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-timeCheck it out → StrategyBreakdowns.comWe partner with companies like Atlassian, Notion, Intercom, Hubspot, Miro, Vanta, Clay, Mixpanel, and Ahrefs to reach 110k+ tech decision-makers. Click here to explore sponsorships → passionfroot.me/strategybreakdowns

Tom Alder

Apple makes $1 billion+ per year selling adaptors:

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👉 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 110,000+ strategy nerds from companies like Google, Meta, Atlassian, and Netflix: https://lnkd.in/g2FWfXGR

The average enterprise employee spends 31 hours per month in unproductive meetings.

That's almost a full work week. 
Every single month. 
Gone.

And yet - meetings aren't the problem. BAD meetings are the problem.

The best hybrid teams i've seen don't have fewer meetings. 
→ They have better workflows that make every interaction count.

I genuinely think something's shifted in how teams think about productivity.

It used to be about individual output - more hours, more tasks, more hustle.

Now it's about connection quality and output. How seamlessly can 50 people across 12 timezones actually collaborate without losing their minds?

The companies figuring this out are pulling ahead. The ones still optimising for "busy" are falling behind.

--

Zoom is running a free summit on exactly this: how to make collaboration seamless across teams, locations, and timezones.

Feb 24 (EMEA) / Feb 25 (APAC)

If you're leading digital transformation, IT, or workplace strategy at a large org - worth grabbing a spot.

Register here: → https://zm.me/49SCY8r

#ad in partnership with the legends Zoom

Jamming with Rob Hoffman, Lara Acosta, and Tyler Denk 🐝 about our plans for 2026:

A few topics we discussed -

1. The reality of building while traveling the world.
2. Why vlogging is coming back for founders.
3. The timeless psychology of waitlists.
4. The bootstrapped AI SaaS paradigm.
5. Solopreneurship vs small vs big teams.

Honestly so refreshing to get new perspectives on things I’m actively wrestling with.
Also funny to see how the same decisions / problems / strategies resurface in peculiar ways, in such different contexts.

Would highly recommend following what these folks are up to if you haven’t already!

Rob and Lara are building Kleo.
Tyler is building beehiiv.

Incredible businesses powering many of the world's top creators and founders.

Feeling inspired. Let's build.

Every company spent the last 20 years building customer support processes that make people want to hang up.

Press 1 for billing. 
Press 2 for support. 
Press 3 to scream into the void.

Then came the "AI upgrade" - which mostly just replaced the robotic menu with a robotic voice.

Same frustration, different wrapper.

Here's what's actually changing now:
ElevenLabs just shipped Expressive Mode in their Agents platform.

The demo is WILD (video below). 

The agents don't just listen to what you say. 
They detect HOW you say it.

Tone.
Pitch. 
Pacing. 
Humour.
Feelings.

And they respond with the right delivery - using cue cards like [reassuring], [apologetic], and [enthusiastic] to match the moment.

Frustrated caller? The agent shifts to calm de-escalation.
Excited prospect? It matches the energy.
Confused customer? It slows down.

Previously, agent emotion was shaped entirely through voice selection and system prompts. Static. One-size-fits-all.
Now it's dynamic and contextual. Across 70+ languages (up from 32).
The turn-taking is different too. Their new transcription model captures intent and emotional cues so the agent times responses more like a human would.
The result: customers feel helped, not processed.
That's the gap most people miss about voice AI. The technology was never the bottleneck.

The emotional intelligence was.

Link to try below 👇

#ad #ElevenAgentsPartner

Every AI tool you've used in the last 2 years has the same interface:

A text box with a blinking cursor.

Quarterzip threw it away entirely.

Instead of building another chat wrapper, they built an AI that watches your screen share and guides you visually - like having a colleague sit next to you and point at things.

No SDK installation. 
No browser extension. 
No IT approval ticket.

Just a picture-in-picture window that sees everything you see. Any tool, any tab, any workflow.

Picture this:
- You’re onboarding to a new tool
- You brace yourself for a barrage of forgettable tooltips and painful ‘educational’ flows
- Instead, you click ‘Start Onboarding’ and you’re prompted to share your screen
- You share, and you’re placed directly in the app, with a helpful AI assistant in the corner that sees everything you see
- It’s trained on the help docs, all past onboarding calls, and can guide you through the journey whilst answering any question you might have along the way

They launched a week ago. Already running hundreds of AI-powered onboarding sessions a day with Apollo and Grab.

And the growth loop is elegant - every person who gets onboarded through Quarterzip sees the brand sitting inside the PIP window.

