Lulu Cheng Meservey — Going Direct: What Founders can learn from K-Pop, Crypto, and the Early Christians (Infinite Loops Classics)

Hi everyone, Jim here. We're taking a short pause on new episodes through the end of August. In the meantime, we're digging out some of our favorite conversations from the archive. This one is from November 2022, so a few of our references (and jobs!) are out of date, but the ideas have only gotten better. Enjoy this conversation with Lulu Cheng Meservey.

Lulu Cheng Meservey is the Chief Communications Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Activision Blizzard.

She joins Infinite Loops to provide us with a masterclass in communications for startups. A must-listen for current and aspiring founders.

Important Links:

• Lulu's Twitter
• Lulu's Substack
• Episode summary from Podcasts Recapped

Show Notes:
• Why people write hit pieces
• The insurgency framework
• How to access your audience's neural real estate
• How to develop a spontaneous elevator pitch
• Tips for becoming better at reading the room
• Speak directly and take the hits
• Defining business objectives
• Learning from other industries
• Personalising your message
• Overcoming resistance to the unknown, what Christianity can teach us about comms
• Escaping corporate jargon
• How comms resembles rugby
• Taking ownership of comms
• Moving to a new model of comms
• "Don't let things happen to you. Go and happen to things."

Books Mentioned:
• The Network State: How To Start a New Country; by Balaji S. Srinivasan
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell