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If I exposed myself and looked dumb for a while but learned something new at the end, then it was worth using that vulnerability to have some learning.
Here, Herbie Hancock talks about how a time when he, in his words, made a mistake, but Miles Davis found that event as an opportunity to change the next notes to make Hancock sound right.
Read MorePart of the magic of Silicon Valley is that people default to taking you seriously if you’re willing to be serious—they’ve learned it’s a very expensive mistake, in aggregate, not to. If you want to start a company working on a better way to build homes, gene editing, artificial general intelligence, a new education system, or carbon sequestration, you may actually be able to get it funded, even if you don’t have a degree or much experience.
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Bored means that you’re paying attention (no one is bored when they’re asleep.)
Being challenged at work is a privilege. It means that you have a chance, on someone else’s nickel, to grow. It means you can choose to matter.
I’m glad you’re feeling bored, and now we’re excited to see what you’re going to go do about it.
— Seth Godin
What was happening that showed you the way you were doing things wasn’t working anymore?
— Ryan Singer
Rather than viewing one’s fans as a uniform group, the 100 True Fans model calls on creators to distinguish between various subsegments based on affinity and willingness to pay.
The relationship super-fans have with creators is different from regular fans: they become disciples, protégés, co-learners, and co-creators. As such, they require a whole new set of tools and platforms.
— Li Jin
With a 40% gross retention rate, mobile app A churns 60% of its active user base every month. Mobile app A’s quick ratio has been fluctuating between 1 and 1.5, which means that for every three new users the company adds, it is also losing two to three users to churn.
That churn, however, is masked by new users who sign up for the app and show activity in that month.
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An org that is truly scaling, however, is becoming more effective as it gets bigger.
The difference is purpose.
When you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, you make better choices about allocating resources and saying “yes” vs. saying “no”. Scaling enables you to stop doing one thing so you can start doing something new.
— Dominic Price
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/teamwork/unlearn-five-fallacies-innovation
Who sees you, and who do you see in return?
What does it mean for those on the journey to listen to you, and given the asymmetric nature of leadership (there’s more of them than there are of you), how can you possibly listen back?
— Seth Godin
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/leaders-dont-hide-behind-data/
After the workshop, I emailed every attendee and asked if I could interview them by phone. The interview wasn’t about the workshop — it was about what was going on in their company when they decided to apply. I had a lot to say about product development, but I didn’t know which specific things actually mattered to people. I didn’t know what they were struggling with. The interviews gave me a way to learn what was going wrong in their teams, how they made the decision to attend the workshop, and what they hoped to get out of it.
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We yearn for frictionless, technological solutions. But people talking to people is still the way that norms and standards change.
— Atul Gawande
First, Foursquare decided to start treating its data like the valuable property it is. It asked those big companies to start paying for its API.
The developers on the other end of the line basically laughed and said, “Yeah, we were wondering when you were going to start charging.” Crowley was amazed. “I had never had that experience in extracting dollars from big enterprise customers, but thankfully we had people here who knew how to do that.”
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How well is your company doing? How many users do you have? How fast are you growing? How much revenue are you generating?
If your numbers are good, chances are that the investors will pay attention, even if they’re not immediately interested in your space.
If someone is pitching something that is consistently growing at 50 percent per week, I’m reaching for my checkbook, and you can explain to me what it is later. It’s that simple.
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Receipts are the first support tickets. Customers may not have asked for help yet, but the relationship has begun.
— Dana Lindsay
http://firstround.com/review/the-case-for-startups-to-put-cx-at-their-core/
Growth hackers are a hybrid of marketer and coder, one who looks at the traditional question of “How do I get customers for my product?” and answers with A/B tests, landing pages, viral factor, email deliverability, and Open Graph. On top of this, they layer the discipline of direct marketing, with its emphasis on quantitative measurement, scenario modeling via spreadsheets, and a lot of database queries. If a startup is pre-product/market fit, growth hackers can make sure virality is embedded at the core of a product. After product/market fit, they can help run up the score on what’s already working.
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When outlining a project we specify The Problem To Be Solved and How We Measure Success. The Measure of Success is typically defined as one of our key performance indicators such as improvements in new user acquisition, retention, store sales, or cost reduction, etc. If solving the problem that the Job To Be Done requires isn’t expected to move a key performance indicator then it is very likely that this isn’t a high priority project and there are others that will have a bigger impact and should come first.
