Growth // Codex Newsletter

A Weekly Digest Dedicated To Helping You

Produce // Promote // Profit

Better // Smarter

Welcome back Rogue, this week, I woke up and deleted over 2000 words from what would’ve been this weeks issue

Tabula Rasa // translates to Blank slate (from Latin)

Tabula rasa because last night, I realized that 11 issues in, we’re finally getting the breakthroughs this Codex is intended for, while the masses are frustrated, hungry, and deflated

Some have turned into ice cold killers, some into fcuk it all dwellers, and others… others have really had their personal breakthroughs

I’m pumped

Because they’re pumped, not with “motivation” thats perishable, remember?

No, tabula fcuking rasa because I’m now hearing it from our fellow Rogue’s mouths that they’re starting to practice, get their hands dirty, take a risk a week

And they’re delivering

So this 12th issue of our Growth // Codex is dedicated to adapt, adjust, and overcoming the bullshit

If you’d like to check out, or just catch up on the previous issues, they’re now available here

Buzzwords, platitudes (cliches), that overused buzzword “mindset” won’t carry us into 2021 with something we can be proud of, if it helps you, good, use it, don’t rely on it

If it inspired you, good, use it, don’t rely on it

Reliance on that soothing feeling is how so many end up following false prophets, and boy do they profit…

Today, this week – when you see someone respond to what could be a learning moment with “it’s about mindset” ask them, “could you give an example?”

Just last week we had a workshop with an all new city funded initiative we’re spearheading (more on this later), and there was this one guy, he just couldn’t help himself, every other word, every answer he gave was this vague, buzzword, rehearsed almost script sounding jargon

We’d ask him what he thought was the reason he had so much turnover (employees leaving), his answer?

“We’re heavily committed to our culture of inclusion, we lead with a mindset that is suppose to foster collaboration”

So I asked “Could you give us an example?”

And away he went… “when we look at the mindset of a person, we want to work with those who have a growth mindset, scarcity mindset create these bottlenecks that really just throw a wrench into the whole thing, its about finding a balance”

So I, again… asked “Could you give us an example?”

I’ll spare you the boredom, he would go onto repeat just about every buzzword and even threw in some quotes to “illustrate his vision”

Needless to say, we won’t be investing more time into the self proclaimed thought leader and his “uber of __”. Like our homepage, our bio, and our tag line says, no fluff, no bs, no gurus, just creative misfits tackling bigger, more interesting problems

Speaking of, lets dig into this weeks segment on improving how we

Produce

Pro Tip:

I dabbled in crazy weight, without rap I was crazy straight, partna I’m still spending money from 88”

Dead Presidents II // JayZ

Recognize this?

William Wrigley was a hustler through and through, he listened to his customer, it’s why he kept producing what his people loved

When he set out selling Soap, he would frequently gift his customers some baking soda “it doubles the efficiency of this soap’ he’d tell them

Soon, requests for his baking soda doubled, then tripled

So, naturally (to him), it made sense to launch a baking soda variant, and just like before, with his orders, he’d give his customers a gift – this time it was gum

Soon, requests for his chewing gum doubled, then tripled

So, naturally (to him), it made sense to launch a chewing gum…

William Wrigley Jr, Heir to the Wrigley Gum company currently sits on a throne worth $2.9 Billion

And it all started with soap

From my time in the Cannabis space, I’ll also add that we can expect to see them enter that space as well with the same premise, observe, listen, ask, and launch

Replicate the process, by keeping it simple

Heard of an MVP? If no, what it means is Minimal Viable Product

Which means if you want to launch a restaurant for example, you’d start with

• A small menu
• You cook some dishes
• You’d hold 3 tastings
• 1st with say, 5 people, take their feedback and improve
• Invite them back plus 5 more, take their feedback and improve
• Invite them back plus 5 more, take their feedback, improve, and repurpose their feedback as promo material
• Launch

This list isn’t only about restaurants

Alright bitchachos, let’s move onto improving how we

Promote

Pro Tip:

“We all have access to the same information, I just know how to use it better”

“Bobby Axelrod”

• Insights
• Metrics
• Data

All very important right?

Then why are there so many folks struggling with this? Why as tech becomes easier to use, do more and more businesses fail, struggle, go belly up?

