OP #270: Top Content of 2024, Testing an AI Podcast, and More.

This week's OP highlights some of the top OP content of 2024.

Author

Darren Herman
October 01, 2024

Welcome to OP #270, the 30th Operating Partner letter of this year. 42,000+ words in… still having fun!

I spent part of this past weekend at the Soundside Music Festival in Bridgeport, CT where Noah Kahan headlined Saturday evening. Some pics and videos from the show are here. I had seen Noah play twice before, both of which were his own headline shows. This one was different as it was a festival: not everyone knew him or was there to see him, so he came out up-tempo and hard, and quickly won over the crowd. I actually preferred this show over his Fenway show which I was fortunate to be at.

Was great seeing my friends from PopUp Bagels at Soundside which was unexpected. I didn’t love sitting in the East parking lot for 2+ hours after the show waiting to get out. That was annoying and breaks a good concert experience . Next concert for me is Dispatch at MGM Fenway in mid-October and I’m looking forward to it.

After three weeks of back to back travel, I’ll be in the Boston area for the next few weeks. I’m on daddy duty a bit this week and excited to have fun with the kids while “mom” is away. An advanced L’shana Tova to those who celebrate.

🎉 Did you know that it is officially the 20th Anniversary of Advertising Week? Here are 20 things you need to know about the 20th anniversary and all the festivities happening this week in New York.

🏈 Dave Portnoy tweeted about helping Michigan get a top 10 QB from the transfer portal. While this happens behind the scenes often, this is really interesting to me from a macro perspective. How will this affect sports going forward?

⚾ Pinstripe Alley talking about the local to national viewing experience for MLB games. There’s actually a lot in this article that is relevant as we think about any sport or any local to national experience.

✨Here’s a few articles that have lists of AI Tools that may be worth considering for your growth organization: SEO Tools, Customer Service, and marketing tools (and this one too).

💡YouGov’s Most Popular Brands List (Q2 2024). Two out of the top three brands are candy. One is a television channel. Crazy to see Dawn (soap) tied with Netflix. Top two most popular basketball players right now are Lebron James and Caitlin Clark followed by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Here are some additional initial good reads to get us started:

Thank you for spending some time reading the Operating Partner letter. As always, please feel free to reach out.

-Darren

There Is Gold In The OP Archive

This year alone, I’ve written over 42,000 words of original content for the Operating Partner. I figured I’d post some highlights below that you could go back and reference if somehow you missed them.

Ever wonder what being an Operating Partner is like? Here’s the opening post of 2024 which describes the role. I’ve done dozens of calls over the years explaining what I do in my job… this is a good summation. I’ll probably create another more in-depth version of this in the coming month or two.

Predicting the future is fun; and sometimes, a bit easier than what one might expect. In OP #244, I talked about this and how I study VC firm portfolios. Go take a peek. Attention goes to where [funding] dollars flow.

In OP #247, I talked about a presentation I gave to my alma matter. The presentation included 10 lessons that I’ve learned throughout my career and I had a lot of fun putting together the presentation. I hope you enjoy it - lots of nuggets of wisdom. I particularly like #7: Data is fuel, but creativity is the engine.

In OP #252, I recapped my time in Las Vegas at the Shoptalk Conference. The insights come from the dozen plus conversations I had with a range of folks.

In OP #260, which was the 15th anniversary of Varick Media Management, a company I co-founded, I wrote 7 lessons that contributed to the success in the early days while I ran the business. This was a lot of fun to write as I looked back and reminisced.

In OP #268, I wrote about the similarities between tech mafia’s and the New York Knicks. Yup, I went there. Curious to hear your thoughts on the piece… I did get some good commentary at the time.

And last, in OP #269, I wrote the Talent Issue, which goes out each year, and has friends from the recruiting field talk about some insights. This year, we focused on how to handle a call from a recruiter of executive search firm. There’s even some supplemental content which is a full presentation with the full interviews of the six friends I spoke with.

Listen to an AI-generated podcast (6m19s) on the Operating Partner’s Talent Issue which was put together by NotebookLM. If you do listen, would love to hear your thoughts on this podcast.

Thank you to OP community member, Jason Schmidt, for the tip.

Below are a few articles I came across this past week that I found interesting. While I may not agree with everything in each one, I think they're worth a read. If you stumble upon an article you think I or the Operating Partner community would enjoy, feel free to share it with me. Of course, I reserve the right to decide what gets featured in the OP.

I Am Tired of AI (Bas Dijkstra)

Thank you for reading today!

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