You must select between three pricing strategies, and fully commit to their implications.| A Smart Bear
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.| A Smart Bear
Little, unknown companies with silly names can sell to enterprises who have already spent millions.| A Smart Bear
Customers love you when you're honest, even about your foibles. We forgive honest mistakes from earnest people, not stolid, cold, inhuman corporations.| A Smart Bear
The difference between "low prices" as a race to the bottom or as a success story (like Amazon, Costco, IKEA, Vanguard) is in leveraging intentional weaknesses.| A Smart Bear
This isn't the humble-brag you think it is; The most common origin story is also common to startups that fail. But it's a start.| A Smart Bear
Competing against big firms? Their revenue streams are their Achilles heel. Learn how smaller startups have a shot.| A Smart Bear
When you're brand new, how do you select your first marketing channel?| A Smart Bear
You redesign your entire website, customers and employees say it's better, but none of the metrics change… Does design even matter?| A Smart Bear
Not "enabling constraints", not "weaknesses", not even "strengths". The concept of a "Pivot Point" grapples with the same reality, but more constructive and useful.| A Smart Bear
Dozens of founders have used this technique to transform the cash-flow of their businesses. Now it's your turn.| A Smart Bear
How do you know when to stop, versus when to push through? You don't, not even in hindsight. But these guiding questions can help.| A Smart Bear
It's easy to explain why any given business will fail. So what? But neither is it wise to totally ignore the critics.| A Smart Bear
Targeting your "Ideal Customer Profile" (ICP) is the best way to differentiate and win sales, but does it limit your target market?| A Smart Bear
Reflecting on selling Smart Bear in 2007, offering insights for entrepreneurs facing similar decisions.| A Smart Bear
What is it like to reach the pinnacle of success? Is that where you attain happiness and fulfillment? Or are those found right here, right now.| A Smart Bear
Advice from "successful entrepreneurs" might be unreliable due to Survivor Bias. What's real, and what's random?| A Smart Bear
An objectively "worse" strategy can win, if it leverages something unique or unexpected. Startups can use this concept to beat incumbents.| A Smart Bear
Beware of advice that tries to change who you are. True wisdom guides you to a better version of yourself.| A Smart Bear
A novel system for selecting and presenting product KPIs, satisfying not only the product team, but also stakeholders, executives, and customers.| A Smart Bear
Discounting is the typical sales technique, but refusing to discount can lead to a much better business, even in the Enterprise.| A Smart Bear
Leveraging strengths -- not "fixing weaknesses" -- is how to win. Better when differentiated. Best when durable. Here's how to create leverage.| A Smart Bear
Many startups fail despite identifying a real problem and building a product that solves that problem. This explains why, so you can avoid their fate.| A Smart Bear
Pricing is inextricably linked to brand, product, and purchasing decisions. It cannot be "figured out later," because it determines your business model today.| A Smart Bear
What creates a fulfilling existence? Exploration leads to a framework I've used for years for myself and the people around me. I hope it helps you too.| A Smart Bear
This admonition recurs in myriad books, frameworks, and topics, across decades of time. When something is so consistent, it must be wisdom.| A Smart Bear