Building the system while plugging the holes

Tuesday: the content system

Our content wasn't working. Not for lack of creativity, but for lack of structure: we were producing without a system tied to data.

Instead of improving the content, I built the system that runs it. A lab where every piece of content goes in with its results. A weekly recap where we read the data and pull out the patterns. And a library of the content that worked, to understand what to replicate.

There was already one good sign: even when more people see us, engagement stays high. The storytelling holds up, and we're not sacrificing quality for quantity.

Wednesday: the crisis

Our go-to sports centre in Turin changed its court bookings. Result: matches out of sync and people left without a court.

I fixed the bookings by hand, contacted every person involved one by one, handled the refunds and wrote in the group chat to apologise. From founder to customer care, with no way to delegate. Solving the problem isn't enough: how people experience it matters too.

Thursday: plugging holes

A whole day of operations: customer care, messages from the Turin and Bologna communities, courts to open for the evening, small fixes. Almost no strategy.

It's a mixed feeling. It pulls you away from long-term thinking, but you see the impact right away: opening those courts in the evening got people playing. It isn't strategy, it's the product working. The day ends the way it should: with a game of beach volleyball.