Strong and weak technologies

-To analogize, think of the iPhone in 08. To see the opportunity, you had to imagine 1) that weaknesses get mitigated (it gets faster, service gets better), and 2) entrepreneurs will take new features (like GPS) and create new ideas with them

As a new technological age begins, strong and weak technologies often arrive together. The weak version of a technology is usually the more plausible, "immigrant" version. The stronger version will sound better to natives. Next time you hear an idea that sounds dumb, ask yourself — is it really dumb, or am I just getting old?

In a 2010 essay, Chris Dixon wrote, "The next big thing will start out looking like a toy." Provocative. What he meant was that new technologies are often dismissed as toys because they undershoot user needs, and that that ones that make it out of toy phase and into the zeitgeist do so because they ride external forces.

This time, the technology seems dramatically stronger, which means it is easier to create 10X better products to overcome incumbent advantages. The "why now" may simply be a technology sea change.

Product-market fit works in both directions. The perspective of the builder is always toward what they can do to change their product, what features and functionality to add. But with a long enough lens on successful and failed technology launches, you see that things like market context really matters. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t see as many ideas t... See more

My point in sharing all of this is that sometimes I feel like we get too caught up in the words, and forget to disregard them. Especially (in the context of this essay) as builders of new technology products.“How will I describe this to an investor, or at a dinner party with friends?”"What’s the one-liner that describes why this will be better?”“Wh... See more