Startup

A Narrow Focus

Originally published March 06, 2014

Seemingly forever ago I wrote about how we’re only human and that we shouldn’t be expected to do everything. I argued that there is this invented, and unhealthy, pressure to produce.

Upgrade Culture

I’ve wanted to get this thought out there for a while now. It’s something that has always irritated me about our industry. Or really, it’s more like our entire culture/human nature. This idea that newer equals better is such a lie. I know it obviously can be, and it’s great when it is, but it’s…

Early Adopters

What if we’re coming to grips with the realization that the Internet can be more for humanity’s gain and less about business? What if it was about people and not corporations. We have to admit that pretty much the entire point of the Internet thus far has been to make money. But, we’re still the early…

Overcoming good ideas

Don’t fall in love with version one. Not to the extent that you can’t move on.

Be willing to undo past ideas that might have been good enough so that you can get to a better idea. A great idea.

You are not Uber

I’ve been thinking about Uber the last few days. A lot of us have.

I’ve never used Uber. I tried once after a concert in Philadelphia along with half the stadium at midnight.

Culture

It’s great to preach your culture when everything’s coming up aces. You can hang your posters and tout your awards. How every boastful of you!

But, your culture is who you are. Not who you say you are.

Building by problem-solving

I used to focus on learning the ins-and-outs of design and code. The fundamentals as well as the latest shiny things. Lately I have been learning more about product design, management, entrepreneurship, and leadership. More of the “‘why” over the “what” and “when”.

Helpless reactives

Bumbling along, trying to keep our heads above water. To lay the train tracks when the train is already in motion. Running full speed without the end destination known.

A lot of teams work this way. The nature of their work is as helpless reactives. No room for long…

What is the problem?

When someone asks you to build a new feature, or redesign an existing one, do you know what the problem is that you’re looking to solve?

There’s no point in making a change if it’s not going to solve a problem. If you can’t define the problem, then don’t design the…

Addition by subtraction

As a developer or a user, you’ve likely experienced feature creep. In brief terms, this occurs by adding more and more features which in turn causes complexity. It makes it difficult to continue development and turns customers into ex-customers.