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GM! It’s Brett. Last week I had my first flight in a decade not spent working - thank you terrible wifi and no outlets.

It made me reflect on why flights feel so joyfully productive: no expectations, no distractions, and being locked in an enclosed space where focus just happens.

Working when no one else is feels like bonus time - effortless dopamine. I’ve been so productive mid-air that I’ve even taken flights just to get work done.

Got this forwarded? Join 35K+ founders & operators who start their week with us.

🔥 Elon Musk's Morning Routine

9:00 AM - Wake Up

  • Sleeps ~6 hours (bedtime usually 1-2 AM).

  • Calls this the sweet spot for mental sharpness and mood.

9:15 AM - Phone Check

  • Checks for urgent issues across Tesla, SpaceX, and X.

  • He admits it’s a “terrible habit,” but it keeps him on top of crises.

9:45 AM - Shower Reset

  • Never skipped. He says it has the “biggest positive effect” on his day.

  • Uses the time for problem-solving and idea generation.

10:00 AM - Breakfast

  • 1-2 cups of coffee daily.

  • Breakfast usually skipped. If he eats: omelet (favorite) or donut (rare treat).

10:30 AM - Email Blitz

  • Clears overnight high-priority emails.

11:00 AM - Deep Work

  • Starts formal work blocks at Tesla, SpaceX and other ventures

⚡ Takeaways

  • Sleep discipline → 6 hours can work if it’s consistent.

  • Anchor habit → one ritual that resets you daily (for Musk, it’s the shower).

  • Micro-time leverage → reclaim small gaps with purposeful actions.

  • Peak clarity → do your hardest thinking before the world takes over.

👀 Reddit Growth Playbook

This guy built a $17K MRR tool with 20K monthly visitors - all from Reddit. No ads. No audience. Just a clean playbook.

He basically made a tool like Cursor, but for designing mobile apps. With less than 100 followers on X, he used this very straightforward Reddit strategy to grow it from nothing. Watch this to know more about him & his product.

Here’s how he used Reddit 👇

STEP 1 - Become a real Reddit user
Don’t treat Reddit like a billboard. Get in, hang out, give real help, and earn karma the old-fashioned way. Join big subreddits in your niche. Don’t promote. Don’t be slick. Just be useful.

How to do it:

  • Aim for ~10–15 meaningful replies a day (not one-liners).

  • Answer questions as if you were helping a teammate - add images, videos, case studies - whatever necessary but no sleazy marketing at all.

  • Don’t rush karma - build trust. Reddit hates obvious self-promo and will ban you for it.

STEP 2 - Make a list of subreddits in your niche
Use Reddit’s ad tool to find every relevant subreddit. Build a long list and join them. You can even use subreddit graph tools (like anvaka) to find related subreddit you wouldn’t think of.

Quick checklist:

  • Target high-traffic and niche subreddits

  • Join, read the top posts, learn the culture before you post

  • Note rules for each subreddit - some ban direct links, some require flairs

STEP 3 - Killer post
Write posts that match real queries. Think: “How to [Outcome] in [Context] (Data + Templates)” or “Playbook: [Outcome] in [Timeframe]”.

Give a ton of value through that post to your niche, then quietly plug your product at the end.

If a subreddit forbids links: put your product with a bunch of other products or describe it briefly. Most communities accept that if your post genuinely helps first.

STEP 4 - Repeat Step 3 and Step 1
Keep posting high-quality threads across different subreddits. Keep replying to questions every day. Growth comes from volume of quality, not spam.

Rules of thumb:

  • Max 2–3 posts/week per subreddit - otherwise you’ll get shadow-banned

  • Keep posting helpful comments even when you’re not posting threads. Those are the things that end up in ChatGPT/Perplexity answers

And that’s the interesting part - it’s those exact answers that sometimes make products show up inside AI results.

Lately, I’ve been trying to understand how products actually end up being recommended by ChatGPT or Perplexity. And Reddit is the answer to that.

One of the best insights I found was from Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite - probably the top SEO growth agency out there - when he was on Lenny’s Podcast.

He said something super sharp: the real purpose of Reddit is that it gives people useful, high-quality, authentic comments from real humans for whatever problem they’re trying to solve.

Trying to hack that - automating 1000s of replies, running fake accounts, mass-upvoting your own stuff - won’t get you featured anywhere. It’ll just get those accounts banned and your comments deleted.

You don’t need 1000 comments. You just need 5–10 really good ones.

The way he suggests doing it is simple:

  • Make one account.

  • Say who you are, where you work.

  • Then just give a genuinely helpful answer.

That’s it.

Your Shopify DTC Brand Can’t Afford Q4 Without Zipchat

BFCM traffic costs a fortune. If your Shopify brand isn’t converting at its possible best, you’re not just losing sales — you’re burning money and shrinking Q4 margins.

Zipchat.ai is the AI Agent built for DTC ecommerce. It doesn’t just chat — it sells.

  • Closes hesitant shoppers instantly with product answers and recommendations

  • Recovers abandoned carts automatically via web + WhatsApp

  • Automates support 24/7 so you scale without extra headcount

  • Boosts profit margins in Q4, when every order counts

That’s why brands like Police, TropicFeel, and Jackery — brands with 10k visitors/month to millions — trust Zipchat to handle their busiest quarter and fully embrace Agentic Commerce.

Setup takes less than 20 minutes with our success manager. And you’re fully covered with 37 days risk-free (7-day free trial + 30-day money-back guarantee).

On top, use the NEWSLETTER10 coupon for 10% off forever.

🧠 ON MY MIND

😂 FROM THE FEED

🤝 COMMUNITY POLL

Last week’s poll:

How do you keep track of conversations across platforms (email, Slack, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, etc.)?

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ One master inbox (all in one place)

🟩🟩🟩⬜️⬜️⬜️ Rely on search when needed

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Manual notes / CRM / Notion

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Just wing it, hope for the best

Homescreen is a collaboration between Micro and Launch House Ventures

Micro is a CRM that doesn’t feel like homework and an email client that knows what matters. Simply put, it’s an all-in-one productivity tool that organizes itself so you don’t have to.

LHV is a community-driven, early-stage venture fund backing ambitious founders at the earliest stages.

REACH 35K+ FOUNDERS, INVESTORS & OPERATORS

If you’re building tools that help founders, investors and other professionals who want to be 100x more productive with 100x less work, and you’re interested in advertising with us, send an email over to [email protected] with the subject “Homescreen Ads”

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