Product usage drives distribution.

I broke down the full strategy in this week's newsletter (link in the comments)

On July 7th, 2025, I added another SaaS idea to the pile:
A Chrome extension. SimilarWeb for builders. Traffic, revenue signals, founder socials, ads - all in a sidebar you can trigger when you visit any company's website.

A 9-bullet sketch of something I'd personally use a dozen times a day, if it existed.

Nothing came of it. Got buried under many more (half-baked) ideas.

Fast-forward 6 months.
The Figma team reached out about a partnership.
They wanted me to try their new prompt-to-app AI tool, Figma Make.

I mulled over the angle for a while, then realised I had the perfect test case.
Could I take a 6-month-old idea that had never left the notes app and turn it into a fully interactive, clickable product prototype? Without writing a single line of code? Without opening a design tool?

The pipeline I came up with:
→ 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (raw idea, 9 bullet points) 
→ 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 + 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗿 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 (interview to flesh it into a full PRD) 
→ 𝗙𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 (PRD in, interactive prototype out)

One sitting later, I had my answer.
Here’s how it went down (link in the comments 👇)

Most newsletter sponsors get a terrible ROI.

All because they're advertising to the wrong readers.

Here's the thing about audience quality that most marketers miss:

1/ You need readers who make decisions.

This is the #1 mistake I see. Advertising to e.g. 1 million people containing 1k decision-makers, rather than 100k people containing 50k decision-makers.

71% of Strategy Breakdowns readers have meaningful influence over budget and procurement decisions at their company.

You need to get in front of the actual people who sign off on the tools, platforms, and services their teams use.

2/ Open rate is a proxy for trust.

Industry average open-rate is under 40%. Strategy Breakdowns sits at 55%, while earning the trust of 110,000 readers every week. Our sponsors inherit that trust.

3/ Niche is more efficient than broad.

A 110,000-person list of senior strategy and tech leaders doesn’t just contain *more* decision-makers than 500,000-person general business list - it is also costs less to advertise in. The signal-to-noise ratio is what makes our campaigns so efficient for sponsors looking to allocate their marketing budgets strategically.

4/ The seniority and industry breakdown matters.

- 30% Founder / C-level
- 20% VP / Director
- 40% Senior / Manager

Tech, consulting, and finance make up ~80% of our audience. I mean, these are literally the buyers.

5/ One ad isn't a campaign.

The sponsors who see the best results run 4 touchpoints minimum. Decision-makers don't act on first exposure, especially at this seniority level. (Honestly, when was the last time you saw a $100/mo tool for the first time and immediately pulled out a corporate card?) Plus, you need to test, learn, and iterate based on the data from each ad run.

6/ We treat it like a partnership (but actually).

Ad copy collaboration, custom AI tools we’ve built for partners, full 7-day and 14-day performance reports with 100% of the data we have available, ongoing input to optimise the campaign. Nearly every sponsor I work with (Atlassian, Vanta, Clay, Attio, Ahrefs, etc) comes back multiple times. 

Probably the thing I’m most proud of.

We have just 2 slots left before prices go up for Q2.

If your product is built for founders, PMs, engineers, or operators in tech - link to our full media kit in the comments 👇

How many DMs do you send per week on LinkedIn?

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

Roofing Service Management Website Design

The fastest way to waste time in design?
Start with mockups.
I used to jump straight into visuals.
Trying ideas.
Testing layouts.
Exploring styles.
But feedback kept changing direction.
So I changed one habit.
Now I align first.
Then I design.

Here is my quick alignment map
→ Project goal
 ↳ The real purpose
→ Audience
 ↳ Who must care
→ Emotional tone
 ↳ How it should feel
→ Brand boundaries
 ↳ What cannot change
→ Outcome
 ↳ What success means
Once this is clear,
design flows naturally.
Less confusion.
Less revisions.
More confidence.
Alignment turns creativity into direction.

Do you explore first or align first?

Trust is not luck.
Trust is designed.
Big digital products know this.
Small mistakes break big trust.
And scale makes it harder.
Because millions are watching.
I learned this while working with brands.
When visuals felt unclear, users left fast.
Here is the truth
Trust is built in small details, repeated at scale.

Look at how large platforms do it:
Same layout everywhere
Users feel familiar
Clear pricing shown early
No hidden shock
Simple forms
 Less mental stress
Strong buttons and next steps
 Clear direction
Reviews and ratings visible
 Social proof works
Now the problem at scale:
Many teams design separately
Inconsistent UI patterns
Different tones of voice
Confusing flows
Result?

