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4 min read

#13 | How to Boost Happiness | Chess.com Analysis

  1. Personal:

Happiness and how to boost it?

Here are basic principles we all hear every day but never implement. It's like parents telling kids to eat veggies while they munch on cookies - always sharing advice but not following it themselves;) It's a funny case of "do as I say, not as I do!"

I actually did start using those rituals to be happier (and healthier). And it worked! Following my simple routine increased my happiness and reduced stress. Now, it's another challenge to keep it all sustainable.

  • More sunlight! If there is no sunlight, get more Vitamin D.
  • Establish a routine for healthy sleep: be in bed by 10 pm and charge your phone away from the bed.
  • Exercise EVERY DAY. It helps reduce white noise, make peace with myself, and boost endorphins.
  • Do not let any negativity into your life: no complaints, negative thoughts, toxic people, or ****news.
  • Minimise using your phone and its apps to recover time and happiness. Use it for a camera, phone, calendar, or alarm. I send my emails via Superhuman and only do my messages using Texts.com on my desktop.
All screen activities - less happiness
All non-screen activities - more happiness.
  • Learning something new. I thrive when learning a new language or a new subject. If I do it consistently and with peers, it makes me even happier.
  • No food in the morning. Intermittent fasting makes me more productive, which equals more happiness!
  • Having a hobby or something you are genuinely looking forward to doing.
  1. App: Chess.com

How do you turn your passion into your profession and monetise it successfully?

This week, I want to tell you about the app Chess.com and its fascinating story.

Chess.com is the world's largest chess website, where you can learn and play chess.

Sounds simple, right?

Chess.com started as a domain purchase. Now it is a thriving chess community with over 100 million users and $100 million in revenue.

Chess.com in numbers:

  • 100 million users
  • $100 million in annual revenue
  • 400+ remote workers
  • 250 million+ MONTHLY website visits
  • 250k+ new accounts created every day
  • 10 million games played daily

How did it start?

Chess.com started in 2005 as an online community of chess enthusiasts to discuss and play online chess. The demand to learn and play online chess was so high that when the founders introduced a subscription model to learn how to play chess, the business became profitable almost instantly.

Lesson 1: Test the demand for your product. Once you find the product/market fit, it will be easy to monetise it.

Although some might say the app's design is old-fashioned with no fancy UX/UI, it works and makes money.

Lesson 2: Launch quickly. Do not spend much time initially building a beautiful and perfect product that no one needs. If it's good enough, it works, and most importantly, needed by your audience - excellent!

The app is not only entertaining but also helps newcomers to "enter the game" through education. So, in essence, it introduces people to chess and makes people smarter.

There are a few other lessons to learn here:

Lesson 3: User education has been essential to Chess.com's growth. They made chess.com accessible to anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. By offering instructional content and tutorials, Chess.com has made chess accessible to a broad audience, from complete beginners to advanced players. This inclusivity has attracted users of all skill levels, expanding the platform's user base.

Lesson 4: Strong domain name. The Chess.com domain provided a significant SEO advantage, making it easier for users to find and remember the platform.

Lesson 5: Network Effects. The app fosters a sense of community. Users can share strategies, discuss game analytics, and support each other's development. This community aspect has been essential for word-of-mouth marketing and user loyalty.

Lesson 6: Great SEO.

  • High App Store Ranking: Achieving a #2 ranking in the US iOS app store's Top Free Games category increased visibility and credibility.
  • Chess.com leads online search rankings for chess topics, attracting over 280 million monthly visits.

You can watch the full interview with the CEO, Erik Allbest, here.

  1. Media:

10x is Easier than 2x: I cannot recommend this book enough, so at Pretiosum Ventures, we recommended it via our work newsletter too - you should subscribe if you're building your B2B business!

Let's start by acknowledging that achieving 10X growth is exponentially easier than striving for 2X growth. You need to aim much higher (10x), focus all your efforts on this goal, and remove distractions from your path (the Pareto principle states that 20% of efforts yield 80% of the results). So, please identify what you excel at and double down on it.

"What got you here won't get you there. Every next level of your life will require a different you".
"10x isn't about more. It's about less. Going 10x is the simplification of your focus down to the core essential. Then you remove everything else".
"10x separates the signal from the noise".
  1. Events:

Fun/Sport Events:

Nice reminder from last year!

As always, I'm excited to hear your feedback on Instagram (@yana_pretiosum) or Twitter (@yana_vc). Do you have a favourite bullet point from above? Or perhaps you have some other cool suggestions? I can't wait to hear from you!

Have a wonderful week ahead,

Yana

Published by:

Yana Abramova