Deploy Empathy by Michele Hansen
“Deploy Empathy” is a valuable resource if you’re working to generate powerful product insights from customer interviews. It provides you with the right customer interview mindset, as well as presents many real-life examples, resources, and templates. What I love about Deploy Empathy The mindset (and why): Michele was very competent to translate her vast experience […]
Avoid The “Just One More Feature” MVP Trap
Just like an itch you need to scratch, adding features to your MVP may be too tempting for you to resist. Although you know additional features cost you time, energy, and money… you keep adding them. And one feature calls for another one: a search bar calls for ‘filters’… that calls for ‘categories’… that calls […]
Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
Teresa Torres is an author, speaker, and product discovery coach. In “Continuous Discovery Habits”, she explains how effective product teams work to discover great products. Although its examples come from a mature product company’s perspective, its lessons are extremely valuable for early-stage startups as well. What I love about it The Dynamics and The Principles: […]
The One-Page Cash Plan for Early-Stage Startups [Excel model included]
Your startup’s cash is the fuel of its validation journey. Go out of it, and your dream is over. So, that’s why a cash plan is a non-negotiable item on your to-do list, from day one. Well, maybe you rolled your eyes when you read “cash plan”—because you thought about “Balance Sheet”, “Cash Flow Report”, […]
Inspired by Marty Cagan
“Inspired” is about product management. More specifically, it’s about the dynamics behind the product discovery process—creating and validating product ideas. Throughout the book, Marty Cagan reveals the pillars of successful tech product discovery initiatives. In the first part of the book, you’ll learn about the key roles of a typical product team. Besides the Product […]
Close Your Ears To These Startup Validation Noises
During your startup validation interactions with other people, you’ll hear a lot of noises—pleasant words about your idea that make you feel joyful. Although these words look like validation evidence, they actually pose a threat to your progress. They simply make you feel over-optimistic about your idea. On the one hand, people will naturally feel […]
Atomic Habits by James Clear
I recommend Atomic Habits if you’re looking for: The lack of consistency can kill your startup dream. The efforts to validate your hypothesis happen through a continuous process based on “build-measure-learn” cycles. You build something and test it with potential customers. Next, you measure the results of this interaction. Then, you generate insights from what […]
Focus On Your Startup’s Cycle’s Average Burn
While working on one of my Excel models, a question popped up in my mind: what cash metric could translate the Lean Startup Methodology‘s principles in the most accurate way? We certainly count on great cash metrics, such as the burn rate and the runway. But, I wasn’t satisfied with them as answers to my […]
The Worst-Case Cash Scenario May Save Your Startup
It’s funny how new startup founders tend to turn unlikely desires into certain facts. Frequently, they’re over-optimistic about a bunch of things, including their startup’s cash inflows. That reminds me of an old movie called “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989). In the movie, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) is a traditional late 90s father/husband who just […]
Why Your Startup Needs Its Own Cash
Are your startup’s cash and personal cash being kept in the same pocket? In other words, do you manage your startup’s expenses and personal expenses under the same account/controls, etc? If you’re doing that, it’s time for you to change. Okay, I get it. You have a ton of things on your mind right now. […]