“It’s not like the Olympics. You don’t get any extra points for the fact that something’s very hard to do”

Big features are sexy, but low effort features with high impact count just as well.

To find the lower effort wins, you have to go to the lowest level of detail.

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked”

Your competitor’s features may not be nearly as successful as you think.

You are really only able to tell when the economy sours and they start layoffs or fold.

So now is actually a good time.

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing”

Features that are “risky” are those that have the least research, analytics, and prior experimentation validation.

If you have done the discovery, usability testing, and prior experiments, risk can be almost non-existent.

“Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does”

It’s okay that you predicted Powell is going to keep taking us into a recession.

But what matters more is how you keep delivering and extracting value from your customers.

“I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”

Really big builds are 7-foot bars.

Avoid them if possible.

Instead, look for the smaller features you can release.

The incremental, 1-foot bars can be as effective.

“Beware of geeks bearing formulas.”

Analytics sizing isn’t going to make your feature work.

That’s the execution details.

And a high predicted LTV doesn’t justify your high CAC.

That just means you haven’t made a product that sells itself.

“A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought”

A survey or a user study is not going to magically clarify your strategy or manifest your roadmap.

You need to think through the first principles of the user problems and user needs.

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything”

You need to be laser focused on one user problem.

You need to say no to other things so you can build learning loops in that area.

“Business schools reward difficult, complex behaviour more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective”

No framework or 2×2 is going to make your decision easier.

A simple prioritization and delivery method is as good as a complex one.

“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see”

You can query the data all you want, from every which angle.

But if you aren’t identifying and actioning takeaways, it’s all for naught.

Decisions > dashboards.