Whitney Wolfe Herd

Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder and CEO of Bumble, has revolutionized the online dating landscape by creating a platform that empowers women to make the first move. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Wolfe Herd's entrepreneurial spirit emerged at a young age when she sold bamboo tote bags to help areas affected by the BP oil spill. Her journey led her to become a co-founder of Tinder, but after facing challenges within the company, she decided to forge her own path. "I wanted to really go out and build a social platform for women to find respect and be treated well," Wolfe Herd explains. With unwavering determination and a vision for change, she launched Bumble in 2014, which has since grown into a multibillion-dollar company - making her the youngest self-made female billionaire at the age of 31.

Key Lessons from Whitney:

• On branding: "Anyone can replicate a product. There are lots of brilliant minds out there that know how to code, but there's unique DNA to a brand."

• On proving doubters wrong: "Cherish being underestimated. That's your superpower."

• On getting started: "Instead of jumping head first into a radical bet, ask yourself, what is a small risk that you can take on yourself to prove out an open question you have?"

Read more.

Company: Ferretti

In 1968, brothers Alessandro and Norberto Ferretti founded Ferretti in Italy, starting out as agents for the American boat brand Chris Craft. Three years later, they built their first 10-meter wooden motor-sailer under the Ferretti Nautica brand. The company expanded its range in the 1980s, launching its first motor yacht in 1982 and specializing in open, flybridge and sport-fisherman vessels. Ferretti's international growth accelerated in the 1990s through strategic acquisitions of prestigious brands like Pershing, CRN, Riva and Itama. In 2012, Chinese industrial giant Weichai Group acquired a 75% stake, ushering in a new era of expansion and innovation for the Italian yachtbuilder.

What we can learn from Ferretti:

• On branding: Ferretti has skillfully acquired and nurtured a portfolio of seven iconic luxury yacht brands, each with its own distinctive heritage, design language and customer base. This multi-brand strategy allows Ferretti to serve different market segments while benefiting from shared resources and expertise.

• On craftsmanship: Ferretti's yachts are renowned for their Italian artisanship, design and style. The company is "condemned to beauty," as Galassi puts it. "As Italians, it's in our DNA. We grew up being surrounded by beauty for generations. From the artisans to the supplier, to the furniture company, to the fabric company, there's something more – either you have it, or you don't."

• On customer service: Ferretti has built an extensive global sales and support network, with over 70 countries served, to stay close to its customers. After-sales service is a key focus, with a dedicated Ferretti Group Service University training dealers and service points worldwide to ensure owners can enjoy their yachts with complete peace of mind.

Read More.

Upgrade your life and work

Puddle Pod is a 5-week course and community to upgrade your life and work. It’s run by Michael Batko, CEO of the largest startup accelerator in Australia, Startmate, who I’m lucky to call a friend. Michael is one of the most genuine and energetic people you’ll ever meet, and PuddlePod ties in everything he’s learned as an operator.

The course has 500+ alumni with a sky-high NPS of 70. It includes two offerings:

1. Productivity course: tools, inbox, calendar, and to-do list mangement

2. AI: real exposure on how to use AI in your day-to-day, from the myriad of chat tools, to voice, and meetings software

You also get matched in a pod for accountability with four other people. Mention "ALEX BROGAN" when you sign up for 10% off.

Accelerants

High-performance tool

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High-velocity decisions

High-velocity decisions, a staple of Amazon's strategy, lean heavily on a few core principles.

First, differentiate between reversible and irreversible decisions. Reversible? Move fast, iterate. Irreversible? Pause, ponder. You operate in a business where seconds can mean millions. Jeff Bezos champions this, saying, "Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had."

Next, embrace 'disagree and commit.' Don't consensus-seek into oblivion. Time is ticking. Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, underscores this: "Speed matters in business. Plus, a high-velocity decision-making environment is more fun." When disagreement looms — and it will — voice it, challenge it, then align. Not because you capitulate, but because you calculate. Move forward, together.

Escalation isn't failure; it's strategic realignment. When teams diverge fundamentally, escalate. Not to stoke conflict, but to resolve it — swiftly, efficiently. As Bezos puts it, "If you have a good escalation process, you never have to use it." It's about having the mechanism, not the mayhem. Remember, the goal isn't just fast decisions; it's effective decisions, rapidly reached.

A trend I’m watching

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Trend: Homeschooling Goes Mainstream

The homeschooling movement is booming across the US, with rates up 51% since pre-pandemic levels according to The Washington Post. What was once a niche choice for religious families is rapidly going mainstream, with an estimated 1.9 - 2.7 million kids now learning from home. Even high-performing school districts are seeing an exodus to homeschooling.

This surge has created an entire cottage industry catering to homeschool families:

• OutSchool, a marketplace for online classes, has raised $255M to let parents build custom curricula

• Prenda helps facilitate "micro-schools" where small groups learn together under a supervisor

• Startups offering virtual tutoring, lesson planning tools, and other homeschool support services

While the motivations vary, many parents seem drawn to the flexibility and personalization that homeschooling allows. However, critics worry about quality control and social development.

Potential business opportunities:

• A "Spotify for education" subscription with curated video lessons, activities, and assessments

• Shared spaces for homeschool "pods" to meet for group learning and socialization

• Consulting to help families create optimal homeschool setups and routines

• Homeschool management software for tracking attendance, grading, etc.

Tactical reads

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> When you're thinking about brand building
How to build your startup brand by Rex Woodbury (Read it here)

> When you're playing games with luck and skill
You Bet! by Howard Marks (Read it here)

> When you need to improve your time management
Advanced time management principles: (for senior product managers & leaders) (Read it here)

> When you need a planning agent
Will AI Plan Your Next Vacation? (Read it here)

> When thinking about long-term investing
Invest for the Decades, Not the Years (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.

Cheers,

Partner Recommendation — Puddle Pod

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Puddle Pod is a 5-week course and community to upgrade your life and work. 500+ alumni have gone through it with a sky-high NPS of 70. It includes two offerings:

The Productivity course simplifies all the tools you currently use, creates time for what's most important in life - family & friends, then goes deep into Inbox, Calendar, To-do list management and hundreds more tips & tricks on how to optimise your Macbook and work life.

The AI course gives you real practical exposure on how to use AI in your day-to-day, from the myriad of chat tools, to photo, videography, voice, and meetings software all the way to finish the course by building your own AI.

If you want to upgrade your life and work, join the intimate 4-person pods as part of the cohort and mention "ALEX BROGAN" when you sign up for 10% off.

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.

Faster Than Normal is a ‘state' of being’ rather than an outcome. Outlier performance requires continuous, compounded improvement. We’re your partner on this journey.

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