👋 Howdy to the 2,385 new legends who joined this week! You are now part of a 166,066 strong tribe outperforming the competition together.

LATEST POSTS 📚

If you’re new, not yet a subscriber, or just plain missed it, here are some of our recent editions.

🛍️ Crafting Engineering Excellence At Shopify. An interview with Farhan Thawar, Vice President & Head of Engineering at Shopify.
🫠 Unfiltered: Launching Sidebar. A behind-the-scenes look at how to launch a startup in style.
✨ beehiiv’s 5-Year Sprint to $20M ARR. How to ship product, move fast and destroy the incumbents.

PARTNERS 💫

Need MoR (more) revenue? Paddle has you covered.

Stop DIY-ing your payment infrastructure and start doing MoR. As your Merchant of Record (MoR), Paddle handles global tax compliance, payment processing, and churn prevention across 245+ territories.

While you build amazing products, we’ll manage the messy bits—fraud protection, billing support, and revenue optimization. SaaS companies using Paddle see 10–25% churn reduction and faster global expansion.

Why settle for less when you can get MoR, today?

_{Interested in sponsoring these emails? See our partnership options here.}

HOUSEKEEPING 📨

INTERVIEW 🎙️

Hussein Fazal, Co-Founder & CEO at Super.com

Hussein Fazal is a serial entrepreneur and the Co-Founder and CEO of Super.com, a company that has just surpassed $200M in ARR, focusing on helping everyday Americans save money through travel deals, financial products, and cashback offers.

Previously, he co-founded AdParlor, a Facebook ad optimization platform that scaled to over $100 million in revenue before being acquired. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo and is known for his practical, customer-focused approach to building high-growth tech companies.

What did you learn from your first acquisition?

I bootstrapped my first company, AdParlor, which was a Facebook ad optimization platform. I went from being a developer to having to step into the CEO role. My co-founder was a much stronger engineer than I was, so he handled all the coding, and I took on the business side of things. That meant learning everything from scratch. Hiring, team building, business development, partnerships. It was a steep learning curve, but it gave me a crash course in what it takes to build and run a business, especially since I’d come from being a low-level engineer at a large company.

That’s something I’d advise to anyone who’s had a significant exit. You go from working 18-hour days, six or seven days a week, to suddenly having nothing urgent to do. It’s easy to want to jump into the next thing right away, but those rare periods of real downtime are precious. Use that time to reflect and explore. For me, the decision became clear: I still had the energy, desire, and drive to build something. I was in my early 30s, and I felt like entrepreneurship—because of the sheer intensity it demands—is a young person’s game.

So I figured if I was going to go for it again, I should do it now. And this time, whatever I built needed to be bigger and more meaningful than the last. Otherwise, what’s the point of doing it all over again?

Tell us about today and the problem you're trying to solve? And why this?

Today, we’re focused on building the most valuable membership program for the everyday American. Across the U.S., there are about 196 million people living paycheck to paycheck, just barely getting by. They want to save more money, earn more income, and build better credit, but there’s no single, comprehensive membership program designed specifically for their needs.

We’re trying to change that. Our goal is to bring real, tangible value under one membership, helping improve the financial lives of these everyday Americans in a meaningful and lasting way. This might not be the answer you’d expect. Usually, people say they had a deep personal connection to the problem or grew up in tough financial circumstances. But for us, it started much more simply. We were just trying to get discounted hotel deals.

We discovered some interesting market dynamics that made those deals possible, so that’s where the company began. But once we launched the hotels product and started spending more time with our customers, we noticed something important: many of them were booking two or three-star hotels. For them, saving $10 or $20 wasn’t just a nice bonus; it was the difference between taking a trip or not.

That led us to dig deeper. We started talking to customers through surveys, phone calls, direct conversations, and we realized many of them were struggling to make ends meet. They wanted to save more, earn more, build credit, get better jobs, even just get a phone plan without being penalized for a low credit score. It became clear that there was a huge opportunity to support this underserved group. One thing we did to build more empathy internally was a company-wide offsite in Las Vegas.

