Author: raffybanks
Are Your Side Projects Making You a Good Founder or Employee
Side projects either make you employable or help you make sense of the world. Having a sense of the world means knowing how to solve peoples’ problems.
Seeing the Goal for the Obstacles
To identify the things you’ll succeed at look for the things you can’t help doing. To you they’re minor details. To others they’re unsolvable obstacles.
‘Tick Box’ Solutions
If what your making for a customers fulfills a ‘tick box’ for them, how much will they value it in the future? What will happen when guards change?
Understanding the Value of Your Product
Makers are usually the last to understand where the value in their product exists. Understand what the market values and then figure out what to make.
The Power of Formulas
It’s important to try new things, to not rely or fall back on old formulas. Sure, they work, but unless you reevaluating them you’ll never achieve greatness.
Passion Not Required. Or, the Worst Motivator for Success.
Passion is a horrible motivator. It’s not an easily renewable energy source. Learn to do work you can become great at and focus your efforts on mastery.
Active vs. Engaged Customers
Are your users active or are they engaged? It’s your job to figure out who is not engaged so you can help ‘active’ users accomplish their goals.
The IKEA Effect: Increasing Product Value
Helping your customers succeed does not always mean doing the work for them. Provide the right tools for them and they will do the work themselves.
Overvaluing the Past
Don’t waste your time learning from the past successes of others. There is little to be learned. Better to learn from the current state of the market.