Analogy to video games

JC's Newsletter #214

Dear friends,

Every week, I’m sharing an essay that relates to what we are building and learning at Alan. Those essays are fed by the article I’m lucky enough to read and capitalise on.

I’m going to try to be provocative in those essays to trigger a discussion with the community. Please answer, comment, and ping me!

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Building a company is sometimes akin to playing a challenging video game.

There are easier levels and more difficult ones.  When the game becomes too easy, it can get boring and we might stop playing.  Sometimes, it's necessary to retry a level once, twice, three times to succeed. We persist until we break through. 

The ones who win at the end are the ones who played again and again. They didn't  drop, they didn't go to the next video game.

In video games, there are many paths to success, and ways to solve the problems of a level. 

At Alan, from the start, we've been passing all the levels, one after the other, without ever stopping, creatively, without cheating, sometimes taking the harder path but one that creates tremendous value. 

Our growth, product differentiation, and all the challenges we face are well-known.  We have a plan that has never been clearer.  We have momentum that has never been better.  Our positioning, our team. We can be extremely proud.  

Once again, there is sometimes volatility. A plan is useful for planning.  It was Eisenhower who said, "Planning is indispensable, but plans are useless." That's exactly right. 

We need to iterate, we need to learn, and build the best company with the biggest impact: helping people be healthier and happier. 

For that, we have to play between different parameters. We cannot invest only in growth. We cannot forget the gross margin, but we also can't forget the way we get there and how we manage our operations, our cost to serve. We need to offer the best experience for members and customers. We need to innovate.

Our job is to continuously make the best decisions that optimize for those parameters, to build an extraordinary company. 

I'm counting a lot on the Alaners, on their energy level, on their extraordinary resilience to be concrete optimists. Let's boost each other. 

We are a sports team that will win the medals at the Olympics. Beating the video game's final boss, even if we create a new level each time. 

Let’s be extremely proud of that together and motivate each other to be the best version of ourselves.

Some good articles I have read this week

👉 An Interview with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters About Strategy and Execution (Stratechery)

• I find it fascinating that Netflix agreed to be distributed by cable companies and smart TVs. However, they declined Apple TV because they couldn't control the user experience and interactions. 

  • This highlights the importance of considering what frameworks we are willing to engage in distribution partnerships within and the level of control we desire to maintain, particularly over the user experience. 

  • This may be an area we need to iterate on in the future. 

• I love the point about how placing too many people or too much funding on a strategic issue for the company can actually hinder its execution. 

  • This is something I've shared in Pulse posts before: the need for teams to be as lean as possible to move quickly, even on strategic topics. 

  • The goal, ultimately, is to scale significantly but start with a small setup. 

• I was particularly impressed with their journey from starting at zero to becoming one of the largest content producers within a decade, prompting us to consider what we are capable of achieving in the next ten years.

  • Sometimes, they ventured into areas where they initially had no expertise, building substantial knowledge as they did with advertising.

  • We should not shy away from areas where we lack expertise, such as healthcare operations. 

• Similar to their shift from a "no ads" stance to launching a live product within six months, they illustrate how certain initiatives allow for bypassing standard company processes to pursue rapid exploration.

• Being extremely disciplined about having top talent in all your positions.

👉Twitter Karri Saarinen (@karrisaarinen)

• Annual planning does not work well, and we should not follow the calendar for roadmaps (which we don’t really do). 

• They plan in the spring and fall, creating summer and winter roadmaps. I like the idea!

  • It works well because in Jan the team can pick up the projects they were already working in the and finish them in Q1

• Very similar to what we are doing when we start the week on Wednesday. 

👉 Reframing Aging as a Disease (the longevity journal)

• Some good references on longevity, especially about insulin resistance 

👉 Apple and the DMC, Apple and "Or", A Reluctant Apple Apologist  (Stratechery)

• The face of app store in the next few years is going to change a lot and create new market opportunities

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