taste

The problem you solve for customers is increasingly one they can’t even articulate for themselves . The ones that are easy to understand have already been built and funded over the last 20 years. Building something of true excellence will require a hungrier engagement with the world—and that will have to start with developing superior taste.

Taste is about discovery, having interest in things, and making a lot of mistakes. It’s about trying to find the authentic set of choices that both reflect your own background, but also the choices and discoveries that you have made consciously and deliberately. It's always changing and it's also always in reflection of what everyone else is doing... See more

The conversation around taste tends to focus on what it takes to develop it, but not what it takes to use it and unlock its potential, which is confidence .

Having and developing taste is one thing, but remaining connected to our taste is another. In order to take advantage of our taste, we have to be able to access its insights and guidance, which... See more

Developing Taste

When the first car came out, consumers didn't care about its color, or silhouette, because the competition was a horse.1 But now that cars have been commoditized, quality and details have become more important than ever.

The same applies to software. Simply shipping a product that works is no longer enough, everyone can do that,... See more

I mentioned that implicit conviction “comes from something deeper than the cause and effect we perceive in the unfolding of events.” What exactly is this deeper -something? My first attempt to answer this question happened spontaneously, over a decade ago: “Some companies have a soul,” I found myself saying to a friend over lunch, “others are just... See more