Reference

Information we’ve gathered that may be useful later. Not our own work — things we’ve learned from elsewhere. 116 docs across the categories below, plus 6 concept articles.

Concepts (6)

Cross-cutting themes that appear across multiple reference docs.

• Growth Loops — Compounding growth through loops, not funnels
• Analytics as Craft — Analytics as an irreducibly complex discipline with its own professional identity
• Open Knowledge Sharing — Knowledge compounds faster when shared openly
• Systems Over Goals — Build the machine; let the machine produce the outcomes
• Skills as Building Blocks — Atomic reusable skills composed into larger capabilities
• Compounding Knowledge — Every interaction improves the knowledge base

Growth & Reforge (18)

Strategy, growth models, loops, retention, monetization, and experimentation — primarily from Reforge coursework and Brian Balfour’s writing.

• Growth Loops Are the New Funnels — Loops compound; funnels leak
• Racecar Growth Framework — Engines, turbo boosts, lubricants, and fuel
• Reforge: Acquisition Loops — Viral, content, and paid loop mechanics
• Casual Contact Viral Loops — Ambient product exposure as growth loop
• Reforge: Growth Models — Quantifying loops into simulation models
• Reforge: Retention Is the Output — Retention as the multiplier on every loop
• Reforge: Retention Measurement — How to measure and analyze retention
• Reforge: Engagement & Activation — Activations, engagement loops, three moments
• Activations: Three Moments — Setup, aha, and habit moments
• Reforge: Defining Strategy — Strategy as a system for saying no
• Reforge: Why Growth Wins — The case for growth as a strategic discipline
• Four Fits Framework — Product, channel, model, and market fit
• Model-Channel Fit — Monetization model constrains viable channels
• Reforge: Monetization Strategy — Pricing and packaging for growth
• Reforge: Monetization & Defensibility — Monetization as competitive moat
• Reforge: Hidden Freemium Advantage — When free tiers drive compounding growth
• Reforge: Experimentation Foundations — Strategic experimentation systems
• Reforge: Strategic Experimentation — Strategic vs. ad hoc experimentation
• Five Myths of Experimentation — Common experimentation misconceptions
• Reforge: Why Analytics Efforts Fail — Four symptoms and five root causes
• Scaling Data-Informed to Data-Led — Organizational data maturity progression
• Data Wheel of Death — The cycle of bad data practices

Data Engineering & Analytics (28)

The analytics profession, data infrastructure, tooling, and organizational data challenges.

• Analytics Is a Profession — Tristan Handy on professionalization
• Analytics at a Crossroads — Benn Stancil on the state of analytics
• Analytics Is a Mess — Embracing the exploratory phase
• Analytics Engineering Everywhere — Jason Ganz on the expanding scope
• The Missing Analytics Executive — Why analytics lacks C-suite representation
• Data’s Big Whiff — Elevating ad hoc analysis over dashboards
• Data Cleaning Is Analysis — Randy Au reframes cleaning as craft
• Data Challenge Is Organizational — Four principles of scaling data orgs
• Data Maturity: Processes & Tools — Maturity models for data teams
• Data Product Taxonomy — Anna Filippova on data product types
• Data Products Taxonomy — Eric Weber on product classification
• Data Team ROI & Advocacy — Making the case for data team value
• Recipe for Data Intuition — Building analytical judgment
• Good vs. Bad Data Scientist — Craft distinction in practice
• Selling Data Science — Vicki Boykis on making DS visible
• Ghosts in the Data — Hidden biases in datasets
• Data Science for Business — Provost & Fawcett textbook notes
• The Data Warehouse Toolkit — Kimball dimensional modeling
• Downfall of the Data Engineer — Pipeline constipation and silos
• Combining Rule Engines & ML — When rules beat models
• Feature Stores Hierarchy — Eugene Yan on feature store patterns
• Hands-On Machine Learning — Geron textbook notes
• Uber Data Culture — Five principles of data culture at scale
• Snowflake at DoorDash — Scaling Snowflake for rapid growth
• Netlify: Databricks to Snowflake — Migration case study
• Sharing Data Insights Playbook — Making analytical work visible
• DevOps & Modern Data Experience — Tristan Handy on data DevOps
• Macroeconomics of the Data Industry — Industry-level trends
• Headless BI — Decoupling semantic layer from visualization
• Gerrymandering the Modern Data Stack — Benn Stancil on stack politics
• Future of Operational Analytics — Benn Stancil on operationalizing data
• Great Data Debate (a16z) — Industry panel on data infrastructure
• Giving More Tools to Engineers — Erik Bernhardsson on tooling
• Magic of Small Databases — Tom Critchlow on publishable datasets
• Management Is Prediction (SPC) — Statistical process control for management
• Superforecasting Framework — Applied forecasting mental models
• 3Ms of Comprehension — Mysterious to Miraculous framework

Business & Entrepreneurship (22)

Pricing, wealth creation, business models, leadership, and company building.