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Eduardo Galeano se lamentaba de la venta del fútbol, «en cuerpo, alma y ropa», a las pantallas chinas.
Y añadía: «Es más importante la publicidad en el pecho que el número en la espalda».
En los 70, apareció en la camiseta del Eintracht-Braunsckweig y, desde entonces, las marcas se han apoderado de todo, incluso de los nombre de los estadios. Han comprado el fútbol, transformándolo en un deporte con un 2% de ganadores y un 98% de perdedores. Ganadores que, curiosamente, defraudan fuera del campo.
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But perhaps the most important thing in this building is on Arison’s computer. It’s a document that lists everything he learned from his experience with Taxi Magic, which he’s now applying to Shift.
This might be the biggest Uber lesson of all, and one that Arison hasn’t yet internalized: If you want to build a transformative company, you have to reimagine an industry, or create a new one, not buff up an old one. That’s why Uber succeeded where Taxi Magic failed. It didn’t try to improve taxis; it replaced them.
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There are a lot of people around the world that actually want to do awesome things. They want to do their best work, but they’re not recognized by the organization. Their ideas don’t bubble up to the top, because of the complex and archaic way that we built businesses. I think that some people will lose in this future — the people that got ahead hoarding information and working in a way that was very specific to that model of an organization. You’ll have a new era of people that are able to win on their ideas, and able to win on what maybe we would consider to be actually better reasons, that open up opportunity for a lot of people that previously their voices were not necessarily heard.
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What used to cost $1M-$2M to set up, now costs $10K. What used to cost $5M to build, now costs $250K. What used to cost $20M to go to market now costs $1M.
But the upside hasn’t gone down. It has gone up. The 3 billionth person will be online shortly. They can all use the product. Network effects are stronger than ever, and some businesses become natural monopolies very quickly. Most web products have no marginal cost of replication, so adding a new customer is pure profit.
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The first mile of a user’s experience is the top of your funnel for new users and needs to be the most thought-out part of your product, not an after-though.
For any product with aggressive growth aspirations, I’d argue that 30%+ of your energy should always be allocated to the first mile of your product.
Even if your user experience for new users is performing well, don’t forget that new types of new users are the real source of growth.
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When someone wants a yes, they don’t hear maybe as a no.
They hear it as “So what you’re telling me is that I have a chance?”
The attempt to get out of it by being less than direct only entangles you in it more.
— Ryan Holiday
http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-holiday/2016/03/dont-say-maybe-if-you-want-to-say-no/
In many ways, Getwear’s story was an attempt to revive a golem. Most people, whatever their social group or сlass, don’t see the need to design their own clothes. Getwear was doomed from day one.
We started listening to user feedback only when we were already up and running, and acting on it didn’t change much. What sense would adding color and fabric options make if people simply are not interested in purchasing custom jeans online?
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Much as the traditional Internet helped strangers meet and communicate online, they say, the modern Internet can link individuals and communities in the physical world. “The extent to which people are connected to each other is lower than what humans need”
So over several years, Chesnut’s team built its own trust infrastructure. It began monitoring the activity across the eBay marketplace, flagging potentially problematic sellers or buyers, providing its own payment options, and eventually guaranteeing every purchase. In so doing, eBay evolved from a passive host to an active participant in every transaction.
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Massimo cared deeply and obsessively about typefaces, kerning, and the space between objects.
Every time he sat down to make a three-and-a-half by two-inch business card, it was like no one had ever made one before. He worked it out so carefully and came up with something that he hadn’t quite done before.
Then he’d exclaim, “Ahh! Isn’t this great?!” He was so enthusiastic and uncynical and ready to be surprised.
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Although people may think of industrial design “as the concept and renderings and models and all the creative stuff,” Brunner said, it’s ultimately about “delivering something.
— Ian Parker (Robert Brunner on Jony Ive)
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/shape-things-come
Every single one of us, without a single exception, has gone through a period of enormous stress and sadness in our lives. This is the knife that shapes our futures. Without understanding these moments, we miss the entire picture, we miss the subtleties of the work of art that each one of us uniquely is.
An archaeological dig can take years. So can a friendship. So can a love. So can a business or a work of art. The secret origins of the people all around you are like these archaeological digs.
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That’s it. Most of the time, we don’t fail to achieve our goals because of lack of knowledge and how-to, it’s because we haven’t associated the right level of motivation to the outcome.
