The difference between strategy and tactics is the most misunderstood phenomenon. 90% of the time the two are conflated. I recently read (twice, its that good!) the book 7 Powers: The foundation of business strategy by Hamilton Helmer. I highly recommend getting the paper copy of the book to make notes on and see the […]
In the last post, I highlighted that SMB’s are mostly a long tail business with a majority of the market at the smaller end of the spectrum. An insight that I did not appreciate going into this market is the amount of sensitivity to price. The statement that “There are three things that are most […]
Small Business is the biggest market in the US and this is the best place to start a company in This is an oft-repeated quote in many pitch decks, sorry to inform you, dear reader, it depends. After spending a decade in the SMB space, I’ve learned a few things – what follows is an […]
I’m a big fan of frameworks, they help us categorize and make sense of the world around us. As you are building products, frameworks help you systematically approach the process. I’ve always been intrigued by Reid Hoffman’s quote that mapped consumer social products to the seven sins. This was a great framework to map a […]
The brilliant odd lots podcast had Richard Koo on to discuss his theory of a balance sheet recession. The central idea is that when a credit bubble bursts and the private sector and consumers both start to deleverage it causes the economy to go into a demand loss spiral, which is a counterintuitive result. If […]
The last post was about what to avoid, this post is about what you can do to make a migration successful. Sequencing is key With any large initiative, the natural impulse is to throw a lot of people at it. Avoid this impulse at all costs. At the beginning of the project, it is better […]
At some point in your product career, you will do a systems migration or a system rewrite. In this two-part series, let’s explore some lessons learned. This first post is about the things to avoid before starting a systems migration. The second post will walk through some practical tips for organizations on the most efficient […]
I am not a winner. My thinking goes somewhat like this. All desire is really ego, letting go of the ego is the best thing. But without the desire to win, where to summon the determination? Is there such a thing as an ego-less desire to win?
Short post this week, heard an interesting quote attributed to Scott McNealy on the odd lots podcast this week. On a side note – do listen to this week’s episode with John Hempton, he is one of the sharpest short sellers on the planet. Onwards to the quote
There is recession talk everywhere with tips on what to do. Time to put my hat in the ring 🙂 Following the scouts’ motto of “always be prepared“, how to go about planning? Where to start?