We split 200 team members into small groups, gave each group a $200 check, and asked them to cash it at a payday loan provider, just like many of our customers would. They then had to go to Walmart and buy a week’s worth of groceries for a family, using only that money. Experiencing that firsthand helped us understand the real challenges our members face, and how much impact we could have if we built the right product for them.

Tell me about a difficult period in the business?

COVID was definitely one of the most difficult times for us. Back then, we were just a hotels business, and when the pandemic hit, we suddenly had more refunds coming in than new bookings. It was incredibly stressful, an existential threat to the company.

We had to make some really tough decisions: layoffs, cutting marketing channels, shutting down side projects, and putting full focus on profitability. We stripped everything down to the essentials just to keep the business alive.

Interestingly, that period has now been turned into a Harvard Business School case study. But at the time, it was pure survival. We had to adapt quickly, stay disciplined, and make hard calls to make it through.

What was hard about going from zero to one?

Most entrepreneurs focus on product-market fit, building something people want. But for us, the real challenge was going beyond that. Internally, we talk about PMMC fit: product-market-model-channel fit. It’s not enough to have a great product that people want. You also need a business model that drives real revenue or profitability. And critically, you need a scalable channel; a way to consistently and repeatedly bring in new customers. That’s where most people struggle.

Many founders focus so heavily on the product that they forget to think about how to grow it. But without a reliable way to reach customers and generate revenue, you don’t have a business—you have a project.

What were the initial channels you tested, and what worked?

The key to channel fit is meeting customers where they already are, especially where they have high intent. For example, when it came to hotels, we quickly realized that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok weren’t ideal. Sure, they might work for a bit of brand awareness, but they don’t capture intent. People aren’t scrolling social media thinking, ‘I need a hotel tonight.’ Google, on the other hand, is perfect. Someone typing ‘hotel in New York tomorrow night’ has clear intent to book. That’s where we needed to be.

It’s not about inventing a clever new way to market, it's about placing yourself exactly where the customer already is, when they’re ready to act. We spent a significant amount of money trying to drive hotel bookings from TikTok and Instagram. It just didn’t work. The lesson: go where the intent already exists.

What does your day-to-day role look like as CEO?

My day-to-day role as CEO revolves around a few core responsibilities. First, I set the high-level vision and strategy. With around 220–240 employees now, making sure everyone is aligned—from the exec team to the broader company—is crucial. That alignment starts at the top.

Second, I place a strong emphasis on talent. I’m involved in recruiting, especially when a hiring manager is on the fence about a candidate. I’ll step in and help close the deal because bringing in top talent is one of the most important things I can do.

Third, I spend time thinking about the future, not just what we’re doing today, but what we’re building toward in two, five, or ten years. We have a valuable membership program, and I’m always looking for ways we can add more value to it.

Lastly, I spend a lot more time externally now. Talking to investors, managing the board, doing interviews, speaking engagements, and generally being the external face of the company.

What does goal setting look like for you?

We use OKRs and set goals on a quarterly basis. It begins at the highest level with the executive team, where we define company-wide OKRs focused on top-line metrics, including new member growth, retention, revenue, and profitability.

From there, it cascades down. We have two General Managers—one for travel and one for financial products and earnings—and they each set OKRs for their respective verticals. Then, it moves down to what we call mission-aligned teams. We’ve got about 15 to 20 of these teams, and each one sets its own OKRs based on the broader company and GM goals. So, it goes: company level → GM level → team level.

We’re pretty strict about making sure everyone sets quantifiable goals. Once a quarter, we do a full company-wide review of the previous OKRs and kick off the new ones. It’s a rigorous process, but it ensures alignment and clarity across the org.

How do you go about finding the best talent?

I’m also hands-on with recruiting. If a hiring manager is on the fence about someone, I’ll step in to help close the candidate. Hiring great people is one of the highest-leverage things I can do as a CEO.

Do you have any interview questions you like to ask candidates?

Yes, one of my favorite interview questions is, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would your manager rate you?” It’s a deceptively simple question. Candidates want to come across as humble but also impressive, so their answer—and how they explain it—reveals a lot about their self-awareness and how they think others perceive them. It’s very different from just asking someone to rate themselves. Then, during the reference check, I’ll ask their former manager directly how they would rate the candidate. If there’s a big gap between the two answers, that’s telling.

How do you maintain a remote-first culture?

