Month: January 2022

Agency Journey Episode 17 (Y15M8)

January 30, 2022
by Peter Kang
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Barrel Agency Journey Episode 17

Every now and then, I’ll take screenshots of meeting agendas and notes from exactly 1 year, 2 years, and even 3 years ago and share it with my partners. Part of the exercise is to show how similar themes pop up over and over again, but the more important reason is to reflect on how our understanding of certain topics has evolved and deepened over time. We often cringe at the shallow, surface-level understanding of […]

Lessons from The Joy of Selling by Steve Chandler

January 23, 2022
by Peter Kang
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The Joy of Selling by sales consultant, coach, and speaker Steve Chandler is a small 132-page volume that anyone can quickly finish in a couple of sittings. But inside this skinny volume are some very potent ideas and concepts about selling that have continued to stick around the back of my mind long after my first read. I highly encourage anyone, even those not engaging actively in an official sales role, to check this book out. […]

Cost, Frequency, and Value in Discretionary Spend

January 17, 2022
by Peter Kang
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A Quick Thought Experiment Discretionary spending refers to purchases of non-essential items. It’s what you do with income after you’ve paid for housing, utilities, other bills, groceries, personal hygiene, household items, and whatever else you deem essential to keeping life operational. The most common discretionary spending items are luxury goods, entertainment, recreation, and travel. In this thought experiment around discretionary spending, I focus on wines, dining out at restaurants, and trips/vacations–the areas where I personally […]

2021: An Annual Review

January 3, 2022
by Peter Kang
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I’m switching things up and instead of focusing on habits and goals (see previous years), I hope to start a new tradition with an annual review of the past year. Since I’ve written extensively on what’s been happening with Barrel throughout the year (see Agency Journey), I’ll focus more on highlights and activities outside of work in this review along with some thoughts on the upcoming year. Major Highlights Welcoming Teddy On March 10, 2021, […]