Specificity: A weapon of mass effectiveness
Want to write better? Swap generic words for specifics to make your text clear, powerful, engaging, and even funny.| A Smart Bear
Want to write better? Swap generic words for specifics to make your text clear, powerful, engaging, and even funny.| A Smart Bear
It's lazy writing. It's boring and undifferentiated. Say something meaningful, specific, evocative, so your website wins, and you can be proud of it.| A Smart Bear
"You're so lucky." That's true. There's also decades of sacrifice, emotional turmoil, long hours, perseverance. So… is it lucky?| A Smart Bear
Resolve decision-making conflicts by selecting the right approach: Make a bold choice, synthesize a new solution, or find the balance.| A Smart Bear
Even at wildly successful startups, the first few years are gut-wrenching, uncertain, on the brink of collapse, where pessimism is realism, and yet optimism is required.| A Smart Bear
Luck always plays a role in startups, but there are ways to better capture upside and mitigate downside.| A Smart Bear
A startup can beat a large, successful incumbent, if it does things the incumbent can not or will not do. Here are those things.| A Smart Bear
What if your company could have only one single advantage over the competition? This exercise will make your positioning and strategy stronger.| A Smart Bear
This eight-step process brought WP Engine from an idea to a Unicorn. While there are other roads to Product/Market Fit, consider copying some of these ideas.| A Smart Bear
"Focus" requires saying "no" to most things, but there's a way to do it that allows you to say "yes" exactly when it matters most.| A Smart Bear
Most so-called "strategies" are vague, wishful thinking, written once and never seen again. Don't do that. These are the characteristics of great strategy.| A Smart Bear
Language shapes our perception of setbacks. Use words other than "failure" to describe situations and to suggest the next step.| 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
Don't use phrases like "unlikely" or "almost certainly." Here's real-world data showing why not, and what to do instead.| A Smart Bear
This fresh take on "Willingness-to-Pay" analyzes three types of customer motivation, leading to superior strategies for growth that also better the world.| 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
Even Facebook and Slack did not grow "exponentially," as frequently described. Here is the correct model that you can use to understand and affect growth.| A Smart Bear
This simple method positions your product to be more valuable, especially against competitors who aim to disrupt you, or you them.| 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
We dramatically, repeatedly fail to predict the future. Does that mean "strategy" is senseless? No, it means you need these techniques to navigate a volatile world.| 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
A simple but effective system, used to vet what is now a Unicorn, for generating insights about how your potential customers think, what they need, and what they'll buy.| A Smart Bear
This complete work-prioritization framework builds on the simplistic "Rocks, Pebbles, Sand" analogy, adding the details you need in the real world.| A Smart Bear
Binstack is a technique for selecting the "single most impactful" solution when there are multiple, incomparable dimensions to evaluate.| A Smart Bear
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.| A Smart Bear
Industries commoditize over time, delivering similar products at similar prices resulting in low profit. Moats are the antidote; your strategy must create some.| 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
