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Founder Plays

Startup breakdowns, founder lessons, competitive analysis, and playbooks from operators in the trenches

Founder Plays

How 3 Guys Killed a $650M Competitor With $0 Marketing Budget

Nov 25, 2025

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13 min read

How 3 Guys Killed a $650M Competitor With $0 Marketing Budget

The exact playbook Tyler Denk used to take on Substack's $650M war chest (while charging $0)

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

How Ridge Scaled to $200M/Year

Nov 11, 2025

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16 min read

How Ridge Scaled to $200M/Year

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

The Only 3 Plays That Matter in the Sora Era

Oct 7, 2025

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18 min read

The Only 3 Plays That Matter in the Sora Era

Sora, Memes, and the Next Battle for IP

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

Is The Next Gold Rush on Your Face?

Sep 23, 2025

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11 min read

Is The Next Gold Rush on Your Face?

The playbook for building on virgin platforms

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

How one startup hits $1.67M ARR per employee

Sep 16, 2025

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12 min read

How one startup hits $1.67M ARR per employee

One startup just hit $1.67M ARR per employee while most companies struggle to break $300K. Here's their exact playbook.

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

The $1M ARR B2B Playbook

Sep 9, 2025

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10 min read

The $1M ARR B2B Playbook

Master List + Content Flywheel + Paid Acceleration + Conversion Loop = $1M ARR

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

10 Secrets Behind App Mafia's $36M Empire (Scraped From Their Course)

Sep 2, 2025

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15 min read

10 Secrets Behind App Mafia's $36M Empire (Scraped From Their Course)

I scraped App Mafia's course and created a custom AI to find their brutal secrets

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

AI Just Broke Social Media (And There's No Going Back)

Jul 29, 2025

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12 min read

AI Just Broke Social Media (And There's No Going Back)

When Everything is Fake, Authenticity Becomes Your Strategy

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

How To Convert Users With $0 Ad Spend

Jul 8, 2025

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13 min read

How To Convert Users With $0 Ad Spend

HubSpot built a $35B empire giving away tools for free.

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

I Replaced $2,000 Tools for Free (Steal It)

Jul 1, 2025

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10 min read

I Replaced $2,000 Tools for Free (Steal It)

My $0 Solution Beats Social Listening Platforms

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

Google's 10-year winning streak just ended

Jun 3, 2025

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12 min read

Google's 10-year winning streak just ended

The $300 billion trap that's about to reshape how every person on Earth finds info

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

How to Build Software in the AI Era Without Wrecking Your Startup

May 13, 2025

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9 min read

How to Build Software in the AI Era Without Wrecking Your Startup

Vibe coding is fun... until it’s not.

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

14 hard-earned founder lessons (that still hold up in 2025)

May 6, 2025

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11 min read

14 hard-earned founder lessons (that still hold up in 2025)

What I’d do differently if I had to start from scratch

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

Disney’s Secret to a 3,871% Price Hike

Mar 11, 2025

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8 min read

Disney’s Secret to a 3,871% Price Hike

How To Unlock Brand Magic

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

Viral Growth Isn’t Luck – It’s This Formula

Feb 25, 2025

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9 min read

Viral Growth Isn’t Luck – It’s This Formula

Lessons In Product-Led Growth

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

The Great Data Heist: Steal Netflix’s $1B Strategy Before Big Tech Hides It Forever

Feb 11, 2025

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7 min read

The Great Data Heist: Steal Netflix’s $1B Strategy Before Big Tech Hides It Forever

The Data Secret 1% Companies Don't Want You To Copy

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

+1

The Face Behind the Brand: Why People Follow Personalities, Not Logos

Aug 15, 2024

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11 min read

The Face Behind the Brand: Why People Follow Personalities, Not Logos

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

The Impractical Joker's Guide to Building A Raving Fanbase

Aug 8, 2024

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9 min read

The Impractical Joker's Guide to Building A Raving Fanbase

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

Napster to Neural Networks: A Guide to Not Becoming Obsolete

Jul 31, 2024

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14 min read

Napster to Neural Networks: A Guide to Not Becoming Obsolete

Matthew Berman
Matthew Berman

Founder Plays

Unlocking the Messaging Strategies of Top Founders and Their Brands

May 22, 2024

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6 min read

Unlocking the Messaging Strategies of Top Founders and Their Brands

How do the best in the business craft messages that not only speak to their audience but also propel them to billion-dollar valuations?

Big Players

Stealing billion-dollar growth strategies so you don't have to. The exact data-driven tactics, AI tools, and marketing frameworks that scale businesses to $100M+.

My Growth Agency 👉 Emerald Digital

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