It’s a powerful story to help remind you that anything is possible when our backs are against the wall.
Crating time constraint work sessions either personally enforced, or by not bringing your power cable on a work session will have a huge impact on your output. It also gets you into flow a lot faster.
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Companies that don’t have revenue still need to optimize for user behavior that is still valuable.
— Pete Davies
https://medium.com/data-lab/mediums-metric-that-matters-total-time-reading-86c4970837d5
You should get deliberate about the way you describe your services, remembering that you are not being hired because you can write, design or code. You’re being hired because your client has a pain in their business life, which they believe your service can remedy.
— Liam Veitch
Like the hero, the anti-hero is also strong, even if he doesn’t have the same moral grounding. He is determined, not letting anything get in his way, which usually is what leads him to take the immoral path. We respect the anti-hero because he demands respect. He is a force to be reckoned with.
— Lauren Martin
After all, for a currency to be valuable, it has to be scarce. And while the amount of attention people are willing to give to media and the Internet in general has skyrocketed–largely due to having a screen and connection with them everywhere–it eventually is finite.
— Evan Williams
https://medium.com/@ev/a-mile-wide-an-inch-deep-48f36e48d4cb
It may be very likely that the primary interface for interacting with apps will not be the app itself. The app is primarily a publishing tool. The number one way people use your app is through this notification layer, or aggregated card stream. Not by opening the app itself.
— Paul Adams
When you focus purely on how a feature is used, ignoring the “category” it’s in, or “type of feature” it is, you quickly learn how to improve it, and those improvements resonate immediately…
— Des Traynor
To make you laugh, a comedian has to convince you into believing their punchline. Jerry Seinfeld is a comedy master. His observational humor is not only hilarious, it’s caused millions of people to say “the way he explained that is exactly how it actually feels!”
This is what our websites don’t do. They don’t setup the punchline. Instead they just go straight to “we’re the best, laugh at all of our jokes.”
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When I watch experienced people talk today, I catch the little subtle notes in between the obvious pieces of advice, and I find myself constantly thinking–oh shit, yeah, I experienced that, and this person knows what they’re talking about; I wish I had known that two years ago! How is it possible that I missed all of these things in the past?
— Dustin Curtis
Focussing on outcome, rather than category, industry, or product type, lets you understand your real competitors. The second a company focuses on “the industry it’s in” rather than the “outcome it delivers“, it loses touch, and shortly after, loses customers.
— Des Traynor
https://medium.com/@intercom/are-you-making-things-people-want-d0219a79788c
And for founders, asking for a firm commitment from an acquirer on resources and timelines is key. While not always possible, the best way for a startup to become successful post-acquisition is to remain independent, he says.
— Tomio Geron
http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/23/flickrs-acquisition-9-years-later/
That’s just the way people did it. Instead, DHH compressed what normally takes five to seven years of hard work into 18 months of smart work. “Once you stop thinking you have to follow the path that’s laid out,” he says, “you can really turn up the speed.”
— Shane Snow
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/08/25/the-art-of-strategic-laziness/
Successful people do what what others will not. If it means you lose a few hours of sleep for a night, so be it. It’s not easy. Sometimes, it’s not fun.
But as Muhammad Ali said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
— Ramit Sethi
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/i-will-teach-you-to-be-rich-turns-10-years-old/
“There are no silver bullets for this, only lead bullets.”
They did not want to hear that, but it made things clear: we had to build a better product. There was no other way out. No window, no hole, no escape hatch, no backdoor. We had to go through the front door and deal with the big, ugly guy blocking it. Lead bullets.
— Ben Horowitz
Ultimately, Brazilian entrepreneurs will have to prove their worth by way of execution. That means forming strategies that fit the local market, and then implementing with excellence, efficiency, foresight, and a strong orientation to cash-flow.
— Roy Carthi
Stables - appreciate direction, happy to work with a plan - they appreciate it. Order is good. dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Play nice with others and are carefully work to mitigate failure make good & predictable decisions.
Volatiles - define strategy rather than follow it; failure is not interesting to them. Risk gives a thrill. Code volume over quality. Reliable when it’s in their best interest. Tell them what to do and they’ll say ‘fuck you’. Allow them to choose by proposing you have a hard problem and ask if they can help or give you their advice and they’ll jump right in (a bit like a 5 year old!)
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The executives had problem-solving, I was amazed, at something like seven or eight, and their number one was problem identification. It’s a big deal. This is what entrepreneurs do. Entrepreneurs find problems, they surface problems, and then come up with a solution to them.
