A Smart Bear

article thumbnail

Who’s lying?

A Smart Bear

(source). We had been flying for four hours, but both gas gauges still read “full.” I didn’t need a pilot’s license to know that couldn’t be right, nor to feel the rush of adrenaline in my gums at the thought of the engine sputtering to an eerie quiet death, propeller blades windmilling as we scream “mayday mayday” and “set it down over there” like in the movies, hopefully including the part where the heroes confidently stride away while the

article thumbnail

What’s The Important Thing, that is powerful enough to override all your deficiencies?

A Smart Bear

Do you feel the crushing weight of the disadvantages facing every new company? No brand, no features, no customers, no money, no distribution, no search engine rankings, no efficient advertising, no incredible executive team, no NPS, no strategy. How do the successful startups rise above all that? Do they solve all those problems at once, or at least quickly?

support 108
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Capturing Luck with “or” instead of “and”

A Smart Bear

I won a fake stock market competition in elementary school. I put all my money in a few penny stocks — where prices are less than a dollar, and because of their small denomination, their value (as a percentage) fluctuates wildly. Some days I had the worst portfolio, other days I had the best. The competition happened to end on an up-day. This was an example of “high risk, high reward.

article thumbnail

Kung Fu

A Smart Bear

Startup strategy is like Kung Fu. There are many styles that work. But in a bar fight, you’re going to get punched in the face regardless. I can only teach you my style. Others can only teach you theirs. This is my style. “MVPs” are too M to be V. They’re a selfish ploy, tricking people who thought they were customers into being alpha testers.

culture 161
article thumbnail

I hate MVPs. So do your customers. Make it SLC instead.

A Smart Bear

Product teams have been repeating the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mantra for a decade now, without re-evaluating whether it’s the right way to maximize learning while pleasing the customer. Well, it’s not the best system. It’s selfish and it hurts customers. We don’t build MVPs at WP Engine. The motivation behind the MVP is still valid: Build something small, because small things are predictable and inexpensive to test.

article thumbnail

Change: Damned if you do, damned more if you don’t

A Smart Bear

Top workplace complaints: 1) The way things are 2) Change. — ?????? ????TT (@akannett) June 1, 2015. This plays out in many important ways: Customers demand an improved UX , but they don’t want to learn a new UX. Team members want consistency but don’t want policies. Developers want to be more efficient but don’t want to change how they work.

culture 127
article thumbnail

Strategic Activities for a Company Retreat

A Smart Bear

I am planning a company retreat. What are some great questions we can work on as a company? cc @RNeivert @robwalling @asmartbear. — James Kennedy (@JamesKennedy) July 15, 2017. I happened to be sitting on the tarmac, delayed. In the confines of six square feet of personal space, I sent a few answers. As James later said, these are useful exercises even if it’s not a retreat!