What Is “Seeing the Matrix” for a Product Leader?

That consumer (and prosumer) products ultimately succeed because of how people feel about themselves using them. Ego analytics, surprise and delight, and hooks to appeal to our laziness, vanity, and selfishness in the first mile of product experience are the biggest secret in product.

That raising the bar of what your team ships is f*cking hard. It requires culture change, a few cycles of missed deadlines (which may frustrate customers), and career risk to set a NEW BIT for everyone.

That, as a startup, you should only do half of what you want to do (only half the options, half the tabs, half the offerings, and half the target audience) to compound your chances of true PMF.

That the elements of a new product you launch have more gravity than you think. I’ve had dozens of debates about what an MVP should and shouldn’t include. The argument to “just get something out there and start learning” is flawed in two critical ways: (1) You’ll burn early adopters fast if you don’t polish the few things that distinguish your prod... See more

That data helps you iterate, but only vision and clearly articulated strategy (and luck on timing) help you leapfrog. Both are important, but neither is sustainable on its own.

That a prototype is worth a hundred meetings, and almost all product meetings that aren’t grounded with a prototype are a waste of time (or worse).

That perceived performance matters more than actual performance (perception is reality when it comes to UX!), and can be achieved as much by designers than engineers.

That if you just keep telling, polishing, and retelling your strategy and story, you end up with the gem of the idea, the gem of the value prop for customers, and the core of what your product needs to be.

That you should never outsource your story or any component of your competitive advantage.

That an incumbent can only keep winning if they realize they are now an underdog.