Translating MVP as “the simplest thing we can get away with building” is problematic.
Instead, it should always be “the simplest thing we can learn from.”
Build to validate your product assumptions quickly.
Remember: product-market fit is not a static “once-and-done” sort of thing.
What worked well yesterday might never work again.
You re-evaluate, redefine, and iterate with the constant goal of staying ahead of market change.
Tell me without telling me about product management:
“It is crucial not to teach students only how to make gloves without ever telling them to practice by shaking hands with their neighbors, or carelessly removing their gloves with the indolence of a great theater actress”
-Renato Troncon
#Quotes
“Hope clouds observation.”
-Frank Herbert (Dune)
#Quotes
Think about the standout products and services, the game-changers, the ones that fundamentally shaped your life.
How would you improve them?
Life happens pretty fast.
You’re busy. (Everyone is busy.)
It’s easy to lose touch with friends, both at work or in your personal life.
But don’t underestimate the value of keeping these connections alive.
They’re a vital source of support, camaraderie, and perspective.
“Prosperity and pessimism don’t travel together.”
Quote fron the Westinghouse exhibit at the 1939 Worlds Fair
#Quotes
Maintain transparent communication with your team, your stakeholders, and your clients.
Write things down and share them.
Close open loops.
Meet as often as necessary to stay engaged and coordinated.
Clear communication reduces misunderstandings and maintains alignment.
“We go where reason - and not the absolute truth - leads us.”
-Seneca
#Quotes
No. It’s really not your To Do app’s fault.
Looking to change your To Do list app? Maybe not so fast? Productivity issues often stem from personal inconsistencies.
“Let our advance worrying become our advance thinking and planning.”
—Winston Churchill
#Quotes
“If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.”
-Catherine Aird
#Quotes
This is a generative cycle:
- Draw smart people together to discuss opportunities.
- Listen more than you speak.
- Take notes and share them.
- Review your notes.
- Look backwards and forwards in the calendar.
- Triage all the new inputs.
- Identify new opportunities.
- Repeat!
Apple Vision Pro demo
In which I recount experiencing the Apple Vision Pro of the first time and retroactively swoon
“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.”
-Stephen Hawking
I do I wonder what he would have thought about ChatGPT.
#Quotes
“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”
-Muriel Rukeyser
#Quotes
“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.”
-H.D. Thoreau
#Quotes
The 7 Obsessions of the Successful Product Manager
In which I share the fascinations, compulsions, manias that result in a particularly successful product manager
Consider the long tail of some product decisions.
For example: early gramophone equipment could only make recordings that were no more than 4.5 minutes long.
Early adopting musicians adjusted their music to fit accordingly.
How long is the average pop song today in 2024?
4.5 minutes.
“Art is science made clear.”
-Jean Cocteau
#Quotes