Community | University 

Sept 16, 2025

Hello, GrowthHackers! 

Welcome to your daily unfair advantage.

Every morning, we cut through the noise to bring you sharp insights, fast news, and fresh sparks to light up your brain and fuel your hustle. From scrappy hacks to big tech moves, AI shifts to culture flips—this is your intel to stay ahead, move fast, and break boring.

Think of it as your growth-fueled espresso shot.
Short. Smart. Addictive.

Let’s dive in.👇

Quick Hits

1. Kayak co-founder takes on Calendly with new Supercal scheduling platform
   (The scheduling wars are heating up.)

2. OpenAI upgrades Codex with a new version of GPT-5
   (Code is no longer written, it’s orchestrated.)

3. Fame engineering: The key to generative engine optimization
   (It’s not about links or keywords it’s about being famous to the model.)

The Growth joke of the day

Promised my client page-one rankings in 30 days…
Now I rank #1 for ‘overpromising SEO consultant.’ 😂

What's New in Growth Hacking/Growth Marketing?

Strategies

• Awake’s new app requires heavy sleepers to complete tasks in order to turn off the alarm

  Awake's sleep app uses gamified physical and mental tasks to ensure users wake up, increasing morning engagement via scheduled content (weather, calendar, podcasts). The premium upgrade unlocks more advanced user-level tracking and a future “Wake Up Check” feature, showcasing innovative UX for engagement and user retention

• Meta Expands WhatsApp Status Ad Options

  Meta’s new format lets businesses combine Facebook/Instagram “click-to-message” ads linking to WhatsApp Status updates—creating a full-screen, mobile-first experience that drives high engagement with minimal friction, especially effective in DM-based sales funnels

• Keyword Analysis: How to choose and prioritize growth-driving keywords

  SEMrush provides an in-depth guide on evaluating search intent, traffic potential, competition, and SERP features to select growth-oriented keywords a textbook content marketing and SEO growth hacking strategy.

• Spotify’s free users can finally play the songs they want

  Spotify has removed restrictions that prevented free users from listening to specific tracks. With lossless audio now finally rolling out to paying subscribers, the music streaming service has announced that it’s also allowing non-paying listeners to search, play, and share any song they want, without having to upgrade to a Premium subscription.

  ____________________________________________________________

People

• Matthew Prince Wants AI Companies to Pay for Their Sins

  Prince is the cofounder and CEO of Cloudflare. Launched in 2010, the internet infrastructure company has found itself increasingly in the position of serving as the web’s bodyguard. It filters out bad traffic, keeps sites safe, and stops them from crashing when too many people visit.

Unleash Your AI Expertise!

AI Rankings Don’t Rise Themselves Here’s Your Shortcut ⚡

By now, we've all tested our brand's AI rankings using one of the many tools out there. But here’s the catch: the only real way to consistently rise in AI search is to strengthen your AI authority.

And the smartest way to do that? Collaborating on content with domain experts who bring trust, depth, and credibility.

That’s exactly what Yes.inc delivers. Partnering with some of the world’s biggest brands, they offer a world-first service, co-creating content with industry leaders that directly boosts your authority in AI-driven search.
It’s a full end-to-end solution,
with a full guarantee to increase your AI ranking.

👉 GrowthHackers members get 50% off for the next 3 days.
Just mention the code AIAuthority25 when you email or meet the team.

What's New in Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

• Apple’s iOS 26 with the new Liquid Glass design is now available to everyone

  iOS 26 introduces Live Translation and on-screen visual intelligence powered by Apple’s data processing tools. It supports ChatGPT, Google Visual Search, and system-wide AI responses, reflecting Apple’s subtle but strategic integration of AI across the ecosystem to enhance user interactions and data extraction.

• ChatGPT Will Soon Have Parental Controls. How Schools Can Help Parents Use Them
  Come October, Open AI will roll out parental controls for its popular generative AI tool, ChatGPT. Experts say that could be a first step toward helping schools curtail some of the harmful things students are using ChatGPT to produce.

Your boss will think you’re a genius

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