Look, it’s one thing to collect it, there’s a new SaaS (software as a service) popping up every month with the brand promise of getting you data faster and cleaner

Analyzing them – a sore spot

Thinking critically about them – a HUGE sore spot

If time and experience has taught us here at Haxx anything, it’s that a company that outsources their product and marketing ends up in a different business that they set off to

Katriel C Sarfati

Part of my work requires that I look at how people spend, why they spend, and where they spend, digital worlds have made that exceptionally fun (for me) because instead of running a test where I watch fast-forwarded foot traffic studies, I look at behavior in real-time.

On the web – someone goes from Facebook // IG to a blog post, share that blog post, then logs onto Tik Tok, responds to a few emails – maybe like a few photos along the way, adds something to their wish list on Amazon

And then is surprised when they’re shown an ad for something they had just thought about the day before

This sort of expertise has proven lucrative when consulting companies, but, exceptionally more when we launch our products, when we invest in, and start companies with others (special announcement on this next month)

For two minutes, silence all the noise out there – write down on a notepad (or your note app)

• “What problem am I solving?
• “What kind of person benefits the most from this problem being solved?”
• “Do I truly care about this problem? This person?”

We recently had a brilliant rising star start like this with their social justice program, their clients being Fortune 500 companies and their biggest problem being getting taken seriously and let in the door

This quick exercise inspired them to simplify their language, which then led them to explore their customers journey

Here’s a quick breakdown of what that looks like

 

“When would my customer look for the solution I provide?”

 

“What would cause them to have that problem?”

 

“Where would they first go to begin searching for solutions?”

 

“Why would they want to solve this problem NOW?”

 

“How could I deliver a quick win?”

The answer to those questions is what becomes your

• Sales page
• Outreach message
• Searchable terms
• Content you create
• Mission

Go ahead and apply this process to anything, a product, a service, a movement – you’ll spot the patterns

Now, for this weeks segment on improving how we

Profit

Pro Tip:

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder”

⁃ George Washington

As we speak, there have been a handful of Tech Bros who’ve left Silicon Valley, they’ve moved to places like Austin, Dallas, and most recently, Miami

As you may have seen in the previous issue, I covered a bit on the Miami side of things since having moved here in 2017/2018

Adapting to the reality of things is so essential, that those who adapt first, best, WIN.

Joe Rogan kept $13 Million which paid for his new mansion by simply changing his address, Elon Musk just got the blessing to build out his new nirvana in Texas, Jeff Bezos, Oracle, and so many others have begun their exodus from what used to be – to create what’s about to be

You can, and will too, here why, and how

A lot of history repeats itself, for a myriad of reasons we won’t get into here, those that spot the patterns – apply their skills // talent and cash in all happen to start at the end.

They look at what’s going on and ask themselves

Where does this go?

How did it go the last time?

What lessons can I take away from the previous cycle?

Growth // Haxx

We’re currently looking at very similar patterns to what our grandparents lived through from the 1930’s to the 1940’s

*Special Note: If you love reading, or audiobooks, we’re ecstatic as hell over Libby – it’s your local library, on your phone, check out Libby on the app store here *

Within that window of about 7 to 10 years, there were major shifts like the establishment of the social security, civil rights movements, how we used our money, where they spent it, housing, food, where we got that food… you see where I’m going?

*Special note: Internally, our work and research shows us in a similar cycle until about 2025*

As you read this, take look at these areas

• Food
• Housing
• Money
• Old School Trades (Plumbing, Electricians, Mechanics, etc)

Which one would your business // skills benefit the most?

If you happen to have said “I don’t know” GOOD, because if you’re not about sitting on your hands waiting to let life pass you by, you go on to Google, and you search “google trends”

You click on the link the takes you to google trends, and you enter one of those industries in the list like this

“__ Industry”

You look at what people are searching for the most

You also check out Mintel insights – we’ve added their reports to previous issues before, a robust research company that shares consumer trends

Stay tuned, next month we’re rolling out something we know many will appreciate, we started off by asking ourselves, what could a creative misfit accomplish if we set them up with a great resource to learn how to tackle one of those industries in the list above, a MacBook, some community, and hands on support?

Alright you creative misfit, thats enough for this weeks issue

Now go on, there’s much work to do, much progress to be made my friend

Here’s to escaping avg 🤟