Founder of StrategyBreakdowns.com

TLDR: Worked in strategy consulting → Joined strategy team at Atlassian → Started writing strategy case studies → People liked them, so I left my job and went full-time

Tom Alder

8 things I've learned while living in Valencia for the past month:

1/ The "slow" culture made me realise how much day-to-day urgency you experience everywhere else.

2/ Europe is the best timezone - 4 hours of deep work before US Eastern gets online.

3/ The city is easy-going and beautiful, but not efficient. Restaurants with lines out the door and empty tables, busses show up 15 mins late (or not at all), 'the system is down' is almost a daily occurence.

4/ I love a siesta but find it nearly impossible to refocus afterwards. Better for marking the transition from work → life.

5/ Meeting people as a digital nomad requires more intentionality than I thought. 

6/ Everywhere you look, you see someone's creative touch. Tiles, balconies, door handles. Everything is decorative, even if in a small way. 

7/ I didn't see a single person on a laptop in a cafe. 

8/ Paella is more than just a regional dish. Everyone is quick to recommend their favourite spot, share tips and rules for ordering it correctly, and tell their Paella-based memories. People worship it here (rightly so!)

—

👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies.

Join 100,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

The team at beehiiv just showed me what they're launching next week.

I've analysed hundreds of product releases.

This one I'm gonna join live.

Most companies make tweaks and add tiny features.

beehiiv have been quietly building something that got me absolutely hyped.

Tyler Denk 🐝 and team have cracked something fundamental about how creators grow and monetise.

I can't share specifics (NDA), but here's what I can say:
If you're building a creator/media business in 2025, you should join us at the launch event!

Register here → https://lnkd.in/gh3tKmCZ

People always ask "How did you decide when to quit your job and go all-in?"

3 months after launching Strategy Breakdowns I told my boss I was leaving.

This was my napkin math:

The business was making just under $3k/mo.
~$2.2k from newsletter sponsorship, rest from affiliate revenue.

→ I was publishing 1 newsletter every 2 weeks
→ If I ran them weekly, that'd 2x sponsorship + 1.5x affiliate revenue

→ I had 1 sponsor per newsletter
→ If I had 2, that'd 2x sponsorship revenue again

→ I had 20k subscribers
→ If I grew to 50k, that'd 2x sponsorship + 1.5x affiliate revenue again

Q: If I quit my job, would the extra 40hrs per week be enough to publish 1 extra newsletter every 2wks, sell 4x as many ads, and speed-run an extra 30k subs by reinvesting all revenue into subscriber growth?

Once I laid out all the inputs, it became an easy 'yes'.

I could probably hit $10k/mo within a month or 2, even factoring some contingency if I couldn't sell 100% of my ad inventory.

Then if I kept growing the newsletter, and added new ways to monetise, I figured it wouldn't be too much drama to get to $20k/mo.

Quitting a high-paying tech job for a $3k/mo newsletter = crazy, risky, scary
Quitting a high-paying tech job for a (soon-to-be) $20k/mo newsletter = makes sense

Same business. 
Different frame.

Don't be afraid to math it out.
Goes a long way in building up conviction.

—

👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies.

Join 100,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

Valve makes $50 million per employee.

Microsoft? $18 million.
Apple? $2.4 million.
Meta? $1.9 million.

How does a 350-person gaming company eclipse every tech giant on the planet?

→ They built a 30% tax on PC gaming.

Every game sold on Steam. Every microtransaction. Every indie hit and AAA blockbuster. If it's sold on their platform, Valve takes 30%.

They do develop games themselves, but vast majority of their revenue comes from infrastructure, maintenance, and collecting.

What makes it even more remarkable:

Zero traditional management mechanisms.

Valve operates with a completely flat hierarchy. No managers assigning work. No executives approving projects.

Instead they pioneered several radical workplace practices like choose-your-own team, and peer-reviewed bonuses.

Your colleagues (not your boss) determine your compensation based on your contributions. The entire company votes on your impact.

The result:
336 employees shared $444 million in total compensation in 2021. That's an average of $1.3 million per person.

And the company is on track for $17 billion in revenue in 2025.

They proved something most large corporations forget:
You don't need more people. You need the right structure (business model + organisational model).

—

📖 If you liked this post, you’ll definitely enjoy my newsletter article Why Valve has no managers!

