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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 4h

I do think they often have a wider notion than just features. Moats like network effects, lock-in, cult of founder, first-but-also-remains-fastest to market, and so on.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 4h

Yeah, it's easy to overlook that stuff at the beginning…

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 11h

Talent without practice yields nothing.

Execution without love yields burn-out, and is no way to live.

Talent + Execution + Love == your purpose in life.

Even if it takes decades to find it, that’s what you need to do.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 11h

With a gym buddy, both of you will be far more disciplined than either would have been apart.

This is one reason why cofounders are more than twice as productive.

(I’m still a loner though, but I can see both sides.)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 16h

Criticism is easy. Creation is hard.

But the best creators seek out criticism, not to be discouraged, but to be better.

Hence the value of “Rude Q&A.”

Rude Q&A: The constructive devil’s advocate

Nothing clarifies things quite like a hyperactive, all-knowing, all-seeing, real asshole of a devil’s advocate beating the living crap out of you.

longform.asmartbear.com

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

❤️

Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

When you focus on ROI, the numerator often isn’t terribly different between many tasks, which means you over-weight “quick wins.”

QWs are good, but what if you never have a big impact?

I explain how to not fall into this trap in:

Fermi ROI: Fixing the ROI rubric

Traditional rubrics fail to reveal the best answers, or how to explain those answers to others. After explaining why, the following system solves both failures.

longform.asmartbear.com

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

Not because it results in a big company, but because it results in fulfilled people doing work they are proud of, and customers thrilled to receive that sort of experience.

We should celebrate that too.

(6/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

This is why it makes sense for small business owners to work 11 hours a day for the same take-home money as the job they left.

This is why it makes sense to make “yet another” design firm or restaurant or car wash or productivity app or time-tracking app or AI-whatever.

(5/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

Sure more money is better, and certainly low profits or shrinking businesses are bad. But they’re bad because the personal goal is slipping away, not because of “shareholder value.”

(4/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

Rather, the goal for small businesses -- software or restaurants or freelancers or car washes or landscapers or cleaners -- is ownership, pride, autonomy, fulfillment.

(3/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

But what that perspective leaves out is that “competitive advantage” or “shareholder value” or even “getting rich” isn’t always the goal of entrepreneurship. It’s interesting when it is, but often it isn’t. Indeed, 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 it isn’t.

(2/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

The common wisdom in Silicon Valley is that if it’s not unique, it’s not worth doing.

This is logical because:

• The world doesn't need another copy of everything. AI further proves that.

• You have no basis for competitive advantage, neither temporary nor permanent.

(1/6)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

Perhaps most analogies or ideas break if we take them to extreme or add more ideas that no one would want to add.

That said, try just hitting easy ones back in e.g. ping pong and you'll often win 𝘪𝘧 playing amateurs (which is the explicit context of the idea.)

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 1d

I analyzed my chess games and discovered that winning or losing was 80% determined by which player made the most blunders.

Same in Tennis.

Could it be: Same in startups?

Avoid blundering: 80% of a winning strategy

Why do startups typically fail? It turns out that “avoiding those things” is already a plan for success.

longform.asmartbear.com

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

In service to "craft," we forget to build everything else about a company.

Which makes it art, or a project. Which is a wonderful thing; not everything has to be company.

Unless you 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 it to be a company, in which case you didn't focus on the right things.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

That's a very fair question.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

True, but you can be another way.

Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

Yes you can, but it's rare. You know Basecamp, Buffer, Remember The Milk, BearApp, Team Cherry, … they exist, and maybe it's useful to find them so you know who you prefer to patronize!

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

Yup, in reality that is true too.

At least in the short term.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

Very true.

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

Agreed!

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

That's a very good point as well!

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

“Differentiated” is the goal -- to be something new, to be who you are, better (in that way) than others.

“Disruptive” is what you might be to some competitor. Or might not. Honestly who cares.

Just win those customers who like who you are.

Not disruptive, and proud of it

I remember “disruptive” when it was called a “paradigm shift.” You should be worrying more about making something people want to buy, and less about disrupting everything.

longform.asmartbear.com

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Jason Cohen @asmartbear.com · 2d

Does anyone look forward to a sales pitch?

Or are they looking forward to a demo, or a genuinely good, relatable story of success, or what exactly?

Maybe do only that for your sales pitch. At least the first 10-20 minutes.

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