Patrick Prothe

Here is one that I’ve encountered time and again: marketing is the mother of revenue. Some of you might wince at the idea of self-promotion and all of your biases with the word marketing. When it comes to gigantic corporations, I do too. But let’s consider this in a small business context, where you work in and with your community. In this sense,... See more

Collapse the talent stack every chance you get . As I reflect on the teams I’ve led and hundreds of start-ups I’ve worked with, there is a consistent unfair competitive advantage i’ve witnessed when the talent stack was collapsed - when the lead designer was also the product leader, when the front-end engineer was also a designer, when the designer... See more

Building a winning community-based brand is the process of being laser focused on a group of people with a shared identity, and developing something for them that makes them feel heard. Elements include establishing an identity that sparks excitement, using a shared language, creating s ocial content that makes them want to share yet feels... See more

The better life you absolutely can build isn’t going to be brought to you by ChatGPT but by your own steady uphill clawing and through careful management of your own expectations. You live here. This is it.

Playgrounds over Paths

Today's standard design wisdom focuses on the design of linear paths. Sometimes they may branch, but they're ultimately a sequential set of steps towards a desired outcome.

Within complex systems, these paths often lack the flexibility to adapt to emergent conditions - users acting outside the "designed boundaries".

Instead of... See more