Take a look here: https://lnkd.in/gyDPxJQ5

Imagine you are a marketing manager working for Coca Cola in 1971.

To make your most important decisions, you might have access to things like:
• Sales info
• Customer surveys
• Financial metrics

IF you spend a few days (possibly weeks) digging around the company for them. Remember, no computers back then.

Now, imagine you had instant access to:

→ The 5x highest performing newspaper/billboard/bus-stop ads out of the 10,000’s of ads Pepsi Co are running globally.

→ Real-time dashboards showing the number of daily, weekly, and monthly walk-ins for a McDonalds store that you’re doing a deal with.

→ A system that tracks every soft drink consumer in the world, showing you exactly what magazine they are most likely to get their beverage news from, and accurate trend data showing you a spike in conversations about “sugar-free”.

All entirely for free, fully self-serve, without ever needing to contact any Pepsi staff, McDonalds partners, or magazine analysts.

That is the world we live in.

But most people don't fully appreciate this. 

Every internet user and interaction leaves digital footprints. These footprints (if you know where to find them) reveal insights that make traditional ‘strategy theory’ feel like guesswork.

Not leveraging an 'information advantage' for your most important decisions, projects, products etc today is like voluntarily boxing yourself into a cubicle at Coca Cola HQ in 1971.

My vote: let’s use the tools available to us!

That's why I created 'Websites & Traffic' - a training that transforms you into a modern data-driven strategist.

If you want to skyrocket your persuasiveness, impact, and progression (but you’re looking for a modern-day approach that doesn’t involve slugging through more abstract ‘strategy theory’), this is for you! 

→ https://lnkd.in/gcWA7dyd

POV: You launched something and 1500+ people show up at once.

No paid ads. 
No viral post. 
Just an organic launch email.

Here's what the hype is all about:

Yesterday I launched 'Websites & Traffic'.

It's a training bundle for strategic professionals who need to back up their ideas with persuasive data. 

In just 5 days, you'll master 28 specific tactical skills that let you reverse-engineer any company's digital strategy - whether that's:
- Your #1 competitor
- A potential customer you're trying to close
- The market leader in your space
- Your highest-risk vendor
- Or simply a company whose strategy you want to learn from.

This isn't old school 'competitive analysis'.

These data-driven strategy skills are must-haves in today's age for just about any strategic use case:
- Preparing for customer interviews
- Increasing your own company's reach
- Analysing any player in your market
- Evaluating partnership opportunities
- Researching prospects before sales calls
- Investigating a trend you want to capitalise on

It works even if you've never heard of SimilarWeb, don't know what a UTM parameter is, and think "organic traffic" just means the line at the farmers market.

If you want to walk into your next big meeting as 'the person who always has the data', check it out → https://lnkd.in/gcWA7dyd

Why change fails. Brilliant. 

Source: Lippitt-Knoster Model - The 5 Components of Organisational Change.

Amazon website from every year since 1997, in chronological order.

—

👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies.

Join 100,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

The Amazon website every year since 1998

AI NEWS: Fyxer AI ($1→25m ARR in 12mo) just dropped the biggest upgrade to their core product since launch.

Here's everything you need to know:

Fyxer's core product "Drafts" lives inside Gmail/Outlook, and it auto-drafts email replies in your voice for you to review, edit (if needed), and send.

They just released "Drafts 2.0" with a wall-to-wall revamp of product improvements:
→ better context searching (remembers past conversations to reply how you would)
→ dynamic tone detection (adapts to who you're emailing - client, manager, colleague etc)
→ smarter call scheduling (handles time zones automatically and finds times that suit everyone)

The result: users are now sending *twice* as many email drafts without edits.

Check out the draft it wrote below.

For anyone spending an hour+ on email: this is one of the apps that actually saves me tangible time + focus on a daily basis. 


For the product-led-growth nerds - onboarding is slick too. Starts working in 30 seconds with Gmail or Outlook signup. Automatically learns your voice. Zero setup or learning curve.

I love startups like this - simple idea with perfect execution.


Oh and I convinced the Fyxer team to give my readers a special signup offer https://lnkd.in/gsuYEPQP (Partner link)

This is how you print $$$ by running ads in newsletters:

(And no, it's not generic copy + CTA to 'sign up now')

I've run 100s of ads in my 100k reader newsletter.

