Happy Friday! ☀️
On this day, six years ago, I sent out the first edition of Friday’s Five to the first 50 subscribers. Since that day, subscribers have grown by 2300% and the open rate has remained steady at about 65-70%. I opened the newsletter with the words:
Fridays's Five is an attempt to capture and share some of the things that stuck with me in any given week, nested in five little categories. We'll see where this leads.
I guess that 310 weeks later it has led to this very day and I sending this short email to you has given me so much. I love putting it together every week.
What I’m reading 📖
In 2012, Elon Musk teased the idea for a new high-speed transportation system called Hyperloop. In 2012, he released a white paper written by himself and engineers at SpaceX and since then, companies around the world have emerged to turn the idea into reality. In Europe, a company in the Netherlands called Hardt Hyperloop, started developing the technology in 2018 and just released a progress report with a proposed line network across Europe as well as first testing facilities. Fascinating!
What I’m listening to 🎧
My colleague Hugo showed me a music and sound app that helps you increase your focus while working. I tried it out last Friday during an intense office day with a range of tasks I had been procrastinating. It took me a few tries to pick the right mood and music for the type of work I was doing and once I did, I was in a tunnel for a few hours and got it done. Will use again. Here’s the app called Brain.fm.
What I’m watching 📺
I’ve shared here before that I love music documentaries and particularly those that take us into the process of writing, producing, and recording music. My friend Oli shares this love and he often sends me things to watch that I hadn’t seen. This time he sent me a short documentary about the writing process of artist Gotye. Lovely.
What I’m thinking about 🧠
At ForChiefs, the coaching company I co-founded in 2017, we took some time during our retreat to reimagine our understanding of the role we play with the people and companies we work with. To our clients, we want to be Sidekicks: they’re the heroes, and we’re by their side whenever and for whatever they need help with. Part facilitator, part advisor, and part coach. And in sum: Sidekicks. It’s been fun playing around with the concept this week and reshape the way I personally work with my clients.
What else?! 💯
Hot sauces are one of my favorite things int he world. I love trying out new hot sauces from different countries and Swet is one made out of Brussels, Belgium. My sister gifted me a tube with 4 different sauces and my favorites so far are Sun Burn, Fumado, and Lemon Hard. Let’s start swetting.
Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!
David
Instagram | Website | 2021 Playlist | Company
i remember the beginnings. congrats on the achievement. 6 years of weekly writing is impressive; and inspiring.
question: i don't think the format ever changed; did you still consider making it evolve sometimes? like a new category? recs from guests? etc.