Companies are like insects: They have phases that look completely different (egg, larva, pupa, adult), yet it’s the same animal.

Or maybe this proves that analogies can be correct but completely useless.

This is exactly how I get ideas.

Have you tried selling a product based on ROI?

I've been there, with advertising and because customers asked for it.

But it still didn’t work like that. Here’s why:

longform.asmartbear.com/roi-selling?ut…

Karma is a real thing in business.

Not always; some assholes get away with it forever.

But treating customers well today, employees well today, partners well today, very often pays off later.

Product is supposed to know what to build.
Engineering is supposed to build.
Sales is supposed to close.
Marketing is supposed to attract.
Support is supposed to solve with a smile.

Who’s supposed to understand the customer, deeply?

Everyone?

OK, so do they?

Fix it.

Many things take time before they work (products, marketing, brand, social media, SEO).

Also they take time even if they’re going to fail.

Hard to know which it is, in the moment.

I still don’t have a solution for this. Do you?

More thoughts:

longform.asmartbear.com/chaos-at-start…

This is cool.

Whenever someone totally geeks out in ridiculous depth on an important topic that normally gets almost no thought, it's fun.

Laughing because it’s too true — my reaction reading through @kellblog description of how startup leaders claim to have focus, but really don’t.

The ICP must remain your priority, even when others buy.

I also explain why:

longform.asmartbear.com/icp-ideal-cust…

kellblog.com/2024/04/19/how…

What's the secret to scaling a business? In the penultimate episode of plugin.fm season 2, Jason Cohen Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine, discusses his journey in entrepreneurship. Learn about the ups and downs, the mindset founders need, and tips for navigating the challenges of

Exactly. 'What cannot be copied' is what is valuable.

Even more examples:

longform.asmartbear.com/willingness-to…

Want to test your ideas' durability?

Enter the sparring ring in your next meeting!

Safe, constructive attacks on your work can make it bullet-proof.

There’s a healthy way to do it:

longform.asmartbear.com/productive-mee…

“Good things come in threes,” they say.

Although for some cultures, 3 is an evil number.

Who knows… what I do know, is that you should pick the number of things for that list for reasons other than these.

Are you being thoughtful about that?

longform.asmartbear.com/top-10?utm_sou…

Good article from John Cutler on dependencies and tech debt:

“The further you are from the work, the most it seems like an excuse. The closer you are to the work, the more it looks like a reality you’re tired of describing and explaining.”

substack.com/app-link/post?…