derekflanzraich

I tried almost 30 healthy protein bars and built out a detailed spreadsheet (you can personalize) to help you choose the best protein bar for you.

spreadsheet at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/3/d/12oXaPJydQKZNFh-a...

Totally-- hard when you're starting out, but definitely starts to click over time... thanks Cole!

thanks Jonathan!

Thanks! Not sure what you mean by "exit money," but hey-- I'll take it.

I don't disagree, really. Some positions obviously aren't made for "unicorns" but, that said, have found that just because someone is brilliant doesn't mean they're necessarily a pain in the ass.

If you're wondering whether it's worth it, definitely sounds like it probably isn't for you. Like all fulfilling things in life (I imagine like getting a PhD, eg.), it's freakin' hard-- so you better go after the things that you think will be worth it & more, IMHO.

Less catchy of a title?

sure thing, Jacob-- appreciate this.

Totally right, sorry for leaving it out-- basically I use that section for anything that doesn't fall into day-to-day stuff or to-dos. It's some idea I had that I wanted to put down, thoughts for the future, etc... Meeting notes go in the day breakdown (notice all the bright blue stuff blotted out of the day summary in the last screenshot). Hope that makes sense!

Promise my memory hasn't turned to mush-- if anything, it's improved?

Ha-- yeah, swear I used to think this, too... but now am convinced that the time I put into my master planner pays off later in spades thanks to structure & organization. At least that's what I keep telling myself. :)

Also for what it's worth, I have a moleskine I keep too. That's mostly for writing down stuff more visually-- but there are some things I definitely prefer writing on paper as well.

We're working on it! Lots more to be added thanks to some awesome submissions.

For us, it's less about having a killer professional recommendation than it is about caring about Greatist/this job enough to ask someone to help them out. Obviously, a meaningful professional recommendation would be more effective-- but not saying it's necessary, you know?

Well, the salary is what we can afford-- and so that obviously works as a filter. We're an early stage startup, so we're hoping people will believe in our vision + recognize the upside they can help create... and that then the salary becomes less important.

Plus uncapped commission doesn't hurt (especially if you're confident you can close deals) and this position, in time, is definitely one that can earn a meaningful amount of equity. Anyway, just our take.

Sorry for partying.

Thanks Chris-- means a ton!

Check some of the answers above-- thanks for reading!

Ha-- nope, apps, subscription services, etc...

Re: traffic, more on it in the comment below, but more than 60% is driven by social.

Mix of both, we've got some pretty epic profiles-- but the majority comes from others sharing our stuff w/ their friends. Strong believer in this as a trend (Buzzfeed talks about this, too: http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/content-shared-close-fr...)

Oh yeah. Stay tuned! :)

Thanks Fey-- means a lot.

Thanks-- and glad you found it valuable!

Our growth has been nearly entirely social, with the 60% driven by sites like Pinterest, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, & Twitter. The rest mostly comes from our syndication partnerships. Outside of some free trials from Google Adwords, we've never paid for any visitors... and we've never been covered by any major outlet either. We've grown 35% on average each of the last 5 months & it's all organic.

Thanks for reading-- we're actually currently partners w/ Everyday Health for advertising & have no plans to build out a major sales team in the near future. We're hoping to build a business that isn't driven by ad sales, but instead driven by guiding people to products, tools, and services that are as high-quality as our content & will help them achieve their goals.

In terms of engagement-- we have a lot on the way. Right now our focus has been purely to build the highest-quality brand equity and an audience. We've got a 26% return rate, so think we're doing something right so far-- though obviously there's a long way to go and a lot more to do.

Our traffic is currently less than 6% driven by Google search-- but we're already ranking for some pretty awesome terms ahead of some classic incumbents. We believe we're writing among the highest-quality content in the space already (every fact cited by a PubMed study, every article approved by multiple experts) & that if we keep consistently doing that and people keep returning & noticing that we likely won't penalized by Google in the future. My take at least!

Totally-- so the big challenges ahead for Greatist are twofold:

First, we're faced with scaling media for traffic & growth. How do we resurface old content? How do we look/work less like a blog and more like, say, the NYT? How do we build out a network of contributors w/ open-ended flexibility for the future? This is much like the challenge faced by the HuffPost, Babble, & others at one point.

Second, we'll next tackle building both products + tools plus an ecommerce platform. We're already developing a self-tracking tool for fitness, health, and happiness goals. We've considered different ways to bring together people who want to be active with people who organize & lead health and fitness activities. We've thought about the challenge of putting people interested in having more guidance in their personal health with online, certified coaches. And we've gone through the background of building an ecommerce site from the ground up. There are so many opportunities in this space-- and particularly ones that can be done in a high-quality way that fits with our brand and with our content... and that's a big part of why we're looking for a Technical Leader to tackle what they're most excited about, what they think has the most potential, and what they know they can build (or figure out how to build) best.

What's the best fitness advice HN has?

For general, practical, and relatable health & fitness tips, I'm obviously partial to http://www.greatist.com.

For the record, though, scooby's pretty sweet & his videos are for sure an interesting, if kinda goofy, resource.

Couldn't agree more. Most people will tell say it's 80% diet, 20% exercise... and, though that ratio may change somewhat based on weight & goals, I think it's mostly right on.

Awesome idea. Local YMCAs often have similar stuff, too.

Yes. Tiger blood runs through their veins & they have fewer active nerve endings. Don't forget the adamantamium skeleton.

Totally agree. Steve Kamb is the man.