— Dan Pink
At times, that was hard to stomach. We had worked hard on something, and felt strongly about it. But, ultimately, it’s pushing through those barriers as a designer that results in some of your best work. The regeneration of ideas born from past experiences provides some of the best output.
— Sam Brown
https://medium.com/@sambrown/designing-the-new-foursquare-8f8788d366f0
Determined to turn this rejection into a learning experience, I probed Logan for details. He didn’t want to make his office manager split the snack budget just for some jerky.
I framed Sumo Jerky as a healthy & productivity enhancing office snack and he seemed much more excited.
Logan’s office never ended up becoming a customer, but his excitement would eventually help me sign up hundreds of customers.
Lesson: Always politely ask “why” when people reject your sales pitch.
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One of the first things I learned at Facebook was that the most impactful work one can do is going beyond designing a single match to designing the rules of the game.
— Julie Zhuo
https://medium.com/the-year-of-the-looking-glass/my-dream-design-curriculum-ace1d0475289
Related to Designing
[…] Your next employer (if they’re worth their salt) is going to want you because you have a particular brand of awesome and vision. The next time you go into an interview, or send an email, or ship a box of goodies to that company you love, make damn sure that you represent YOU at your best.
A monkey might be able to do the skills required for your job, but it’s going to take your own special blend of kindness, honesty, enthusiasm, ingenuity, humor, and gusto to make that job YOURS, and to make it sing.
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Quality — as in “fitness for purpose” — lives in the structure of a product. A lack of quality is a lack of structure, and a lack of structure is, ultimately, a lack of thought. One does not find a solid structure by following some simple method. We deepen the structure by deepening our thought on the product. Our role as designers is to put thought into things. And that’s why most websites, clients, and jobs suck, and will always suck. Everybody hates to think, because everybody hates to listen, everybody hates to reflect, and we all hate to use our imagination.
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B2B Customers will actually pay for your products.
B2C is way harder to monetize unless you’re at massive scale because no one wants to pay.
When asked how much people would pay for Facebook, it’s a fraction of what Facebook actually makes from ad revenue. Consumers are price sensitive, so you often need other models that rely on some other element, like data, to make sufficient money off consumers.
In B2B you can just charge a price and the company will pay if the product is worth that much to them. Then, over time you can improve it and charge more. Also, it turns out that most everyone in B2B is charging too little.
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We promote saved replies in Intercom once a few replies have been sent. We promote keyboard shortcuts after a user has used the product long enough to care about them.
— Des Traynor http://insideintercom.io/new-features-usually-flop/
All great service comes from this feeling of generosity and abundance.
Think of all the examples of great service you’ve encountered. Free refills of coffee. Letting you use the toilets even if you’re not a customer. Extra milk and sugar if you need it. A rep that spends a whole hour with you to help answer all your naive questions.
Contrast it with all of the bad experiences you’ve had. Not letting you use the toilets without making a purchase. Charging an additional 50 cents for extra sauce. Salespeople who don’t give you a minute of their time because you don’t look like big money yet.
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Those who treat UX like a rigid set of tasks and capabilities will be left behind, outpaced by digital natives who intuitively break down disciplinary boundaries.
— Wired
https://www.wired.com/2014/06/why-the-best-designers-dont-specialize-in-any-one-thing/
Chaos does this amazing thing that order can’t: it engages you.
It gets right in your face and with freakish breath issues a challenge. It asks stuff of you, order never will. And it shows you stuff, all the weird shit, that order tries to hide.
Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative. Demands that you be creative.
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Are you satisfied creatively? Not even close. That’s a very dangerous place to be and it would truly depress me if that happened and I would get very scared as well. I think if your goal is for everything to be okay, that’s a mistake. To achieve that goal, the only obstacle you’d have to face tomorrow is to eliminate all risk so that everything would be okay. I’ve made the decision that I’m never trying to make everything okay. I’m trying for there to be more loose ends, not fewer loose ends.
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My interest is not the physical design. It’s the fact that there are two things. There’s the iTunes ecosystem, which allows people to pay for downloaded music. And number two, there were all kinds of business models built around the iPod.
For instance, there was a 34-cent chip that you had to buy if you wanted to connect your box to the iPod. The cable had a chip inside it, so you had to have a chip inside the cable for it to talk to the iPod.
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