Pop CultureMBASubscribe
Volume 1

Sales & Marketing

Every sales & marketing lesson we've published, and the skills, shows, and books behind them. Start anywhere.

Skills

What you'll learn

Lessons

The Sales & Marketing lessons

Mad Men#9

Change the Thing You're Selling

Two small ad agencies walk into a Detroit bar the night before pitching Chevy. Both know they're going to lose. So they stop competing — and do something that changes the whole contest.

Book: Good Strategy Bad StrategyRead →
Mad Men#8

Own the Category

London Fog once sold 81% of America's raincoats. Roger Sterling explained why in three words — and accidentally defined what winning at positioning actually looks like.

Book: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others DieRead →
Mad Men#7

Turn Limitations into Opportunities

Lucky Strike could no longer claim cigarettes were safe. Don did not argue with the ban. He sold "It's toasted."

Book: A Beautiful ConstraintRead →
Mad Men#6

Find the USP

Belle Jolie wanted the ad to brag about how many lipstick colors they had. Don sold "Mark Your Man" — and told the client their feature plan had already made them No. 4.

Book: Reality in AdvertisingRead →
Mad Men#5

Sell the Feeling

Kodak walked in with a slide projector called the Wheel. Don sold a time machine called the Carousel — and the room cried.

Book: All Marketers Are LiarsRead →
Better Call Saul#4

When Charm Fails

Betsy Kettleman never buys Jimmy's charm. When the Howard plot needs her silence, Jimmy still reaches for the carrot. Kim challenges — and becomes the wolf the room requires.

Book: The Challenger SaleRead →
Better Call Saul#3

Make it Impossible to Disagree

Emotion opens the door. Logic closes it. Jimmy McGill builds a chain of yeses — story, proof, social pressure — until saying "no" feels like the irrational move.

Book: Product-Led GrowthRead →
Better Call Saul#2

Preparation and Hard Work

Jimmy McGill looks like a natural closer. Watch the dumpster, the billboard logistics, and the hearing plan — and you see the real product is preparation.

Book: Fanatical ProspectingRead →
Better Call Saul#1

Be a Chameleon

Jimmy McGill doesn't win the room by being the smartest person in it. He wins by becoming whoever the room needs him to be — and there's a whole science behind why that works.

Book: Never Split the DifferenceRead →
Shows

Featured shows

Companion books

Read next

Subscribe

One lesson. Every week.

Five minutes, one great show, and a real business book you can actually use. No AI slop. No 300-page slog.