Sameer Samat & Laura Willis & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·18 OCT 2017
When You Cut Prices, Control the Volume of the Announcement
A price cut only helps you if it doesn't teach the market that your old price was negotiable.
Topic
Comms
Memos, all-hands, and messages written for more than one audience.
26 letters · most recent first
Jamie Rosenberg & Colin Smith & Sameer Samat & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·8 AUG 2018
When A Big Customer Leaves, Defend The Ones Who Stayed
When a defector proves your platform isn't the only option, your first job is to make staying feel obviously worth it.
Mike Petrillo & Jamie Rosenberg ·Google ·3 JUN 2016
How to Preempt a Competitor Without Boxing Yourself In
A vague public commitment can steal credit for an idea while letting your rival define the price.
Dan Jackson & Colin Smith & Hiroshi Lockheimer ·Google ·9 JAN 2020
Manage the Headlines Before You Send the Email
Internal words become external weapons — pick them like a reporter will read them, because eventually one will.
[REDACTED] ·Meta ·8 NOV 2016
Pick One Number, Fund the Teams That Move It
A real priority has one metric, a budget, and a bounty for anyone who signs up to move it.
Margaret Stewart & Mark Zuckerberg & Sue Young & Nick Clegg & Monika Bickert & Naomi Gleit & Andy O'Connell ·Meta/Facebook ·12 MAY 2020
The Burden-of-Proof Trap in Product Decisions
When you require proof of harm before acting, you've already decided in favor of the risk.
Karina Newton & Monika Bickert & Elisabeth Diana ·Meta/Instagram ·10 OCT 2019
When You Can't Defend Your Product, Stop Selling It
The moment your own team says 'we are in a very bad place defending this,' that's not a PR problem — it's a product problem.
Mark Zuckerberg & [REDACTED] ·Meta (Facebook) ·9 APR 2012
Buy The Threat Before It Becomes The Competitor
When a small player is beating you on a new behavior, acquisition can be cheaper than the fight.
David Ebersman & Dan Levy ·Meta (Facebook) ·16 APR 2012
After You Buy It, Don't Break It
The cost savings will still be there in a year. The momentum won't.
Raymond Endres & Alex Schultz & Javier Olivan ·Meta/Facebook ·22 FEB 2014
When Winning Removes Your Team's Reason to Fight
If you build a team's identity around beating a rival, buying that rival creates a morale crisis, not a celebration.
[REDACTED] & Justin Osofsky & Mark Zuckerberg & Javier Olivan & David Fischer & Dan Rose & Mike Vernal & Mike Schroepfer ·Meta/Facebook ·10 JAN 2013
Deny Competitors Fuel From Your Platform
When a small revenue line helps a rival build a business that could replace you, the trade isn't close.
Jonathan Bellack & Alex Shellhammer & Suzanne Blackburn & Lara O'Reilly ·Google ·12 JUL 2016
When Your Product Rules Create Competitive Moats, Own It
The most revealing strategy documents are the ones written in real time, when someone is still figuring out what to say publicly about rules they set privately.
Chris Cox ·Meta/Facebook ·22 FEB 2011
Unbundle Before A Competitor Unbundles You
When a small competitor breaks out a feature from your app and it explodes, that's not a threat to swat — it's a signal to copy.
Anthony Levandowski & Suzy Sammons ·Uber ·28 MAR 2017
How to Split Message Control When Two Crises Hit at Once
When two fires break out at once, the fastest move is to assign one firefighter to each — and make the split explicit before the meeting starts.
Michael Rapino & Mark Campana & Irving Azoff & Peter Luukko & Eric Gardner & Brad Wavra ·Live Nation / Ticketmaster ·18 APR 2019
When Two Teams Both Have Leverage, You Need One Voice
If your sales team and your operations team are both hitting the same customer with different asks, you don't have a strategy — you have a turf war.
Tim Leiweke & Michael Rapino ·Live Nation Entertainment / Ticketmaster ·27 FEB 2021
When a Rival's Big Number Actually Means Nothing
A competitor's headline offer can look devastating until you realize it depends on an approval that will never come.
Andy Hewitt & Brian Smith & Colin Lewis & Jenny Heifetz Henault ·Live Nation Entertainment ·23 MAR 2021
Paying for Exclusion: When Access Is the Real Asset
The most valuable thing you can own isn't the venue — it's the right to keep your competitor out of it.
Michael Rapino & David Marcus & Tara Traub & Mark Yovich & Michael Wichser ·Live Nation Entertainment / Ticketmaster ·22 AUG 2022
When a Customer Calls Your Fee Structure a Problem, Listen Fast
The moment a client's manager whispers 'double dipping,' you have minutes to build a clear answer — or you have a narrative crisis.
Julie Sterling & Jonathan Bellack & Drew Bradstock & Alex Shellhammer ·Google ·11 NOV 2015
When Your Sales Team Can't Explain a Gap, You Have a Strategy Problem
If your frontline can't answer the obvious question, the problem isn't training — it's that you haven't decided what you actually believe.
Dario Amodei & Emil Michael ·Anthropic ·26 FEB 2026
How to Walk Away Without Burning the Bridge
When the other side rewrites your redlines into meaningless words, name the trick precisely — then keep the door open.
Sam Altman & Elon Musk ·OpenAI ·18 FEB 2023
How to Handle a Powerful Critic You Still Need
When a former ally attacks you in public, don't defend — pivot to asking what they'd do instead.
Mark Zuckerberg & Elon Musk ·Meta, Tesla/X ·13 DEC 2024
Warn a rival first, then ask for the meeting
The most valuable currency between competitors isn't money — it's a heads-up before the news breaks.
Eddy Cue ·Apple ·10 JAN 2013
Turn a Competitor's Weakness Into Your Positioning Strategy
When a rival's business model forces them to behave in ways users dislike, that tension is your product opportunity.
Prabhakar Raghavan ·Google ·20 JUN 2019
Measure What Rivals Are Quietly Stealing From You
If a competitor might be eating your lunch one bite at a time, build the instruments to see the bites — don't settle for gut feel.
Joan Braddi & Sundar Pichai & Sergey Brin & Jonathan Rosenberg ·Google ·7 JUN 2007
Don't Pay for Customers You Already Own
If your partner brings no real users to the deal, they aren't a partner — they're a toll booth.
Travis Kalanick ·Uber ·22 OCT 2013
The Kalanick Miami Memo Is What Happens When a Leader Writes Like the Email Is Private
The memo's existence is more instructive than its contents. The contents are the symptom; the existence is the diagnosis.