To make remote work, the foundation has to be a strong culture of async writing and reading. Everyone on the team needs to be able to write clearly and read quickly. It’s essential for communication when you're not in the same room.

We also utilise a tool called Glean, which integrates with all our platforms—Google Drive, Jira, Figma, and more—enabling anyone to search and find what they need in one place. That’s been incredibly effective for transparency and alignment.

But the harder part is culture and connection, especially for new hires. That’s why we invest heavily in in-person collaboration. We encourage teams to meet up whenever there’s a reason: happy hours in New York, working sessions in an office, whatever helps build real relationships.

We also host company-wide off-sites. A few years ago, we went to Vegas, last year we did Toronto, and this year we’re heading to Cancun. Sometimes they’re fun, sometimes they’re focused work sessions, but the goal is always the same: to keep the human connection strong while maintaining the flexibility of being a remote-first team.

What is your leadership philosophy?

My leadership philosophy centers on a few core ideas. First, I expect leaders to have a wide operating range. That means being both strategic and hands-on. If you’re a VP of Growth, you should be able to log into Google Ads and offer specific feedback on campaigns. If you’re a product manager, you should be testing every competitor’s app and commenting directly in Figma. You need to know your domain deeply. Your team won’t respect you if you can’t add real value at the ground level.

Second, I’m not a micromanager. I start with frequent one-on-ones, but over time I move to weekly or even biweekly check-ins. In those meetings, the expectation is that my reports come prepared with their top priorities and where they need help. My role is mostly to course-correct when needed, not to tell them what to do.

Third, I practice something I think most leaders don’t: if I disagree with a decision someone wants to make, I won’t block them outright. Instead, I’ll explain my reasoning in detail, then let them move forward if they feel strongly. This empowers people to own their choices. Sometimes they’re right and I’m wrong, which is great. And if I was right, they can reflect on the thought process and learn from it. Unless it’s a one-way door decision, I’d rather let them try, even if it means a bit of wasted time, it’s worth it for the learning and growth.

How do you get the best out of yourself personally and professionally?

I’ve been an entrepreneur for about 15 years, and early on, I was in full beast mode, working 18-hour days, six or seven days a week. That’s not sustainable long term, but I do think there’s a time and place for it, especially when you’re young and don’t have major family or health commitments. If you can push hard early, it creates a foundation.

These days, I focus a lot more on balance. I block time on my calendar for what matters, like taking 6 to 8 p.m. off every evening to be with my son before bed. I take real vacations, and I try not to overload my schedule. I know I don’t do my best work if I’m in eight or nine meetings a day, so I limit myself to five or six.

I also worked with a world-class CEO coach, Matt Mochary, who also coaches Sam Altman from OpenAI. That experience helped me sharpen how I make decisions, spend my time, and operate at a high level. Over the last two years, I’ve put real effort into optimizing both personally and professionally, and that balance is what gives me the energy to perform without burning out.

Lastly, health is a top priority. I have a simple rule: do one good thing for my body every day, except for Sundays. That could be a workout, a massage, a sauna, or stretching. It adds up and gives me a lot more energy. I also invest in sleep. I use an Oura Ring and an Eight Sleep mattress to optimize rest, and I’ve refined my supplement routine—starting my day with AG1, taking vitamin D, and other essentials.

And that’s it! You can follow and connect with Hussein over on LinkedIn and Twitter, and don’t forget to check out Super.com.

BRAIN FOOD 🧠 

TWEETS OF THE WEEK 🐣 

TOOLS WE USE 🛠️

Every week we highlight tools we actually use inside of our business and give them an honest review. Today we are highlighting Paddle—a merchant of record, managing payments, tax and compliance needs—we use their ProfitWell tool.

See the full set of tools we use inside of Athyna & Open Source CEO here.

HOW I CAN HELP 🥳

P.S. Want to work together?

1. Hiring global talent: If you’re hiring tech, business or ops talent and want to do it 80% less, check out my startup Athyna. 🌏

2. Want to see my tech stack: See our suite of tools & resources for both this newsletter and Athyna here. 🧰 

3. Reach an audience of tech leaders: Advertise with us if you want to get in front of founders, investors and leaders in tech. 👀