1440’s Post

3,700,000+ subscribers later, this quote still guides every business decision we make at 1440. “There’s only one boss—the customer—she can fire everyone in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending her time/money elsewhere. If you don’t listen to your customer, someone else will.” -Sam Walton However, I was at a recent dinner with ~15 top digital media execs when I realized maybe everyone doesn’t always think of the customers first.  A question was asked at the dinner table, and we all answered it one by one: “If you had $500,000 to invest in your business right now, where would you put it?” ↳All of the focus around the table was on ad delivery, ad targeting optimizations, and cost-cutting initiatives. ↳I was shocked: The words “customer,” “reader,” and “product” weren’t mentioned by any of the other execs in attendance. Coming from the private equity world, I’ve seen dozens of companies implode, but never the companies that genuinely care for and deeply serve their customers. ↳When it was my turn to speak, I went in a different direction: “I’d invest the money in a better customer experience, in building a more optimal product that delights our readers.” As the media industry evolves, we must evolve with it. It sometimes feels like many media companies have forgotten this fundamental principle. We can't forget there are real people, our customers, on the other side of our platforms. If we’re not obsessively delivering value to them every day, they have dozens of other avenues to spend their time and resources on. This is why our team begs for feedback in each newsletter, personally reads every customer email and responds to most (feel free to reply to any 1440 email to reach me directly), consistently conducts audience surveys to gather insights and feedback, engages with our readers every day on our social media channels, and much more. If you had an extra $500,000 today, how would you invest it in your business?