Barry Hurd

Explore your data. Explore your partners data. Ask questions. Form a brain-collective for sharing ideas and tactical applications. Incorporate context in your content analysis to understand the "why" behind data trends. Assess factors like market shifts, audience preferences, and competitive strategies. For example, if a particular content piece performs exceptionally well, explore beyond basic metrics to understand contributing factors such as seasonal interest, search trend spikes, or alignment with a recent industry development. Use this holistic understanding to tailor future content strategies.

Most important: understand where you are at. "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates Enhance your skills by regularly experimenting with platforms that deal with words, categorization, and relationships. Digest 10 to 20 weekly pieces focused on key content areas. Learn from other professionals mistakes and success. Practice interpreting data sets to gain deeper insights into content performance, randomly do deep dives on how much knowledge you can discover about a word, sentence, paragraph, or article. Seek feedback from industry peers to refine your approach.

The 'best' is determined by project fit and results. Use LLM and semantic platforms for word exploration and relationship topics (OpenAI, Claude, Monkeylearn, etc.) Employ BuzzSumo or Quid for trend tracking and audience interest, SEMrush or Ahrefs for SEO insights, Google Analytics for audience behavior, and TextRazor for advanced text analysis. Delve into sentiment analysis of your content, understanding how it resonates emotionally with your audience. Combining tools and focus on strengths of each platform's data offering to build a well-rounded perspective of both the performance and qualitative aspects of your content.

Blend manual analysis with tools for a comprehensive approach. Google Analytics offers insights into user behavior and content performance, while Ahrefs provides competitive analysis. Manually, examine customer feedback on social media to gauge sentiment. For example, use Google Analytics to track user journey and content interaction, and Ahrefs to understand how your competitors' content performs, guiding your own content creation and optimization strategies. Use specific cluster analysis for longtail variations that have reasonable engagement metrics that your organization can add exceptional value to.

Utilize tools to export, curate, and manage your LinkedIn network alongside team members, ensuring a dynamic and relevant contact base. Apply social network analysis to identify high-value relationship entry points, leveraging these for strategic introductions and referrals. Maintain 'always on' engagement to stay top of mind within your network. Additionally, employ 'surprise and delight' tactics to build meaningful relationships with community leaders and influencers, enhancing your visibility and reputation in the startup ecosystem. Use personal inquiry and social media monitoring to seek and share 'behind the scenes' success stories in your network that are not getting properly spotlighted.

As a startup executive: get to know the portfolio. The VC firm is only one seat at the table. Explore relationships with the executive staff of other portfolio companies to explore synergies and possible cooperative projects, but also to build relationships and learn how to manage the relationship between your VC around problems and opportunities other portfolio companies have had. The greater portfolio ecosystem typically represents 50X opportunities for market growth, as well as cost reduction strategies for shared resources such as data, talent, or office space.