Worked with the best growth marketers in the world at companies like Atlassian, Clay, Vanta etc and I think I might have the highest renewal rate in the industry.

Here is the no-fluff playbook for getting results from newsletter ads:

1/ Less is more.
Longer ad copy (and longer sentences) ALWAYS perform worse. This may seem counterintuitive, I know it's tempting to write paragraphs about your product, but the quicker readers can internalise your message the more likely they'll read it in full. Aim for ~3 sentences / bullets total.

2/ Scannable format
Our best performing ads have the following characteristics:
- Start with a catchy, intriguing, spicy headline in *bold*
- Short punchy lines/lists with line breaks for breathing room
- Button with unique CTA ("Show me my security score", "I want the free playbook")

3/ Specific objectives.
Don't assume the newsletter knows what you want. People default to impressions/clicks, but every time I dig deeper there's a more important goal: "I want our founding story going viral", "I want a pretty report with data and community screenshots to share with my boss (my promotion is coming up)", "I want to run an isolated test to see if a waitlist/free trial/free plan works for us". 

4/ Don't just run 1 ad. 
I'm not saying this because more ads = more spend. There are 3 reasons you NEED to test with multiple ads: a) it takes multiple touchpoints for decision-makers to take action (when was the last time you saw a brand for the first time and 30s later you're on a $99/mo plan?), b) you test multiple angles to learn what resonates, c) most newsletters do bundle discounts so its cheaper per ad/open/click. 1 ad = throwing money away.

5/ Keep a swipe-file.
Seems obvious but not enough people do this. Collate your highest-performing social posts. Your competitors' best FB ads. Your best-converting landing page. Leverage these for your ad copy - don't ever start from scratch.

6/ You want partnership, not just sponsorship.
If your 'partner' isn't actively helping you tighten your copy, learn from the data, leverage their high-performing assets, investing their own money + time + resources into ensuring you win, you need to run.

7/ Backend funnels are magic.
This might be the most important alpha of all. The sponsors that are ripping right now do some variation of: run ads to a lead magnet/webinar → capture email → survey to segment (optional) → email nurture with education + social proof + objection-handling → sales handoff to book a demo/whiteglove/welcome offer. 1 person can build this in 1 day with AI, and it gets >10x better results per ad.

I have just 3 ad slots in my newsletter left this year, then I'm increasing prices for '26. 

If you're targeting strategy nerds (founders, PMs, devs), DM me!

5 unconventional tactics I learned at Atlassian (your company should copy these):

1. Everyone reads customer feedback (literally everyone)

Every week, every employee gets an automated email with 3 randomly selected verbatim quotes from customers. Bug reports, success stories, feature requests.

Over time you start spotting patterns. You develop intuition for customer sentiment. When you're proposing something, you can back it up with qualitative data you rememeber reading.

2. No PowerPoint allowed, only memos

Good writing is good thinking. You can disguise terrible ideas with pretty slides.

Every idea, every meeting, every project, every roadmap lives as a Confluence page. Writing out your ideas forces you to get specific about what you actually want to say (and why it matters). 

3. Every team has visible KPIs

Based on your team and role, you always knew exactly what metric mattered most. OKRs aren't perfect, but they create MASSIVE clarity of direction.

You also always knew what your KPI was driving at the division or company level (ie. what it "rolled up" to). Month commentary from owners explaining movements makes it easy to tell what matters to teams across the whole company. 

4. Open by default

Jira boards and Confluence pages have full organisational sharing permissions toggled on by default. This is a small but hugely significant product design choice.

Unless you actively close it off, everyone in the company can find, read, and comment on your work. Google Docs and Word don't do this – which means every new doc feels "yours" instead of "ours." 

5. Roll out to employees first

When I worked there, Atlassian had over 10,000 employees. That's a pretty sizable testing ground, and every mature product team would roll out changes to Atlassians first (who were using these tools every day).

This lets you catch bugs and bulletproofs ideas before paying customers see them, and creates a friendly space for candid feedback.

The pattern: make transparency and feedback the default (not the exception) for every product, decision, and idea.

Happy building.

—

👉 P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you'll love my newsletter - a 3-minute breakdown of the strategy playbooks and growth hacks behind the world’s greatest companies.

