Some of the best learning happens when you read stories about real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week’s stories and strategies from real life are about GoPro, Babiators, Two Maids & a Mop, General Electric, and Vernors.

From Sean O’Kane: The future of GoPro depends on software

“The next time you shoot video with your phone, Nick Woodman wants you to edit it with GoPro software. Then he wants you to do that again and again and again. It will be so good and fast and easy that you’ll get a rush, like a surfer riding the barrel of a wave, or a skateboarder stomping the perfect trick. And then that rush will keep you coming back for more. Woodman thinks this could turn you into a ‘habitual storyteller,’ and maybe then, if you don’t already own a GoPro, you might want to buy one.”

From BizWomen: Oh baby! Atlanta-based Babiators LLC creates sunglasses for infants, children

“Babiators LLC, flexible and sturdy sunglasses for kids, was born five years ago, and in that short span of time, the company has sold more than a million pairs of sunglasses across the U.S. and the globe. The debut in 2011 came after considerable market and product research that resulted in glasses with flexible rubber frames and durable polycarbonate lenses, all backed with a one-year guarantee against breakage and loss.”

From Sheila Marikar: How This $5 Million Home Cleaning Startup Is Sweeping the Competition

“Ron Holt got into residential cleaning in the early 2000s, when he saw a surge in demand that the mom-and-pop shops dominating the industry couldn’t meet. The result was Two Maids & a Mop, his Birmingham, Alabama, startup. By making some decisions that were expensive at first–but which bore long-term fruit–this three-time Inc. 5000 honoree brought in $4.7 million in revenue in 2014. Holt explains how his company has thrived.”

From Rachel Emma Silverman: GE Re-Engineers Performance Reviews, Pay Practices

“One of the biggest engineering projects under way at General Electric Co. these days isn’t a turbine or locomotive. It is reinventing the way the company’s employees are assessed, reviewed and even paid.”

From Frank Witsil: How Vernors, Michigan’s ginger ale, endured 150 years

“Vernors — which was originally Vernor’s, before the apostrophe was dropped decades ago — is among the oldest continuously made soft drinks in America. This week, it celebrates its 150th anniversary.”