Have a great idea? Prove it by finding ten customers ready to hand over cash. Everything else is avoiding the truth.| A Smart Bear
RICE and other confidence-based frameworks are mostly noise. Here's how to make decisions without pretending to know the unknowable.| A Smart Bear
You must select between three pricing strategies, and fully commit to their implications.| A Smart Bear
Why do smart, driven founders fail, despite having great ideas and execution? This model offers an answer, and a path to increase the chance of success.| A Smart Bear
Oh you secretive devil! The last thing you need is anyone finding out about your startup. Like competitors. Or customers.| 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
Stop talking past each other. Translate between the three "languages" of customer desires, product features, and business goals.| A Smart Bear
How to tell the difference between a truly great startup idea, and people saying "Sure, sounds good" when they really mean "No, I'm not buying."| A Smart Bear
Why do startups typically fail? It turns out that "avoiding those things" is already a plan for success.| A Smart Bear
We humans are terrible at discerning patterns from randomness, and in marketing data we unwittingly find "insights" that are actually noise. Here's how to fix that.| 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
Some things appear to be mistakes, but in fact should be celebrated as the expected outcomes of great decisions.| 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
"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
"MVP" is a selfish process, abusing customers so you can "learn." SLC is an alternate philosophy that results in fast, validated learning, that customers love.| A Smart Bear
Being "in control" is impossible, perhaps not even desirable. Being "in command" is ideal: honest, introspective, agile, aware, and proactive.| 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
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
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
According to the Internet, being a Product Manager is impossible. Can you ever measure up? No. But don't worry, there's a better answer.| A Smart Bear