• Company of One — Intentional smallness as strategy
• The E-Myth Revisited — Build the franchise prototype
• Great Game of Business — Open-book management
• Profit First — Allocate profit first, constrain spending
• Ladders of Wealth Creation — Nathan Barry’s progression model
• Naval: How to Get Rich — Specific knowledge, leverage, compounding
• 1,000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly on creator economics
• B2B SaaS Pricing Masterclass — ChartMogul pricing analysis
• How to Run a Pricing Project — Kyle Poyar’s pricing guide
• Usage-Based Pricing 2.0 — OpenView on consumption models
• How to Calculate CAC — Andrew Chen on acquisition costs
• SaaS Metrics That Matter — David Sacks on key metrics
• Nathan Barry on SaaS & Profit Sharing — ConvertKit scaling lessons
• Fifth Source of Capital — Ray Deck on alternative funding
• Double Your Freelancing — Brennan Dunn’s consulting framework
• Peacetime/Wartime CEO — Ben Horowitz on leadership modes
• Engineer/Manager Pendulum — Charity Majors on career oscillation
• Coinbase Decision Framework — Systematic organizational decisions
• Career Cold Start Algorithm — Boz’s onboarding algorithm
• SMEAC — Military briefing framework for ops
• How This All Happened — Morgan Housel on postwar economics
• Where Did the Future Go? — Erik Torenberg on stalled progress

Content Creation & Writing (12)

Newsletter strategy, writing process, creator economy, and audience building.

• Part-Time Creator Manifesto — swyx on side-project superiority
• Not Boring: One Year Retrospective — Packy McCormick’s creator journey
• Curiosity + Consistency — Newsletter growth levers
• Justin Welsh Writing Process — Systematic newsletter production
• David Perell: Writing Wisdom — Writing online shrinks the world
• Creativity Faucet — Julian Shapiro on flushing the pipe
• Magic Moment Writing Process — David Perell on finding the hook
• Weinberg on Writing — Gerald Weinberg’s craft advice
• Writing Repetition Frameworks — Michael Dean on structural repetition
• Writing in Public Inside Your Company — Papertrails and curations
• Hugging the X-Axis — David Perell on early-stage patience
• Julian Shapiro: Mental Models — First principles for creative work

Personal Development (14)

Productivity, learning, mindset, and life design.

• Getting Things Done — David Allen’s productivity OS
• The 4-Hour Workweek — Tim Ferriss on lifestyle design
• The Art of Learning — Josh Waitzkin on mastery
• The Miracle Morning — Hal Elrod on morning routines
• Awaken the Giant Within — Tony Robbins on personal power
• The School of Greatness — Lewis Howes on peak performance
• The Charisma Myth — Olivia Fox Cabane on presence
• SuperBetter — Jane McGonigal on gamified resilience
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich — Ramit Sethi on personal finance
• Money: Master the Game — Tony Robbins on investing
• Embrace the Grind — Tedium as competitive moat
• Three Ways to Be Productive — Taylor Pearson on productivity modes
• Existential Optimism — Packy McCormick on self-sovereignty
• Schelling Point — Naval on coordination without communication
• Bold — Diamandis on exponential thinking

Technology & AI (6)

AI, open source, and broader technology trends.

• Block: Hierarchy to Intelligence — Jack Dorsey on replacing hierarchy with AI coordination
• Karpathy: LLM Knowledge Bases — Compounding knowledge loops with LLM-compiled wikis
• Is OSS the Future of AI? — Tristan Handy on open-source AI
• Robots and Bicycles — Ray Deck on AI augmentation
• Materials Science: Unsung Hero — Hidden infrastructure that enables everything
• The Global Chessboard — Tomas Pueyo on geopolitics

Product & Process (5)

Product development methodology and frameworks.

• Shape Up — Basecamp’s appetite-based product development
• Principles of Shaping — Converting ideas into buildable projects
• Data Science for Business — Applied DS methodology
• The Global Chessboard — Geopolitical strategy frameworks