Alden Huschle

Obsessive people who are in love with the problem they are solving can make up for a litany of management sins. (Perhaps that is also the lesson of Apple and Ive.)

Most travel apps immediately ask, “ Where do you want to go? ” Airbnb takes a different approach. When users open the app, they see a curated set of inspiring destinations and stays. Instead of pressuring users to decide, it invites them to explore possibilities.

This clever use of the Foot-in-the-Door principle lowers the friction to engage. It tap... See more

Because Stripe is taking on all of the compliance complexity, there is an opportunity for founders to build newly profitable companies and startups have a chance to go international faster than ever before. Tens of billions of dollars are on the table, just waiting for entrepreneurs to grab them.

“Craft is fractal. It begins as a flat, broad idea—a rough sketch, raw and unformed. But as you dive deeper, you sculpt and fine-tune, peeling back layers to reveal hidden worlds in the crevices. A piece starts ‘ugly,’ then transforms through selective beautification.” —Dev Valladares on the fractal

When we focus excessively on scaling, on profit margins, on hiring, we miss the point of founding—and life, really. Which is to find meaning in our daily tasks.

One of Airbnb’s most meaningful UX decisions is highlighting the human hosts behind each listing. Instead of faceless hotel rooms, users meet real people who host their spaces.

Each listing says “Hosted by [Name]” and includes a host profile with pictures, bios, and reviews. This personal connection warms the experience and reminds users they are gu... See more

In most AI apps, System Prompts should be written and maintained by users, not software developers or even domain experts hired by developers.

Most AI apps should be agent builders , not agents.

What is really interesting is considering the second-order effects of the ability to create software 10 times faster than just a few years ago.

One very common pitfall for naive implementations of discovery, ranking or status is to inadvertently stop newcomers from “breaking in”.Any social experience will typically have attention or display mechanisms that need to take relative status into account. A naive implementation of a “suggestions” feed or a “top users” might be to rank content bas... See more