There’s a lot to love about metrics driven systems: they’re fairly meritocratic, they reward intelligence and hard work, they align (at least in some way) the incentives of producers and consumers, and they accelerate really quickly once they start working.

But, using this framework to understand the systemic failure at the root of a lot of wide sca

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1. Access is everything when you’re just getting started

Fast forward to today, and a dizzying number of new and compelling care options for patients in new formats have hit the market. Novel payment models, rising healthcare costs, shifting financial responsibilities, a consumer preference for virtual-first experiences, and emerging market segments with new buyer dynamics have opened up new distribution... See more

Membership programs thrive on “conversion events.”

A big secret is that you can bend the world to your will a surprising percentage of the time—most people don’t even try, and just accept that things are the way that they are.

People have an enormous capacity to make things happen. A combination of self-doubt, giving up too early, and not pushing hard enough prevents most people from ever reaching a... See more

Most people I know have problems with Internet addiction. We're

all trying to figure out our own customs for getting free of it.

That's why I don't have an iPhone, for example; the last thing I

want is for the Internet to follow me out into the world.

[5]

My latest trick is taking long hikes. I used to think running was a

better form of exercise than hik... See more

Step 1: Constrain the marketplace

There’s a broader lesson to learn from that about the products that we offer to the world in tech: Many people think that their products are very utilitarian. But I’d argue that a lot of products that people build are actually entertainment-based products.

Shift risk from the customer to the platform. Transactions often carry significant uncertainty so aligning financial incentives in a way that maximizes results and places the risk on the business is a fantastic way to disrupt incumbents. Companies powered by Income Share Agreements, like Lambda School and Placement, as well as iBuyers like OpenDoor... See more