Join 100,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

Co-Founder & CEO @Sadax Studio → Audit for your Product | Booking🔥 | AI | Airline → Product to increase sales & Revenues → Founders & Creators.

I didn’t start with all the answers. But I’ve always been obsessed with one question—
“How can design actually make life easier for people?”

Over the past 7+ years, I’ve had the privilege of solving real-world problems through design—across SaaS platforms, AI tools, fintech dashboards, e-commerce flows, healthcare portals, and more.

With every project (100+ and counting), one thing has stayed the same: I don’t just design screens—I design outcomes.

Results I’ve helped clients achieve:

+20% in user engagement

-15% churn reduction

+15% revenue growth from better UX

I approach design like a partnership—one built on research, logic, and empathy. That’s why I don’t jump to pixels first. I listen, I map user journeys, I test, and only then—I design.

Here’s what I bring to the table:

📍 Deep expertise in mobile & web UX

🧠 Strategic thinking to tackle complex UX challenges

💎 Mastery in Figma & component libraries

⏰ A relentless focus on deadlines without compromising quality

📚 5+ certifications from Interaction Design Foundation

🤝 A commitment to design that drives business impact, not just aesthetic

Design is not about perfection.
It’s about progress—about moving from chaos to clarity, confusion to confidence.

If that’s what you’re looking for, let’s connect.

📨 Reach out: mahbubuiux@gmail.com


Design Portfolio: 
Website: www.mahbubuiux.com
Dribbble: dribbble.com/mahbubuiux
Behance: behance.net/mahbubuiux
Whatsapp: 008801766703570

Kazi Mahbubul Islam

I look at designs like this Doctor Appointment app. It shows you the way out.

Here is what makes this design work so well:

A clear map shows nearby doctors
 → Location is the first thing you see.

Big, simple buttons for specialties
 ↳ Medicine, Dentists, Surgery.

Essential information is right there.
➘ Rating (4.9), Doctor's name.

Availability times are easy to tap
 ➝ 2:00 PM, 2:30 PM.

The reviews section is short and helpful - Builds trust quickly.

This is simple, powerful design. It guides the user like a friendly person. It makes a hard task (finding a doctor) feel very easy.

 We must always be that guide for our users. Design should whisper, not shout.

Simple design makes life better for everyone.

I’m offering limited-time one-on-one sessions to solve design problems and bring clarity to your product.

Book your meeting:https://lnkd.in/dBzzDVpw

Negative thoughts don’t ruin us.
But believing them does.

I learned this when I hit a point where every
 idea felt “not good enough.”

I kept working.

But my mind kept whispering the same old lines.
And slowly, I started shrinking inside my own head.

Then one day, I decided to treat my 
thoughts like passing clouds.

Not facts.
Not truth.
Just noise.

That small shift changed
 everything for me.
It helped me think clearer.

And it helped me create better
 work for my clients.

Here are the simple steps I follow to 
stop negative thinking before it takes control:
→ Catch the thought
Pause for a moment
Notice the pattern
Name the feeling

→ Question it
Is this real?
Or just fear?

What proof do I have?
→ Replace it
One simple truth
One small win
One kind word to yourself

→ Move your body
Short walk outside
Stretch your shoulders
Change the energy

→ Do a tiny action
Send the email
Sketch the idea
Start the first step

Slow steps break loud thoughts.
And every small action builds a stronger mind.
Your mind listens to you more than you think.
Choose thoughts that lift you, not limit you.

P.S. Do negative thoughts hit you more in the morning or at night?

6 Months to UX Design Mastery: The Job-Ready Blueprint 🚀

Tired of endless online tutorials that don't lead to a job?
It's time to stop consuming content and start building a portfolio that converts.

I've put together a comprehensive, 6-month master plan to take you from absolute beginner to a confident, entry-level UX Designer.

This plan focuses on creating a portfolio of 3-5 high-impact case studies that hiring managers actually want to see.

The 6-Month Mastery Breakdown: Your Path to Job-Ready

Month 1: UX Fundamentals & Research Mastery
Master Design Thinking, User Interviews, and Affinity Mapping.
Deliverable: Research Plan, User Personas, Empathy Maps.

Month 2: Wireframing & Information Architecture
Learn IA, User Flows, and Figma prototyping fundamentals.
Deliverable: Sitemap, User Flows, Mid-Fidelity Wireframes.

