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Inspiration Log

Updated: Nov 11

This is a standalone resource where I make a laundry list of everything that inspires me.


If you haven't read the rest of my blog already, I'd recommend starting there. The rest of my blog posts are related to my work.


This one is a like a messy personal diary where I jot down things as they come to me.





People I Want to Hire or Work With


I maintain a dream list of people I'd like to work with. They are them.


Video Editors

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Designer



Website Design

  • Unseen: created the superlist site. They've been winning some serious awards.

  • Brucira: design agency from India that designed apps like Zepto, Disney+ etc. They made Ruttl as a product.

  • No Boring Design: interesting pitch



Product Analyst 

  • Balaji Kasiraju: This guy is impressive. Saw a reply on LinkedIn that made me add him on the list.


Social Media


Ad Agency

  • BBH: see this 'Bassi vs Garnier ad' posted by Cannes

  • Mother: for their Claude Thinking campaign.

  • The Harmon Brothers: They created Squatty Potty's viral ad campaign.

  • Dapper: Netherlands based content marketing and performance marketing agency. B2B ads have long been boring and mundane. They're bringing D2C type content to the world of B2B, which seemed unique to me. Check out this ad.



Audio Band

  • 9Teen: For custom ad songs. They may create.


Production Houses


Retail Marketing


3D Designer


Lifecycle Marketing Agency

  • Scalero: I saw Notion use them. I hired them as well and really liked the experience.


SEO Agency

  • Marketing OG: mentioned in Nick Lafferty's newsletter. Worked with Hotjar, Ramp and some good clients.


Market Researchers


Performance Marketing


Copy

  • Krishna P Unny: very good communicator. Good vibes. Can partner for research, art, and design writing.



I'm sure there are more people that I have missed out on.


Especially designers! My work at Streamline gave me access to the best designers, since only the most skilled designers would purchase Streamline. There are lots of free/cheaper resources available, but they cared enough about their craft to buy the most premium library out there.





Books


Panchantantra

This is an ancient collection of children stories that had a huge impact on my life. Each story is interconnected to the next one and teaches kids about moral values like friendship and trust. My father narrated one story to me and my brother every night growing up. I can't find the original texts online but when I do, I'll link to it.



Horse Sense by Jack Trout

If you've read my piggybacking article, you know I'm a fan of this method to grow companies. You don't need to read the entire book to get the point.



Inside Intuit

They actually wrote a book about the early days. There are some direct marketing ads in there, and you can see how different Intuit was to everyone else that was building then.





Companies


Uniqlo

Uniqlo's cost of goods sold makes up 53% of their total revenue. This is significantly higher than other fashion companies like Ralph Lauren or Zara, so they're a much better value for money. Marketing spend is only at 3%. Uniqlo made it's founder the wealthiest person in Japan. I like companies that operate like this.



Reformation

Their tagline is "Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We're #2." Masterful copywriting. Uses the fewest possible words to get the message out.



ASUS

They make computers. Taiwanese company. ASUS blows out all other laptops I've ever used in my life. Customer service is excellent. To give you context: Asus will send someone home to fix things if all I do is send an email. On the other hand, Apple will force me to call someone and spend 2 hours trying to screenshare. And they might not even solve the problem. There are a thousand more features than my 16" Macbook Pro and surprisingly faster too than the 48GB Apple Silicon I have. I'm impressed by their engineering power and depth of service. But they're not easy to shop from.



Posthog

Posthog is a software that helps other software companies build better products with tools like product analytics, surveys, feature flagging, and experimentation amongst other things. They are chronically obsessed with transparency, focus on breadth over depth, and do branding in a strangely tasteful way. Start here.



Canva X GiveDirectly

Very cool mission. Very cool execution.





Cool People


Diana Stegall

I enjoyed her podcast 'Land of Desire' about French history, culture, and food. The storytelling and production was the best I've ever seen. She currently works as a senior editor in tech.



Biswa

This is an Indian comedian. I wanted to try my hand at standup comedy, improv (or atleast bringing humor in marketing) and found a youtube playlist of him teaching comedy. It's not pretty to look at, but this is the only available version today.





Quotes


Tur i oturen

This is a Swedish quote that literary translates to "luck in bad luck". It's like the lady that had a heart attack on a flight (bad luck) but there were 15 cardiac surgeons on the same flight since they were all heading to the same conference in LA so she was okay (good luck). I heard it on a podcast lately and thought it was cool enough to bookmark.



घमण्डी का कोई ईश्वर नहीं, ईर्ष्यालु का कोई पड़ोसी नहीं, क्रोधी का कोई मित्र नहीं

This is a Hindi (Indian) quote roughly translated to "The arrogant has no God, the envious has no neighbor, and the angry has no friend". It comes from the faith I follow and I like to remind myself to walk this path. I think I got it from the Bhagwat Geeta but it's been years so I'm not sure.



We are the ones we've been waiting for

Nice.





Everything Else


Bananas in the US

Bananas in the US are twice/thrice larger than you'd find in India. They are huge. Almost the size of your forearm.


And that reflects across everything they do: giant Coke bottles, large fruits and vegetables, big homes, and so on. Having worked with Americans for the past five years, I’ve noticed a difference in the way they operate. They take risks and move fast. They always want more. You can’t become an economic superpower in such a short period without that mindset.


France, on the other hand, has more delicate fruits, and it shows in how they operate. Their products are naturally more artistic, and they care about little details. India grows hardy crops that offer high nutrition at a lower cost (e.g., makhana, ragi). That’s why Indians can innovate at a surprisingly low cost. There’s even a word for it: jugaad. If you have time to spare, I’d recommend watching YouTube videos on “Supermarket tour in X country.” It’s a great way to see how people buy and sell. More so, since software is already internationalized.


 
 
 
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