This idea—that by committing to buy a product early, you can help bring it to market faster —was first pioneered in the field of medicine. In 2010, a set of donors committed $1.5 billion to buy doses of a vaccine for Streptococcus pneumoniae before it had been invented. That “advanced market commitment,” as it’s called, spurred the rapid invention ... See more

In short, when a private company raises less capital at lower valuations, employees have the chance for more upside if the company succeeds.

If your role is focused on creating user and customer value, but management and leadership are incentivized to goose shareholder value, you are subject to that structural relationship and often have very little power to change it.

Algospeak refers to code words or turns of phrase users have adopted in an effort to create a brand-safe lexicon that will avoid getting their posts removed or down-ranked by content moderation systems.

I don’t want to know about the roadmap, I want to know how we got there. How are we segmenting the market? Where do we play? Where do we want to play? Who do we beat and why? Who do we lose to and why? What is our plan for relevant differentiation, for creating a moat, for sustainable competitive advantage? How are we optimizing each piece of the s... See more

[Instagram] is a fun product that millions of people seem to love; that is unwholesome in large doses; that makes a sizable minority feel more anxious, more depressed, and worse about their bodies; and that many people struggle to use in moderation.  What does that sound like to you? To me, it sounds like alcohol— a social lubricant that can b... See more

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators both exist and need to be carefully balanced. There is a long tradition of open-source development, and adding financial rewards can derail a project. (See: there is yet to be a successful "token-powered Wikipedia")

So many founders have a great idea but can’t figure out how to sell it. Second-time founders know that they shouldn’t even bother with an idea if it is not sell-able. Marketing risks force you to face the truth: Do you know enough about your market to know how to sell it and who will buy it?

Zoom out more, and you’ll see that scarcity is also the story of the U.S. economy. After years of failing to invest in technology at our ports, we have a shipping-delay crisis. After years of a deliberate policy to reduce visa issuance for immigrants, we suddenly can’t find enough workers for our schools, factories, restaurants, or hotels. After de... See more