Month 3: High-Fidelity Prototyping & Visual Design
Master advanced Figma, visual design, and micro-interactions.
Deliverable: Complete Interactive Prototype, Initial Design System.

Month 4: Usability Testing & Iteration
Conduct moderated usability tests and analyze findings.
Deliverable: Usability Test Report, Iterated High-Fidelity Designs.

Month 5: Design Systems Refinement & Polish
Apply advanced visual principles, WCAG Accessibility, and design documentation.
Deliverable: Comprehensive Style Guide, Portfolio-Ready Case Study Draft.

Month 6: Portfolio & Job Readiness
Build your portfolio website and prepare for interviews.
Deliverable: 3-5 Complete Case Studies, Optimized Resume, Mock Interview Practice.

Some people grow fast.
 Some people stay stuck for years.

And the difference is rarely skill.
 It’s the people they choose to stay close to.
I learned this when I began my design journey.

 No big brand.
 No famous mentor.
 Just small steps and honest connections.

Over time, those small links opened big doors →
 jobs, clients, learning, clarity.
 All because I chose to be intentional.

Here is what changed my path →
 → reaching out without fear
 → asking better questions
 → listening more than talking
 → helping even when no one asked
 → sharing my work even when it felt rough

These simple acts turned strangers into supporters.
 Supporters into friends.

Because the right people can speed up your path
 faster than any skill alone.

P.S. Do you reach out to new people every week? Yes or no?

Most people think good design 
 is only about colors and clean layouts.

 But real design is about building something
 so clear, so helpful, and so simple.

 that it quietly removes stress from a person’s 
 day without them even noticing.

 I felt this deeply while designing 
 a travel planner for a client.

 In that small project, I saw big lessons:
→ Simplicity always wins
   People love tools that feel light
 ↳ Not heavy, not confusing
→ Flow matters more than features

A good design guides the eye
 ↳ Step by step, without extra thinking
→ Real value comes from clarity

When someone opens a planner
 ↳ They should feel calm, not lost
→ Small choices change everything

One button
One layout
One clear path
 ↳ Can turn a messy journey into a smooth one

Simple design makes life feel lighter.

I’m offering limited-time one-on-one sessions to solve design problems and bring clarity to your product.

Book your meeting: https://lnkd.in/dBzzDVpw

Meetings are filled with words, but some words kill ideas.

That one little language slip often stops true creativity.

Even smart designers fall into this trap all the time.

As a product designer, I have witnessed this – and fixed it.
Here’s what I saw:
→ Saying “I think” too much weakens your message
→ Using “maybe” or “possibly” makes your idea sound unsure
→ Starting sentences with “but” or “however” often shuts down others
→ Over-explaining confuses more than clarifies
→ Avoid blaming language like “you don’t get it” or “this is wrong”

When you soften your language like this, your ideas lose power.
By changing how you speak, you can hold attention and build trust.

Here is my fix:
➘ Speak with confidence, even if unsure — “I believe,” not “I think”
➘ Use clear statements, not questions disguised as ideas
➘ Encourage conversation, not shut it down
➘ Own your words, don’t hide behind excuses
➘ Listen actively, then respond with clarity

P.S. Have you ever noticed a language habit that kills your ideas?

The language mistake designers make in meetings

Some ideas sound complex only 
 because we explain them the wrong way.

But simple words can turn 
confusion into clarity in seconds.

In my early days working with clients, 
I learned this lesson the hard way.

Many times I tried to 
explain a design concept.

And I watched my clients 
slowly disconnect.

That is when I realized the 
problem was not the design.

It was my explanation.

Now, I just follow a few simple steps to 
make any complex design easy to get.

And my clients feel safer and more 
confident when working with me.

Here are the techniques that 
changed everything for me:

→ Break big ideas into small steps

◉ One point at a time

◉ No fancy words

◉ No long stories

→ Use shapes and actions

◉ Say circle, line, move, rotate

◉ Show the flow, not the theory

→ Compare with something familiar

- Like building blocks

- Like a puzzle

- Like cooking steps

→ Let visuals do the talking

- Quick sketches

- Simple diagrams

- Before/after frames

→ Ask often

- Does this make sense?

- Should I slow down?

- Want another example?

Simple words build strong bridges.

Clarity beats complexity every single time.

P.S. Do you find simple explanations easier to trust?

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The Battle

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