Erez Zukerman

It's a good question. So I like to read. I started with Seth Godin, who talks a lot about permission marketing and all that. Then there's this denim, this jean maker in the UK called Hiut. That's H-I-U-T. That's the company. The guy's name is David Hyatt. I'm probably mispronouncing his last name. And he's been doing some really interesting things around marketing.

It's a good question. So I like to read. I started with Seth Godin, who talks a lot about permission marketing and all that. Then there's this denim, this jean maker in the UK called Hiut. That's H-I-U-T. That's the company. The guy's name is David Hyatt. I'm probably mispronouncing his last name. And he's been doing some really interesting things around marketing.

And he wrote a book called Do Open, which is a book about email marketing. And before that, I spent years working on an email marketing product. I used to be a developer for Mad Mimi and then GoDaddy. And that kind of exposed me to the power of email marketing, which is really all the marketing we do, that one email a month. And that email carries the company in terms of like outreach, let's say.

And he wrote a book called Do Open, which is a book about email marketing. And before that, I spent years working on an email marketing product. I used to be a developer for Mad Mimi and then GoDaddy. And that kind of exposed me to the power of email marketing, which is really all the marketing we do, that one email a month. And that email carries the company in terms of like outreach, let's say.

Obviously, there's other forums like the support I mentioned, but in terms of like us telling people about what we do, it's that email. As an individual, I can be somewhat picky. Yeah. I have opinions. So a lot of our marketing practices and non-practices are me expressing my emotions productively, shall we say.

Obviously, there's other forums like the support I mentioned, but in terms of like us telling people about what we do, it's that email. As an individual, I can be somewhat picky. Yeah. I have opinions. So a lot of our marketing practices and non-practices are me expressing my emotions productively, shall we say.

Like if something makes me mad or I disagree with, like I don't love being inundated with ads. I don't love watching videos online, trying to decide if I want to buy something and not knowing if the person talking was paid to say what they're saying because not everybody discloses. So as a company, like we will never, ever, ever pay for coverage

Like if something makes me mad or I disagree with, like I don't love being inundated with ads. I don't love watching videos online, trying to decide if I want to buy something and not knowing if the person talking was paid to say what they're saying because not everybody discloses. So as a company, like we will never, ever, ever pay for coverage

Because as an individual, that decision is not informed by business considerations. It's informed by my lived experience as an individual where I want to be able to watch something online and trust this person and know... Okay, yeah, they weren't getting paid.

Because as an individual, that decision is not informed by business considerations. It's informed by my lived experience as an individual where I want to be able to watch something online and trust this person and know... Okay, yeah, they weren't getting paid.

Maybe they got the keyboard or maybe they got whatever it is they're reviewing and they're disclosing that, but at least they didn't get paid. So a lot of those decisions come from feelings. I think emotions are a valid decision-making tool, not necessarily in the moment. You shouldn't make a decision in anger. But if I'm feeling a certain way,

Maybe they got the keyboard or maybe they got whatever it is they're reviewing and they're disclosing that, but at least they didn't get paid. So a lot of those decisions come from feelings. I think emotions are a valid decision-making tool, not necessarily in the moment. You shouldn't make a decision in anger. But if I'm feeling a certain way,

I can sit with it for a while and think about it and then come up with something productive to do or not do there. I don't know if that's a good answer.

I can sit with it for a while and think about it and then come up with something productive to do or not do there. I don't know if that's a good answer.

Yeah, it's a very idiosyncratic type of business. Sure. Yeah, if you look in the newsletter we send out every month, I pick five things I liked from across the web. Those are not articles. They're usually tools, interesting resources, and I share those. And then we went and made a subscriber-only archive.

Yeah, it's a very idiosyncratic type of business. Sure. Yeah, if you look in the newsletter we send out every month, I pick five things I liked from across the web. Those are not articles. They're usually tools, interesting resources, and I share those. And then we went and made a subscriber-only archive.

And as a subscriber, it's free, but for people who are subscribed to the newsletter, and you click in and you go through – years and years of these. And for me, as the guy who found the links, it's so weird and interesting because it's like this personal archive of stuff I liked, but it's all shit. It's all out there. And it's this work that I've been building for years.

And as a subscriber, it's free, but for people who are subscribed to the newsletter, and you click in and you go through – years and years of these. And for me, as the guy who found the links, it's so weird and interesting because it's like this personal archive of stuff I liked, but it's all shit. It's all out there. And it's this work that I've been building for years.

For sure. So I had this idea, why don't we make some merch? It'll be fun to have merch, you know, to have some things that say that people can maybe wear or whatever. And I thought, oh, t-shirts. And then I went to sleep and I woke up super bored at the idea of making t-shirts. Like, really? T-shirts? And at the time, like, I'm quite into board games and, you know, tabletop and things like that.

For sure. So I had this idea, why don't we make some merch? It'll be fun to have merch, you know, to have some things that say that people can maybe wear or whatever. And I thought, oh, t-shirts. And then I went to sleep and I woke up super bored at the idea of making t-shirts. Like, really? T-shirts? And at the time, like, I'm quite into board games and, you know, tabletop and things like that.