#41: what else are we wrong about?

what are we wrong about

You are reading contentfolks—a fortnightly blend of sticky notes, big content ideas, and small practical examples. Thank you for being here! ~fio


Hey there 👋

This is an unusual issue, because I’ve had an unusual few weeks.

In April, the company I worked for (Wildbit) sold its main products to another business (ActiveCampaign), and our entire team moved over as part of the deal. I went from an indie, 35-person company to a hyper-growth one with over 1,000 employees.

It was… unexpected, in more ways than one.


What’s the right company for you?

Most of us probably have a favourite size/type of business we like to work at.
Some enjoy freelancing and being a company of one; others prefer being part of an in-house team with clear hierarchies; others still love the variety of agency life. Some folks thrive in the early days of a startup, when everything is up in the air and the options are endless; others only come alive when getting an established company ready for acquisitions or IPOs.

As we say in Italy, il mondo è bello perché è vario: the world is beautiful because it’s varied.


When a company is small, content marketing tends to be a new function that needs strategic foundations and processes, something I both enjoy and am good at. After the first hundred hires, however, the same company usually shifts gears, adds infrastructure, gets a different vibe—and for me, it’s time to move on.

Over the last decade, I mostly joined companies with a headcount of <30 and left after they crossed the 100-person threshold. With this acquisition, I got catapulted into a place with 1000 people, and the difference is vast. There are formal processes where a verbal agreement would have previously been enough; there are hours of onboarding meetings in my calendar, hundreds of Slack channels, and stuff going on at all times.

But.

There are also extensive learning plans, fast-tracked exposure to a huge network of talented people, opportunities for vertical and lateral moves, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) activities, ERGs (employee resource groups), an entire employee brand function. These are all things I never had, I didn’t know I was missing, and I’m now actively enjoying.

I had come to understand myself as somebody who thrives in a small place and is unsuited for a big one—and now it turns out I might have been wrong all along?!?


What else are we wrong about?

I don’t have my usual practical content example for you this week, because I’ve been busy trying to get my head around a larger question: what else am I wrong about when it comes to work?

What other long-held beliefs do I have about content marketing that may be in need of an update? What opportunities is my team missing out on, as a result? Is this where I finally re-evaluate my arch-nemesis, gated content?

These are the kinds of questions we should probably ask ourselves every once in a while. I don’t know that I have many answers right now—but if you do, or you have any helpful tips to share, please get in touch. I am, admittedly, a bit lost at the moment 😅

fio

PS: in the spirit of giving you something content-related, here is a content/marketing campaign I found quite entertaining—it didn’t make me want to buy more oat milk, though.