Horses for Courses
Nags, Hacks and Growth
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Good Lord, I see my good fortune in all these horses
I'm driving too fast to stop, so all these signs, I ignore them
- ‘90210’ by Travis Scott
Over a thousand years ago, in a part of London called Hackney, a particular breed of horse was bred.
These horses were originally known as nags but soon came to be called by the name of the piece of land they came from: Hackney.
Hackney nags were general purpose horses, work horses. They were mainly used for riding about town. They were not the high quality horses used in hunting or war.
They were most definitely not the horses that the Royal family rode around on with great flair (as a week of binge-watching of The Crown has taught me!).
Eventually, it was these horses that were often used to pull carriages—the sort that were used to transport people from place to place.
Even after London, and Hackney, was paved over and built up, the horse-and-carriages were the equivalent of taxis and the drivers came to be known as hackney drivers, then just “hacks” for short.
The hackneys were hired on the street—they were not owned by nice families. In other words, they were commonplace, ordinary and for-hire.
In the 18th century, people who did work for hire, such as writers, came to be known as ‘hack-writer’ or ‘hack-profession’. Hack work was seen to be laborious, tedious, unrefined.
Why Should You Care?
In the world that myself and Pete operate in (the overlap of technology and finance), we often come across the word ‘hack’ and it often has both positive and negative connotations.
In most cases, a “hack” is a clever kind of shortcut that can get you better results, faster.
We are often working with companies on how they can ‘hack’ growth and scale and which ‘hacks’ they can focus on.
A simple Google search throws up a list of examples of ways to ‘hack’ your growth and gain users/customers:
Pre-Launch Email List
Launch on Product Hunt
Leverage Referral Marketing
Make New Brand Partnerships
Attend Community Events
Leverage Adjacent Markets
Build a Social Media Community
Follow Your Competitors
Create an Aggressive Content Strategy
Do Guest Posting
Work with Influencers
Get yourself onto our podcast (shameless plug!)
etc
Any number of these, or other, strategies could work for your business.
Do the research and identify which ones could work best for you. Don’t be afraid to try out different types of hacks until you figure out what works for you and your company.
Hackney nags were not the best horse for every occasion but they solved a specific need.
Hacks can be your best friend if you find the right one.
Horses for courses as they say.
Tell me why I’m wrong…
- Eoin
Left Field
How do I describe ‘Left Field’? It’s a place to put the content (newsletters/articles, etc) that we have amassed over recent weeks or previous years that really make us think or change our thinking on a particular topic. All the content will offer an alternative view of some topic in financial services, technology or sport (or a combination of all three!)
This is a fascinating blog post from Paul Graham (one of the founders of Y Combinator) where he argues that the more charismatic candidate has won every presidential election since 1964. The reason for this….Television, which rewards a different kind of presidential candidate.
Anyway, I won’t give away too much. Enjoy the article and feel free to get in touch to discuss more!
- Eoin
Can’t Sleep?
MoneyNeverSleeps podcast episode from this week:
Pete Townsend and Eoin Fitzgerald take a look at Dalio vs. Druckenmiller on Bitcoin, how angels invest in startups, Tinkoff Bank and the 'Rundle', and Airbnb vs. Ant Financial in the Battle of IPOs.
Podcast Recommendation: Highly recommend checking out ‘My First Million’ where Sam Parr and Shaan Puri brainstorm new business ideas based on trends & opportunities we see in the market.
Book Recommendation: I highly recommend the book, ‘Too Big to Fail: Inside the Battle to Save Wall Street’ by the excellent Andrew Ross Sorkin. It is one of the best, and most detailed, accounts of the financial crisis.
This newsletter has been written by Eoin Fitzgerald and Pete Townsend
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