We’re newsfeed drunk as readers. We’ve got good at spotting ads. The moment an article looks like an

3 min readDec 10, 2020

Yes, Jan Koum referred to his time at Yahoo as a prison sentence. It makes sense: back when Koum had a Linkedin profile, his last three years at the company were described as “did some work.”

They look at newer platforms like Substack. They research it. They are curious about what might be possible. They don’t dismiss tools that haven’t worked for them as never working for them in the future.

International calls were also ridiculously expensive in 2007, so when Koum quit his job at Yahoo! and decided to travel the world, he wasn’t exactly fond of spending thousands on phone bills just to connect with friends abroad. He had an idea.Jan didn’t fit into the Silicon Valley culture. Born and raised in a Communist Ukraine village, Jan moved to Mountain View with his mother at the age of 16. He never really understood the light-minded nature of U.S. school friendships. “In Russia, you really get to know a person,” he said.“He was very no-nonsense, like ‘What are your policies here; What are you doing here?’” Other Ernst & Young people were using “touchy-feely” tactics like gifting bottles of wine. “Whatever,” says Brian Acton. “Let’s cut to the chase.”

That used to be Argentina’s telephone code formula for mobile calls. If you were in Argentina, and you wanted to call your mom back in the States, you had to solve this little equation every time.

They syndicate their content to other publications who help them grow their audience further and allow them to place a link at the end of their article, which leads readers back to their email list.

Other writers are often better at building an audience than you are. You can make it a habit to reach out to other writers and ask them questions. Tell them how you build your audience in return.
Acton, Yahoo’s employee forty-four, loved Koum’s ‘no-bs’ approach, and helped him get a job at the company. Over the next 9 years, the two would regularly play ultimate Frisbee together. They didn’t yet know they were about to create a $19 billion app.
I often joke that there is a 100 person team behind every one of my blog posts. If you could see all the people behind the scenes who help me generate ideas, refine my work, promote my work, and take the time to read my work, you would be surprised.

We’re newsfeed drunk as readers. We’ve got good at spotting ads. The moment an article looks like an

Written by Ravindra Amarakeerthi Kottahachchi