Users feel unsafe.
And unsafe users don’t pay.
So what’s the cure?
➘ Create one design system
 ➘ Keep rules strict
 ➘ Test flows again and again
 ➘ Remove friction weekly
When I build visuals for brands,
I focus on clarity first.
Because clarity builds safety.
And safety builds trust.
Trust is not one big feature.
It is 100 small promises kept.
Design every screen like money depends on it.
Because it does.

P.S.
 Does your product feel consistent everywhere? Yes or No?

Beautiful means nothing.
Useful means everything.
Many products look amazing.
Few make life easier.
I design differently now.
Pain first.
Polish second.

Because users care about:
→ Saving time
 → Reducing stress
 → Getting results
If it works, it wins.
If it only shines, it fades.
Solve what matters.
The rest follows.


What real pain does your product fix?

Creativity loves speed.
Overthinking kills momentum.
Before AI, I explored slowly.
Too much manual testing.
Now I explore wide first.
Then go deep later.
That shift changed my workflow.

Here’s how I use AI
Generate multiple concept routes
 ↳ Not just one safe idea
Test composition quickly
 ↳ Balance, spacing, structure
Explore style directions
 ↳ Minimal, bold, dramatic
Validate ideas early
 ↳ Before heavy work
When exploration feels heavy
 AI makes it light.

When clients want options
 I deliver faster.
More directions.
 Less wasted effort.
AI handles repetition.
 I handle judgment.
That balance is powerful.

P.S. Do you explore wide or play safe?

People love to travel.
They hate complicated booking.
One messy page can kill excitement.
I’ve watched this happen often.
In my work with visuals,
I study where people stop.
Most drop at checkout.

Not because of price.
Because of confusion.
This page teaches a big lesson
Structure builds trust.
See what it does right:
Clean sections
Easy to scan
Clear personal details form
 No extra fields
Strong orange checkout button
Clear next move
Price summary on side
 Full transparency
Common bottlenecks I see:
Too many distractions
Poor alignment
Weak hierarchy

The fix?
➘ Guide the eyes top to bottom
 ➘ Highlight what matters
 ➘ Remove what doesn’t
That’s how I design.
Not just pretty visuals.
But smooth journeys.
Good design reduces fear.
And fear blocks payment.
Design for calm.
Sales will follow.

Is your website calm or chaotic?

Speed feels productive.
But clarity creates progress.
Before my first mockup,
I focus on alignment.
Because design cannot fix
a confused strategy.

Here is what I do:
→ Map the user journey
 ↳ Where is friction?
→ Define the main action
 ↳ What must users do?
→ Agree on priority
 ↳ What matters most now?
→ Set a clear goal
 ↳ How will we measure success?

Only then I design.
Revisions drop.
Confidence rises.
Alignment is the real shortcut.
Build shared vision first.

P.S. Do you align before opening Figma?

People don’t buy services.
They buy stories they believe.
Most think price builds trust.
But story builds connection first.
I learned this the hard way.
I once lost a big client.
They liked my work.
But they didn’t feel understood.
That day changed me.
I stopped selling features.
I started telling stories.

Stories about their problems.
Stories about their users.
Stories about their future.
Here’s what changed
Clients opened up more
Meetings felt human
Feedback became clear
Trust grew faster
Projects moved smoother
Story does one big thing
 It makes clients feel seen.

When clients feel seen 
They stay longer.
Now in every project I ask:
What story are we telling?
Not about me
Not about tools
About them
If trust feels weak
Add story.
If deals stall 
Tell their future better.
I use this in my work daily.
It changed my client bonds fully.

Facts inform.
Stories connect.
Connection builds long term business.
Tell better stories.
Build stronger client bonds.

Do you sell features or stories?

Clients don’t remember tasks.
They remember how you show up.
Work can be perfect.
 Relationship can still fail.
I once lost a big client.
 The work was fine.
But I was distant.
 Just doing my part.

That loss taught me more.
Now my rule is simple
Care about their outcome
 ↳ Not just your output
Stay during hard talks
 ↳ Not only easy wins
Offer ideas freely
 ↳ Even beyond scope
Think like it’s your brand
 ↳ Not just their brand
When they feel stuck 
 I map the way out.

When growth slows 
I bring fresh angles.
Partnership is deeper than contracts.
It’s shared responsibility.
Don’t just deliver files.
Deliver confidence.

P.S. What would change if you cared like it’s yours?

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The Battle

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