Measure What Matters and Do What Works:
I had the opportunity to hang with Tony Haile, the ceo of ChartBeat, last week. The conversation drifted from product ideas to the necessity of validated, data driven decision making - primarily, the act of measuring what matters for your business and optimizing for results.
As an example, he pulled up an old Gawker article digging Men’s Health for their blatant “re-cycling” of old magazine headlines and cover content (see above and below). Gawker and other editorial outlets call the move lazy and deceptive, but the fact of the matter is Men’s Health knows what sells magazines. And, “SIX-PACK ABS” sells a sh$& load of magazines.
I found this a fun example of sticking to your guns and doing what works.
